The Art of the Global Gateway

You don't get a second chance to make a first impression

A global gateway is the initial point of contact between your website and the world — it is, in effect, a web user’s first impression. To truly welcome visitors to your web site, you’ll need a welcoming global gateway.

As noted in The 2012 Web Globalization Report Card, the average number of languages supported by the leading global brands is now 32.

While web globalization opens your website to the world, it also opens you up to a number of new challenges, namely how to ensure that visitors, no matter what language they speak, can find their local content. This is why the global gateway is so important. Well executed, the global gateway functions like a multilingual tour guide, helping people find exactly where they need to go.

Who this book is for

This book is for web designers, copywriters, marketers, localization vendors, project managers, and developers. In other words, this book is for those who create websites and applications and those who take them global.

Increase traffic to your country websites by 20% (or more)

Many companies are finding that more than half of the visitors to their global websites comes from outside their home markets. This book will help you direct more web users to local content, resulting in increased traffic, leads, and sales. Whether your company offers 5 localized websites or 100, this book will provide the information you need.

The techniques and recommendations in this book are the result of more than a decade spent studying the process of directing web users to local content. Author John Yunker has interviewed hundreds of executives and shares firsthand what strategies work and what strategies don't.

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Please note: Print editions include black & white images only. For color images, the book is also available as a PDF and as a color eBook in the Apple iBookstore.

Global gateways included

Drawing on a wide range of real-world websites, this book highlights global gateways from the following companies:

• 3M
• Adobe
• Apple
• Bank of America
• Best Buy
• Burberry
• Caterpillar
• Cisco
• Coleman
• CNN
• Dymo
• Dyson
• Emirates Airlines
• ESPN Deportes
• Evian
• eBay
• Facebook
• GE
• Google
• H&R Block
• Honda
• HSBC
• Hyatt
• IBM
• IKEA
• McDonald's
• Medtronic
• Nike
• Oracle
• Samsung
• Starbucks
• State Farm Insurance
• Symantec
• Toyota
• Twitter
• UPS
• Wacom
• Xbox

Table of Contents

Welcome, Benvenuti, Bienvenidos…

• About this book

First Things First

• One Internet; many languages

Elements of Global Navigation

• Country codes: Local “front doors”
• The global gateway: What users see
  • The splash global gateway
  • The permanent global gateway
  • Global gateway icons
  • The language/country menu
  • Mapping the global gateway
• Language Negotiation
  • Web Browsers and Language Settings
• Geolocation: We know where you live

Global Gateway Best Practices

• Translate the gateway, but don’t overtranslate
• Wave flags with caution
• Be careful what you call “country”
• Pull-down menus don’t scale
• Don’t play favorites (or favourites)
• Icons speak louder than words
• Use as little text as necessary
• Use the “sweet spot”
• Use Unicode
• Place usability ahead of creativity
• Don’t pretend you speak languages that you don’t
• Global gateways shouldn’t make you think
• Keep legalese to a minimum
• Embedded text is untranslated text
• Don’t put age before language

Global Gateways Profiles

• IKEA
• GE
• Google
• Xbox

Spanish-Language Gateways for the US

• What’s the URL?
• Spanish-language gateways

Trending Now: Mobile Devices and Social Media

• The global gateway and mobile devices
• The global gateway and social media

Developing a Global Gateway Strategy

• Of big steps and baby steps
• Case Study: The growth of a global gateway
• Global gateway FAQ
• Global gateway checklist