According to ‘Internet World Stats’ as of 2011 32.7% of the world’s population were internet users; a figure representing a 528.1% increase over a ten year period.
We live in what many people are dubbing the ‘Google Generation’; a period of time where questions are answered with a quick click of a button, and conversations instigated around the globe. Today every business can access a global market, and in doing so, vastly increase their potential reach, and consequently profits.
Languages of the Internet
Although you may think that the majority of internet users work in English, it is in fact only approximately 27%. The second most common language, Chinese, makes up for over 24 % of total users, and the top ten languages accumulatively account for 82% of total users.
| Language | Number of Internet Users | Percentage of Total Users |
| English | 565,004,126 | 26.8 % |
| Chinese | 509,965,013 | 24.2 |
| Spanish | 164,968,742 | 7.8 |
| Japanese | 99,182,000 | 4.7 |
| Portuguese | 82,586,600 | 3.9 |
| German | 75,422,674 | 3.6 |
| Arabic | 65,365,400 | 3.3 |
| French | 59,779,525 | 3 |
| Russian | 59,700,000 | 3 |
| Korean | 39,440,000 | 2 |
| Total | 1,615,957,333 | 82.2 % |
Why Translate My Website?
The statistics above clearly indicates just how many people you are failing to access if your website is only available in one language. Even if your website is in English, the most dominant internet language, you are still missing out on over 73% of total internet users. This is a lot of potential business that you are missing out on.
|
A recent report released by the European Commission revealed that 90% of internet users in the EU would visit a website in their native language if available, although just over half stated that they would be happy to compromise and view it in English if necessary. In a competitive global business environment, the risk of losing 90% of a sector of the market, however small is a rather frightening prospect.
If your website was available just in English, and there was a Spanish language competitor to your business, this could mean you were missing out on nearly 150 million potential clients or customers!
Doesn’t Google Translate do the job for me?
The major issue with all automated translation tools is that they aren’t culturally sensitive, and often literal translations don’t make any sense. Indeed often automated translations of your website can be damaging to your company’s reputation, by making false statements or by promoting your services or products inaccurately.
In addition to this, the majority of foreign language users of the Internet will much rather visit a website designed in their native language, rather than going through the hassle of using ‘Google Translate’. Not only are such sites much easier to understand, but they also generally have a more aesthetically pleasing appearance as automated translation tools can interfere with your website’s design.
In Conclusion
If your business is online then it makes sense to access as many Internet users as possible. Automated translation software can only do so much, and if you truly want to maximise your business’s potential, you should definitely look into using professional website translation services to enhance your global reach.