The Internet is a large place that allows your website to be reached by anyone anywhere.
If your company is international, it’s likely that people will be visiting your site from all over the world.
Because of this, you will want to make sure that your website is culturally inclusive.
There are a few things you should incorporate into your website if you want to make them culturally inclusive and
diverse, and the following are some great tips to help ensure your site can be used internationally.
Create your Website in different Languages.
Although English is well known around the world, not everyone can speak it, and
if you have clients in areas that don’t know English, you don’t want to lose their business by not providing a website they can read.
This is why it’s important for you to have your website content written in multiple languages and allow your audience to choose which language to use.
This is a simple way to keep the layout and functionality of you site consistent across the board, but enables users to select their own language preference.
Keep it simple.
Because you will need to translate your content across various languages, it’s extremely important that you keep your content simple.
This way, when it comes time to translate the text, your content will not get lost in translation or end up confusing to the new readers.
When translating your content, it’s important that you use a spell checker and/or grammar checker to facilitate the use of online translating tools.
Use Diverse Imagery.
If your website will be global, then you will want to attract your audience with global imagery.
Talking about how worldly your company is and then only using stock photos from one country or of one race or demographic will send a different message.
Always make sure that the imagery you use on your site is culturally diverse so that everyone is represented equally.
Keep the navigation simple.
The navigation will rule your website, and it’s what every user will use to move about your site.
Keeping this simple will ensure that anyone who visits your site will be able to use your site with ease. Since some cultures read right to left and others read left to right, it’s a good idea to remain neutral.
As a general rule of thumb, you should always use a horizontal navigation bar so that you please every cultural group.
Make your shopping cart international.
If your website allows users to make purchases, you should invest in an international shopping cart.
This way, whomever is using your site will be able to make a purchase without having to convert from their form of currency to the currency used on your site.
There are plenty of tools that can help make this easier on your website developer, so don’t think that this is something that will be too costly or time consuming to complete.
Caroline Jones is a journalist from Cleveland. She has recently been sharing the importance of using a grammar checker when proofing with other writers.