Adventures in web globalization, since 2002
I wrote recently that if you can make your product “translation worthy” the world will follow. Reading about Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp I went back and did some language crunching. …
My latest post for client Pitney Bowes on going global (or not). An excerpt — Two reasons NOT to go global: 1. You don’t have realistic expectations (and budgets). The …
Sometimes it’s difficult to see a revolution when you’re standing right in the middle of it. Which is how I still feel sometimes when it comes to web globalization. Web …
UPDATE: The 2017 Web Globalization Report Card is now available. More than ten years ago I set out to create a report that benchmarked global websites. I looked at languages …
From Afrikaans to Zulu, the evolution of Google Translate is one of Google’s greatest success stories that few people fully appreciate. Perhaps because Google is reluctant to release usage data …
My latest post for client Pitney Bowes includes tips for creating “world ready” visuals. An excerpt: Don’t Send the Wrong (Hand) Signal Gestures are culturally specific and, while some gestures …
Laurel Delaney has been helping companies expand globally for many years and now she shares what she’s learned in the excellent new book Exporting: The Definitive Guide to Selling Abroad Profitably. …
From my guest post for Gigaom: When a software company asks me if I think its new product will succeed globally, I typically respond by asking: Is your product translation …
When I lived in New York, I used to get a kick out of visiting Tiffany. Not that I actually purchased much of anything there, but I was always impressed …
My latest post for client Pitney Bowes includes tips for removing the global ‘friction’ from your ecommerce website. An excerpt: What’s Your “Last” Name? In the United States, we generally use the …
Last post of 2013 and here are the most-popular posts published this year: How many languages should your website support? The next Internet revolution will not be in English The …
Here’s my latest post for client Pitney Bowes: An excerpt: Avoid visual pitfalls. By editing the text to be world-ready, you’re halfway towards avoiding any “international incidents.” But you also need to …
I’m optimistic about the year ahead. I base this optimism in part on discussions I’ve had this year with dozens of marketing and web teams across about ten countries. While …
Normally I like to talk about companies that have been steadily improving their global gateways. Occasionally though I encounter a company that appears to be heading in reverse. E*TRADE is heading …
