4 Tools You Need To Take Your Business Global

Your business is already thriving back home, and you’re ready to “go global”. But what are the steps you should take to ensure that your website is ready for world domination? We outline the top four below:

1) Content Delivery Network (CDN) To Speed Up Your Site

You only have a few seconds to make an impression on your visitors before they hit the ‘back’ button and bounce away from your site. Ensuring that your website loads quickly and smoothly anywhere in the world, and not just at home, is crucial to going global. A “content delivery network” – or “CDN” – fills precisely this gap. A CDN is a global network of servers that work by shortening the distance between a visitor to your site and the server they automatically access to load your pages. Your visitors will be able to access your website from their local server, as opposed to the server of origin.

For most smaller websites or boutique online retailers, going for a CDN might be a tad unnecessary. But, if you’re reaching for the stars and want to ensure that your check-out system works as well in Singapore as it does in Mexico, this is the way to go.

There are plenty of CDN providers out there, but here are three options that top reviewers’ charts:

• CDNetworks is the CDN of choice for many large retailers – including Bally, Samsung, Shopify, and Tesco – and it’s fairly easy to see why: With 140 “points of presence” – or “PoPs” – in 90 cities, CDNetworks minimizes loading time just about anywhere in the world. CDNetworks doesn’t make their pricing immediately clear on their website, so it’s best to expect that a plan with them will set you back a few figures each month.

• CDNsun is a good choice for websites that want to give CDN a try without committing to a big bill at the end of the month. They advertise 70 PoPs, but what sets CDNsun apart is its “Pay-As-You-Go” system, which starts at 0.45 cents per Gigabite. They also offer a 15-day free trial, just to make sure their service is right for your needs.

• CloudFlare is totally free at the basic level, and provides helpful statistics about your visitors. At the pro and premium levels (which start at a manageable $20/month), they also offer mobile CDN, and web optimization tools.

2) Translate Your Website

There’s no two ways about it: English is a global language, and in order to reach the widest audience possible, it’s important to translate your regional-language page to have an English option. Check out our IM Creator blog “5 Translation Tools For Your Website” to get a more complete picture of what you should be looking for when you need your site translated, but here is a quick list of two of our favourites:

• OneHourTranslation offers professional but speedy translation and proofreading in 3000 language pairings. It’s also one of the best priced services of its kind on the web: prices start at just 6 cents/word.

• TextKing is a smaller operation than OneHourTranslation, but they offer much the same services at a similarly affordable price range, from 7 cents/word. What makes TextKing notable is its free automated translator, which helps you to instantly grasp the basics of what a text is saying, and its list of specialized sectors they translate for, including law, technology, finance, and pharmaceuticals.

3) Find Your Global Niche with Google Market Finder

Google provides plenty of useful (and free) tools for your business, but this one has to be one of their coolest. Google Market Finder works by identifying what parts of the world have the greatest demand for your business. Simply plug in your language and country of origin, a few keywords to let Google know what you’re selling, and where your target market might be. Market Finder returns to you instantly with a series of infographics showing what parts of the world your business has the most potential growth in.

4) Leverage SEO To Help Get Noticed Around the World

Knowing the basics of SEO is crucial for any online business, and venturing into Google AdWords is just part of the game. But what if you could leverage your AdWords to target a market on the opposite side of the globe? With Google Keyword Planner for AdWords, you can do just that. Keyword Planner lets you plan your SEO campaigns according to where your target market is by searching for the success of a certain keyword according to country and even city. Keyword Planner also shows you which regions of the world are clicking your ads and interacting with your website most.

Image Credits

Earth From Space by Wikipedia Commons

NCDN_-_CDN by Wikipedia Commons