Website Adaptation for Export Expansion

Company website adaptation is where promotion in the export market should begin.

A company website has long become a mandatory attribute not only for large businesses but also for small and medium-sized businesses. Even a significant portion of micro-enterprises have acquired websites, sometimes of very good quality. When launching or expanding an export project, it is necessary that the organization's website, and its online presence in general, correspond to the level of the new stage of business development. Answers to questions about how to organize this and what to pay attention to are important as an integral part of a successful entry into foreign markets.

Why does an exporter need to adapt their website?

The website of a modern company performs many functions. In theory, all of them can be implemented one way or another to achieve the goals of presence in export markets. However, in practice, website adaptation for a foreign market is usually done to solve the following tasks.

1. Informing potential and current clients.

The company's official website is the best place to post all the necessary information about the enterprise, its products, work experience, etc.

Since for most export markets, Russian is not common in business communications, it is appropriate to provide all the above information in the languages used for communication in the target country.

2. Organizing a feedback system.

Placing feedback forms in an adapted section or on a new website will help in communications with all parties interested in cooperation, including buyers and intermediaries.

3. Creating content that will simplify finding the site for queries in foreign languages.

If a company is interested in being found by foreign partners, it is advisable to make this search easier for them. Most users formulate queries in their own language or in English. Only a small part first translate their query into the language of the potential partner's country and then enter it into the search engine. Therefore, it is better if the site's content, at least its main part, is duplicated in English (as the main language of business communication) and the languages of communication of the potential export country.

At the same time, for many countries, English is not frequently used. This primarily applies to Spanish- and French-speaking countries, Japan, China, and a number of others. If we ourselves are searching for partners in Japan, for example, making queries in the search engine in Russian or even English is the wrong strategy. The vast majority of Japanese websites are only in the local language. By not using it in the search, the user loses the main volume of important information; many companies from Japan will be invisible to them.

4. Increasing the effectiveness of presence on foreign and international online business platforms and in social networks.

When developing an export project, especially if we are talking about B2B markets, specialized online platforms and social networks are a good channel for finding partners and clients. An example of such an online platform when working in the European market is https://www.europages.co.uk/. When creating an account on such a platform or a similar one, a Russian company indicates its website in the profile, among other things. It is reasonable if the website is ready for visits from foreign users in terms of the adaptation carried out.

Also, in the world, especially in certain regions, some social networks have become widespread in business, which may have global coverage or be predominantly regional. The first type of social network is LinkedIn, an example of the second type is Xing in Germany. In any case, translation and adaptation of the website will be required for the convenience of a potential foreign partner.

5. Organizing an additional sales channel through the website.

This option in website adaptation is much less common, as online sales through one's own website outside the Russian Federation, especially the Customs Union countries, is a complex management task that is sometimes fundamentally unsolvable. Nevertheless, for a number of countries and goods, such sales are possible, and website adaptation requires, among other things, launching an online store for foreign buyers.

A special case of organizing sales can be placing commercial proposals on the website, which contain the basic information for a potential partner to make a decision on cooperation. If a Russian company offers an interesting option in terms of product, price, delivery conditions (on any component of the marketing mix), then "warm" leads cannot be ruled out.

How is the work on adapting websites to foreign markets structured?

The work on adapting a website for a foreign market is a comprehensive project involving several key players.

First, before starting the actual work on website adaptation, it is necessary that the company has an idea of how it will act in the export market. That is, we are talking about a marketing strategy that should provide answers to key market questions. The bearer of this information can be a commercial director, marketer, export specialist, etc., who must necessarily actively participate in the project, since it is for them that the adapted website is created as a tool for working with the market.

The second participant is the actual "website builder" specialist, an expert in digital marketing, who is responsible for the website itself, forms it, and develops (refines) it. Ideally, they should have experience in creating websites for a specific country market or, at least, global websites in English.

The third participant is a translator, responsible for the content in terms of correct adaptation of textual materials, translation of video and audio materials contained on the site.

The fourth party is a designer, preferably with experience in working with websites, but also having an understanding of country-specific features of presenting and perceiving information. One can look at the websites of companies from different countries of the world, it is especially interesting to take not global ones, but small organizations, to see how diverse their visual features are, from the areas of information placement to texts, graphics, predominant color schemes and combinations. Of course, a Russian company is not obliged, within the framework of website adaptation, to completely abandon its style and change the site structure to suit the specific features of each country. However, the tasks of adaptation can be different, according to the needs of a particular export project.

Perhaps these four specialists (or teams for each direction) are the mandatory minimum for successful adaptation. At the same time, it is possible to attract additional experts depending on the characteristics of the site and the tasks set within the framework of adaptation, including a narrow specialist in internal optimization, a specialist in video content, a game designer, etc.

The work on adaptation is built within the framework of an interconnected and orderly process of performing individual functions and tasks. At the same time, a representative of marketing and/or sales should play a leading role, taking into account the goals of website adaptation.

What tools are important for organizing incoming traffic to the site?

To increase the traffic of a website adapted for a foreign market, all the same "classic" tools are used, but taking into account country specifics and the specifics of the work.

Everything starts with internal website optimization, and in this sense, there is often no big difference in working with a site intended for promotion in the Russian Internet (Runet). The basic search engine in the world is known and is one of the two leading ones in the Russian market, so domestic specialists know the methods of working with it. But if a company wants to promote a website in markets such as China, for example, it needs to focus on the local hegemon – Baidu and a few other local search engines. China and Russia in this sense are no exception; for example, in South Korea, the main search engine is Naver. But in most cases, the clear first place will be Google.

The quality of content and the level of its translation are of great importance. It is necessary to understand that adaptation can be carried out within a certain time frame and ensure the solution of the main tasks, but attracting traffic will require constant work, at least in terms of supplementing materials in a foreign language.

External optimization, if the company sets the task of actively promoting the site in a specific export geography, is better entrusted to an SEO specialist who speaks the target language and will themselves control the copywriters. At the same time, it is desirable to work with them on quantitatively measurable and verifiable goals.

A good addition to traffic comes from registering and actively maintaining accounts on social networks and online platforms. At the same time, such incoming visitors are of higher quality and can be potential buyers of the company's goods and services.

If possible, one should post materials not only within the framework of SEO promotion but also work with specialized media, publish expert articles, give interviews, etc., all with links to the adapted website. Exchange links with partner organizations in the target country.

In aggregate, these tools will allow gradually increasing traffic, improving the quality of the incoming flow, and raising the company's website in the organic search results of search engines.

In some cases, contextual advertising may also be justified, but the use of this tool by Russian companies in foreign markets (non-Russian-speaking) is a rather rare phenomenon. The cost per click is high, compared to Yandex services it can differ by more than an order of magnitude, and the risks of inefficient use of investments in contextual advertising are significant – poor knowledge of the market (erroneous goals and objectives), incorrect choice of a contextual advertising specialist, etc. Therefore, a less risky option is the use of integrations and native advertising formats. In a number of markets, including China, attracting opinion leaders from the blogosphere is one of the basic channels for promoting a product and organizing traffic to the website, although more often redirection goes directly to local online sales services where the product must be available.

How can an exporter reduce the cost of website adaptation?

Website adaptation for an export project can be a rather costly procedure, especially for micro-enterprises.

There are two basic parameters for assessing the cost of an adaptation project – the costs of translating and adapting (if necessary, in addition to the actual translation, for example, the work of a designer) the website content and carrying out technical work on the website.

The cost of translation, in turn, is largely influenced by the target foreign language – the more specific and exotic it is, the higher the cost will be. A separate issue is multilingual websites.

To reduce the cost of website adaptation, a company – an existing or potential exporter – can use the services of an export support center in the region of its registration.

This service is provided on the principles of co-financing – 20% of the project cost is paid by the customer – a legal entity, 80% is subsidized by the state through export support centers. Even if a company spends a long time independently searching and selecting an outsourcer for such a project, the probability of finding a price offer several times lower is beyond reality. The second point – export support centers carefully select performers for the service, so its quality will be at a certain decent level, although it is clear that super-exclusivity should not be expected. If unique solutions are needed, it is better to look for them independently from the leaders of this niche market of digital marketing (with the corresponding price tag for services).

In 2020, the website adaptation service is provided on an application basis as a separate service of the export support center. Usually, the project takes a month. Next year, changes in the format of the centers' work are expected, when services will be provided to exporters on a package basis. Website adaptation as a service, however, will remain with the same financing principles. But it will not be possible to order it separately – only within the framework of a service package (where most are provided to the exporter free of charge). Details can always be clarified with the relevant structure in your region.

If for some reason the company does not want to save money by using support measures, then costs for adaptation can be reduced by taking on the organization of the project itself and hiring narrow specialists for local tasks. Sometimes such specialists are foreign citizens (or organizations), which leads to difficulties not only in communications but also in formalizing relationships and paying for work.

As we know, export of services in IT is common, however, the customer must have sufficient competence for the project to successfully start and end with the development of a quality website for sales in a foreign market. In case the company is ready to take on the organization of such work, the costs can be 50% or more lower than hiring an outsourcer for the entire cycle (not counting the time spent by staff). Moreover, the quality of execution can be improved through targeted control, and the implementation of narrow tasks important for adapting the website to the specifics of a particular country market can be ensured.