Today’s businesses are looking to localize their brand, product and service content in regional languages. This can improve the conversion of online advertising and help ensure that your message is translated precisely in an effective way to your target audience.
What are the top 10 languages used on the internet, which are most important and how can you speak convincingly to a local audience? Keep reading to find out.
Can't Read, Won't Buy?
Just look at the following statistics and it's clear that translating content can have a positive impact on attracting users to your brand:
- 65% of content consumers prefer content in their own language.
- 67% support mixed languages on a single website.
- 66% utilize machine translations to access content.
- 40% won't buy from websites not available in their own language.
Top 10 Languages Used on the Internet
Concentrate your localization efforts in the regions where you plan to expand your business, and for assistance with the rapid expansion of your ecommerce localization strategy, contact Andovar today. Here are the top 10 languages utilized on the internet according to Statista and Internet World Stats.
1. English
English, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the most represented language on the internet. One out of four online users speak English even if it's not their native language. It's the internet's founding language, but other languages are gaining prominence quickly.
2. Chinese
Chinese is the most rapidly growing language and nearly 20% of internet users speak or read it. With one point 1.4 billion people communicating in this language, it takes second place among the most important online languages. For assistance with website localization in Chinese, contact a specialist at Andovar today.
3. Spanish
Over 750 million people communicate in Spanish, even though it's only the native language for half of them. Spanish speakers in Spain, Latin America and around the world are becoming increasingly connected. Approximately 8% of internet users speak Spanish.
4. Arabic
Arabic is one of the fastest-growing online languages. That has to do with the rapid increase in Arabic speakers connecting to the internet. Currently, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have the most Arabic users online. Businesses can also localize in other regions where Arabic is the predominant language, including Morocco, Algeria and the UAE.
5. Portuguese
About 171 million Portuguese speakers are online, and 4.1% of online sites are published in the language. This suggests an opportunity for savvy businesses that want to invest in SEO-friendly URLs and professional translation services to produce high-quality Portuguese content.
6. Indonesian/Malaysian
Approximately 306 million people speak these languages and 198 million of them connect to the internet. For companies targeting South Asian markets, it's worthwhile to invest in high-quality localized translations for product and service pages.
7. Japanese
/Blog%20in-page%20images%202021/japan%20word.png?width=740&name=japan%20word.png)
Japanese has been a popular online language for over a decade. Japanese speakers are increasingly producing online content. Localizing websites for Japanese users can help companies reach this lucrative market.
8. Russian
More than 103 million internet users speak Russian and that number is growing.
9. French
French is the official language of 29 countries, making it a favorite target of online translations. However, some French-speaking countries, such as those in Africa, have relatively low internet penetration rates.
10. German
German accounts for only 2.2% of internet traffic. However, it ranks 10th thanks to 92 million internet users who prefer to digest web content in their native language.
Fastest Growing Languages
The fastest growing online languages vary slightly from the top 10 list above, as follows:
- French: The number of French-speaking Internet users is expected to increase due to the population growth in French-speaking regions. There may be 750 million French-speaking people by 2050.
- Arabic: as this culture becomes better understood, it will become an increasingly important target for localized content.
- Spanish: Population growth has led to 400 million Spanish speakers and potential online consumers.
- Mandarin Chinese: Although difficult to learn, Mandarin Chinese is a favorite choice of second language learners who also consume content in this language online.
- Hindi/Urdu: By 2030, India will surpass China as the largest nation. Therefore, Hindi and Urdu make great targets for localized translations.
Most Useful Languages for the Future
English, Mandarin and Russian have long acted as the common tongues that bring people together. While these languages are still important, the advent of the internet has made consumers hungry for content in their own language. The higher quality translations that you can produce, the better users will relate to your products and services.
For small businesses hoping to expand to global markets, it's not necessary to gain![People Reading-12 [Converted]-01](https://blog.andovar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog%20(media)/Blog%20In-page%20graphics%202021/People%20Reading-12%20%5BConverted%5D-01.png?width=464&name=People%20Reading-12%20%5BConverted%5D-01.png)
in-house proficiency in these languages. Instead, translation services from third-party vendors such as Andovar can help you quickly translate your web content into any language used online.
Achieve your growth targets by making wise decisions about which languages to incorporate into your localization strategy.
Consider the following languages to kick off your localization campaigns:
- Mandarin: More than a billion people speak this dialect, and the nation has increased its international ties via cross-border treaties. This opens up the Chinese market to more products and services than ever before.
- Portuguese: Portuguese has traveled far from its small country roots in Europe. Today, Brazilians and citizens of African countries such as Angola, Mozambique, East Timor, Macau, Cape Verde, San Tome Principe, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea call Portuguese their native language. Do note however that the the differences between Portuguese dialects is significant from country to country. Therefore a one size fits all approach can't be adopted.
- Russian: As the official language for 38 regions, Russia is a highly lucrative language to include in your localization strategy.
Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Arabic and French are also important, depending on where you're focusing your content expansion. For example, if your target market is South America, Spanish and Portuguese are the natural selection for your language localization efforts.
/Blog%20in-page%20images%202021/translate1.png?width=740&name=translate1.png)
Andovar helps businesses expand their global reach with important website, software and content translation services. Whether you need manual or automated translations or SEO-friendly URLs that improve your rankings internationally, we can help. When it comes to high-quality content across languages and regions, we speak your language.
