All business owners know that in today’s online market, they have to have an e-Commerce website if they want to really succeed.  Yes, a small, primarily local business can get by without one, but any company that wants to operate on a national scale must be online.  Operating on a global level, however, means going one step further.  There’s a difference between a great e-Commerce site and a great global e-Commerce site.  If you want to successfully enter the global market, here are a few things you need to do to make your website more global-friendly.

Offer your website in multiple languages. There are a number of language translation services that you can hire to translate your website.  While you don’t have to offer it in every language, you should try to provide the most important text on your site in at least several major languages.

Don’t just translate your site, transliterate it. Have a native speaker read over your translated text to make certain that you haven’t used any idioms or phrases that don’t exist or make any sense in the translated version.

Make it easy to find information about international orders, especially international shipping. You should include how much it will cost and how long shipping will take.  You also need to make certain that you break down shipping costs and times by country and let customers know that they may have to pay extra taxes or duties on some products.  You can also add free apps from shippers like UPS, FedEx, and USPS that will let shoppers see how much shipping will be on the product page.  Be sure all of this information is easy to find and that it can be found by using the website’s internal search engine.

Offer sizes in metric.  Most people don’t know how to convert inches to centimeters, so make certain you offer both sizes.  If someone can’t figure out the size or weight of the product, they may leave your site for one that does provide that information.

Provide international customers with out of country customer service contact information.  This includes putting the country code in the phone number or even providing a special line for international calls.

Following these tips will put you well on your way to having a great international e-Commerce website that can bring in sales from around the world.