As part of the 2016 Web Globalization Report Card I note the use of country codes among the world’s leading brands.
It’s an imperfect process because different companies use country codes in different ways. For example, some websites use country codes as redirects back to the .com domain (not ideal, but better than nothing). Others use the country codes as standalone domains (ideal).
And a handful of others, suchas Amazon and Expedia, have made country codes an extension of their brand:
More than 80% of the companies studied in Web Globalization Report Card use country codes for at least some of the markets they support. This is a significant increase from five years ago, when many companies were still relying on .com as the base domain for all local websites.
What’s changed since then? For starters, Google has done a good job of incentivizing websites to support country codes. But more important, users around the world actually prefer country codes. These domains function as shortcuts to the local websites, bypassing the global .com site altogether.
The following companies do a very good job of supporting country codes:
- Adidas
- Autodesk
- Coca-Cola
- Dell
- DHL
- Dyson
- Hilton
- Honda
- IKEA
- Intel
- John Deere
- Mercedes
- Merck
- Nikon
- NIVEA
- Philips
- Starbucks
Want to learn more about country codes? Check out this handy map.
Also, to better understand how country codes should fit into your overall global navigation strategy, check out Geolocation for Global Success.
Included as part of the 2016 Web Globalization Report Card
Latest posts by John Yunker (see all)
- Internet irony - April 15, 2024
- The inherent flaw of the translation icon - April 8, 2024
- Language is a feature (to be promoted) - March 30, 2024
- Speed Kills: Your web globalization investment - March 18, 2024
- For global brands, Russian is no longer a “top 10” language - March 11, 2024