Websites must have local appeal

Company directors need to understand the diversity of their organisations' international audience on the internet, according to Giga Information Group

Martha Bennett, the analyst's European vice president of research, explained that companies must take into account the differences in language and culture in a global market, even if they have no intention of dealing with customers outside their own country.

"Traditionally, boards have shown very little interest in the corporate website," she said. "Too many companies expect IT to resolve it, but it isn't in a position to provide the corporate content that only the board can offer."

If a company operates internationally, the board must appoint people at a local level to provide content relevant to local people in a format and language that will be understood by the target audience. "It sounds like common sense but, believe it or not, content is all too often insufficient," said Bennett.

English may be the predominant language on the web, but it might be the second or even third language of the majority of today's web users. "One thing companies must not do is assume that they can reach an international audience with an existing UK or US English-language site," she said.

Bennett explained that the board should take heed of a few basic issues before addressing its web strategy. "Boards must consider the target audience and whether it is large enough to warrant localising the site," she argued. "Consider the competition, see how they're operating and decide how heterogeneous you want the company to appear."

Bennett advised taking care to strike the right balance between central control and local autonomy. With too much central control, a sales strategy may not be sufficiently compelling for overseas markets.

With too little, brand images and advertising messages come into conflict, and overall IT costs can rise because of a failure to exploit the potential overlap between markets and technology deployment.