The Tower of Babel (a.k.a. Babylon) - the legend

According to the Bible, many generations after Noah “the whole earth was of one language”.

An ambitious humanity congregated in Shinar (Babylon) - in the Middle East-, and set about to build a great tower, and on making a “name” for themselves, and remaining relatively localized – in direct disobedience to Jehovah’s command to fill the earth – the project was begun.

The divine Godhead was displeased with the unholy enterprise, and with mankind's choice to worship from its tower the sun, moon and the stars. Mankind had chosen to worship God's creations instead of the God Himself.

Hence God declared: “Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech”. The sacred decree was implemented causing them to stop building the city as they no longer could communicate and understand one another.

"Babel", which means confusion was the name given to the city because it is there that God multiplied language on the earth, causing people to scatter abroad.

Avoiding "babel" on any website and communicating in a language that your (potential) customer understands is key to your site's success.

Website success greatly depends on proper target marketing, identifying your customers and demographics. Consider that :

• The world population is estimated (1) at 6.3 billion people.
• Latest statistics (2) rank the largest population to be China followed by India, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil
• "50.4% of Web Users speak a native language other than English" (3)
• 43% of Web Users do not speak English at all (3)
• "Web users are up to three times more likely to purchase from a site that communicates in the customer's language" (4)
• "Site stickiness is doubled when a website is translated - visitors stay for twice as long" (5)
• "Almost one-third of websites are presented in a language other than English" (5)
• "37 million Americans do not speak English at home" (6)
• "Over 300 million people access the Internet in a language other than English" (3)
• "By 2008, 70% of all-online sales are expected to occur outside the US" (4)

What does that mean to you and your website?

Well, if it's the U.S. market you are targeting then English should be your language of choice but remember even in the U.S. 37% of the population is Spanish speaking. If you are targeting Europe, in general, it is common to have a multilingual website.

Internet users and e-commerce statistics are rapidly growing worldwide. Your website, when properly researched, is a strategic sales tool for your business when languages are taken into account.

Blade recognizes the importance of projecting your corporate voice clearly across the globe which is why we work with a team of specialized translators, technical experts and localization professionals to offer you a comprehensive service at competitive rates. Contact us for a "babel-free" site.

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Sources:

(1) U.S. Bureau of the Census International Data Base release updated 7-17-03
(2) The Population Reference Bureau
(3) Global Reach
(4) Forrester Research
(5) Messaging (Online)
(6) US Department of Health