Doing Business in China, Designing and Localizing Websites for the Chinese Market by Patrick Bausemer

Doing Business in China: Designing and Localizing Websites for the Chinese Market Part 2 of 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As China’s economic importance continues to grow, Western companies have come to regard the country as “the place to be.” China is achieving an important milestone as its second generation of consumers arises, a target market numerically on par with all of Western Europe combined. How do Western companies build a Web presence in China that will compare favorably with other sites in its category? How do existing sites set, meet, or exceed the expectations of Chinese customers? How high is the bar for an entering company? This two-part paper is based on a December 2009 webinar presentation by Rebecca Ray, 1 former Managing Editor for the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA). In this second part, we outline the business case for localizing Websites into Chinese, and point out the costly errors that smart companies avoid. Part 1 examines prominent characteristics of doing business in China.

MAIN MESSAGES

For both Web design and content guidelines in China, Western companies should obtain input from subsidiaries, local partners, local suppliers, and a language service provider from the outset.

Western companies should design promotions and Web offerings with China in mind, even before their Chinese Web presence is live.

Website localization is an important step in attracting and retaining Chinese consumers’ attention.

In January 2010, Ms. Ray was named a senior analyst at market research firm Common Sense Advisory, Inc.

KEY STEPS TO DESIGNING YOUR B2B WEBSITE Once a business strategy is in place, a Western company can turn its attention to a Web presence that will compare favorably with other sites in its category, whether owned by Chinese, Asian or Western companies. How do these existing sites set, meet or exceed the expectations of Chinese customers, and how high is the bar for an entering company?

1. Prepare the “Global Gateway” 2

The Art of the Global Gateway, as described by John Yunker, is the practice of designing headers and landing pages on multilingual Websites that direct visitors to content in their desired language. The reality is that most Web visitors find global brands through the main, corporate URL (e.g., microsoft.com) in the home country’s language, so a well-built Global Gateway takes them to content in their language with as little hunting and as few clicks as possible. This typical example shows a map of the world near the upper-right corner of the home page:

Source: www.ge.com

Global brands with large Web localization efforts often contain a selection page with the name of the language in native script alongside the home script for easier identification:

Source: www.lenovo.com 2

“The Art of the Global Gateway – Web Globalization Strategies for Successful Navigation,” 2006, http://www.bytelevel.com/books/gateway

The Global Gateway should value function over aesthetics. The following example, while pleasing to the eye, contains elements that keep non-readers of English from promptly reaching content in their desired language:  [1] “Welcome” in multiple languages is gratifying to a global audience, but the text is not linked; clicking on it has no effect.  [2] The site is available in the nine languages shown in the header; however, the Welcome text includes three additional languages [2a] – Slovenian, Italian and Greek – in which there is no content on the site.  [3] The selection box does not offer languages or even countries, but regions, and these are given in English. Its appeal for visitors with weak English is limited.

Source: John Yunker, Byte Level Research

Centralize design, customize content As a Chinese site becomes more important, tension arises between the corporate owners of the global brand, who are keen to preserve as much uniformity across regions as possible and local experts in content and preferences, whose job it is to keep the Chinese site relevant and innovative. Companies with large multilingual efforts often publish templates with approved color schemes and design elements, and then allow in-country staff to populate the templates with local content.

These examples show the parallels between a U.S. corporate site and its corresponding Chinese site, both based on a template:

Source: www.hp.com

Source: www.hp.com/country/ch/zh

The following examples compare a global English-language Website to its Chinese counterpart. The sites use the same design elements and navigation, yet each site focuses on a different product (Sapphire and Business One) and uses photographs of people with whom local visitors can identify:

Source: www.sap.com/index.epx

Source: www.sap.com/china/index.epx

The use of a template allows flexibility in each localeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Web presence, while preserving the motif and message of the global brand. However, the template approach is not a panacea. Asian Websites in general are busy and content-filled in comparison to most Western sites, and for some local marketing efforts, the parameters of a template will be prohibitive. Consider the examples on the next page from the Website of a Chinese wireless carrier, aimed at both consumer and corporate audiences.

These pages represent the Chinese tendency to use long pages with multiple, small blocks of information that indicate value to Chinese users. Even on corporate sites, animated graphics, multimedia, sound, and scrolling text are common.

Source: www.chinamobile.com

Contrast the look and feel of the Chinese Web pages with those of a U.S. wireless carrierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home page, containing much less information and more emphasis on hardware:

Source: www.vzw.com

The following examples show two different approaches to Chinese Websites with a corporate focus. The first site belongs to a company specializing in online payments (mobile phones, credit cards, voice activation from landline phone) and employs small blocks of text, animated characters and rich color:

Source: www.yeepay.com

The second uses muted colors and design elements that are closer to those of its U.S. counterpart:

Source: www.verisign.com/cn

While the latter is more corporate-looking in the Western style, neither site is a priori better than the other, and both work well for Chinese users. Of importance is the need to be aware of what local competitors are doing and of local users’ expectations for the look and functionality of a Website. To summarize, for both design and content guidelines, Western companies should obtain input from subsidiaries, local partners, local suppliers, and the language service provider (translation company) from the outset. They should also design promotions and Web offerings with China in mind, even before the Chinese Web presence is live. As more people at home and abroad become involved, the effort gains traction and credibility, and the Chinese audience will receive the company’s eventual offerings more readily.

2. Design for the mobile Web China has become the proving ground for micropayments, virtual currencies, and mobile coupons, all of which help companies monetize the mobile Web. The Websites of Western companies operating in China need to incorporate them because many local competitors will already have implemented them to accommodate the small wallets and purses mentioned in Part 1 of this paper.  Micropayments – used in small increments of USD.50, 1.00, 1.50, etc. to pay for small pieces of content, games, avatars, and other forms of online content.  Virtual currencies – used in virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and SecondLife. Users can use USD and Chinese RMB to purchase virtual currencies, but once they become virtual, they stay in the virtual world. The companies are able to monetize them without redeeming them to the holders.  Mobile coupons – accessed through mobile phones for special offers or promotions.

FOUR CONSIDERATIONS WHEN LOCALIZING YOUR B2B WEBSITE With a business strategy and site design in place, a Western company can build a Web presence that meets local expectations and supports the global brand.

1. Language Service Providers (LSPs) do more than translate While most companies think of them only in the context of translating text, LSPs add value in many more ways. They can help clients navigate technical issues (see sidebar) related to Website internationalization (I18n) and localization (L10n), recommend local content, perform local-language search engine optimization (SEO), put together L10n initiatives, and evangelize the entire effort among other departments in the company.

2. Study Chinese SEO Baidu.com is the dominant search engine 3 in China, and companies trying to sell there should optimize their sites accordingly.

Seven Technical Considerations When Implementing Asian Language Websites 1.

Standardize on Unicode for storing multilingual content, especially where Latin and Asian languages will show up on the same page.

Implement a system for each user’s language preference, so that the Web experience is linguistically smooth.

In database-driven Websites, differentiate between translatable and non-translatable text to lower translation costs and optimize storage.

Extend locale-specificity to style sheets that contain font definitions, to ensure readability across languages.

Research browser support and requirements from region to region, and between desktop and mobile Web.

Avoid the use of third-party software and Web components that don’t support Chinese character sets.

Prepare for shrinkage (approximately 25%) when translating from Latin-based languages to Chinese.

Important notes on Baidu:  Companies can buy good position on Baidu, which mixes pay-perclick (PPC) and organic search results.  SEO still matters on Baidu because its PPC pricing is based on organic results.  To rank highly on Baidu, a site must be hosted in China.  Sites not hosted inside China may be occasionally unavailable or down, resulting in frustrated visitors and lower page rank. In short, for most companies that have not already had success with SEO in China, it is worth paying for experienced, local help.

3. Explore Chinese characters in Internet Domain Names

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced in 2009 that users would soon be able to create Internet Domain Names (IDNs) in non-Latin characters. This will allow Chinese users to enter, for example, either 百度 or “baidu” in a browser’s address field to reach baidu.com. It also means that Western companies 3

Figures for 2009 show Baidu at 77% of total search traffic, google.cn at 17% and Yahoo.cn and other local search engines at 6%. Source: “2008-2009 China Search Engine Research Report Brief Version,” November 2009, iResearch Consulting Group, China Internet Research Center, http://english.iresearch.com.cn/reports/Search_Engines/detailreports.asp?id=9073

introducing their brands to China can create and reserve IDNs with Chinese characters. This change is unlikely to have a big influence on the Chinese Web in the short run because established Chinese companies have already reserved and are widely known by Latinbased IDNs. Government entities and new companies may use Chinese characters as they establish new identities and brands, but even if other companies have applied for these names, short-term changes are unlikely.

4. Research flavors of Chinese There are two main systems of writing Chinese: Simplified and Traditional. Simplified Chinese is read and written in China and Singapore, and Traditional Chinese is used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. While a Simplified Chinese translation will satisfy users in China, companies intent on a deep customer relationship with both China and Taiwan, for example, should plan on maintaining separate Simplified and Traditional sites. Capable LSPs can advise Western companies in these and other linguistic and technical issues.

THE SEVEN MOST COMMON ERRORS WHEN DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA 1.

Many Western companies make rough calculations based on 1.3 billion â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chinese consumers,â&#x20AC;? as if the potential addressable market were really that large, but there are far too many other factors in any realistic business plan.

It is easy to underestimate the speed, agility, and capacity for innovation of both Chinese competitors and non-Chinese competitors operating in China. Success in China depends on innovation, using whatever resources are available.

Companies should resist the temptation to go general and broad, and instead should go laser-focused and deep. Buckshot approaches to the Chinese market are likely to fail.

LSPs, suppliers, customers, and distributors represent potential partners whose expertise in China is easily overlooked and whose horror stories can be cautionary. Companies should align themselves with these partners and reap the benefits of their insights, experience, and contacts.

Chinese prospects have high expectations which few companies can meet by translating merely a subset of a Website. Because of the ease with which a Chinese competitor can create a satisfying Web presence and capture the attention of a market, smart Western companies take the effort seriously by localizing either their entire site or a self-contained Chinese subset with all market-relevant information.

In-country feedback on China (market outlook, messaging, audience, competition) is critical, and Western companies should incorporate this input as a standard process in their Web design planning stages, not as an afterthought. There will always be tension over control of content and the speed with which in-country feedback is incorporated to products and Websites, but that is not a reason to abandon the process.

In descending order of importance, Western companies building a Chinese Website should focus on four things: 1.

Suitable translation of text on the site

Hosting inside China

SEO

Graphics, colors, design elements

Established companies with a long-standing corporate mindset and “way of doing things” often face problems with the growing pains of going into China. While these problems seem like cultural differences at first glance, they are more often a function of corporate mindset and practice, and smart companies treat them as such.

Read Part 1. “Doing Business in China: How Western Companies Develop their Strategy”

OTHER RESOURCES  “Website Globalization and E-Business China” (Globalization Partners International White Paper)  Byte Level Research (“The Art of the Global Gateway”), www.bytelevel.com  “The Culturally Customized Website,” Dr. Nitish Singh  “7 Steps to Successfully Managing Partners: East and West,” www.lisa.org/7Steps.976.0.html  “Ten Best International Web Sites Book,” www.lisa.org/Best-InternationalW.513.0.html  “China as a Global Development Center” includes detail and background material from Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong’s presentation at LISA Beijing 2009. LISA members may visit www.lisa.org/Beijing2009.1331.0.html.  “Building a Global Web Strategy,” www.lionbridge.com/lionbridge/enUS/kc/globalization/building-a-global-web-strategy.htm

CONTACT INFORMATION

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