You can't go far on the Internet today without running into a "global gateway." A global gateway is an all-encompassing term for the navigation
system that directs users to their localized Web sites. It
may be as simple as a "select your country" pull-down
menu...
... or it may be an entire splash page that users encounter before entering the Web site proper.
Web designers and marketers often overlook the importance of the gateways to the success of their localized Web sites. After all, what's the use of localizing a Web site into French if French speakers cannot find it?
Cosmetics companies are no strangers to globalization. It would take you only a few minutes to round up a half dozen Web sites that rely on some form of global gateway. Even if you have no interest in this industry, it's useful to study how companies address the universal problem of global navigation.
The Case of the Hidden Gateway
Home page real estate is precious. Often, the gateway to the localized sites is not given the prominence it requires, as shown here with Avon. See if you can find it.
The gateway is located on the lower right-hand corner in the "Inside Avon" section. The location and the text itself does not make it clear that this link will take users to localized Web sites. The text could just as easily lead to a global press release section. Instead, a phrase such as "Select your country" would have been more useful, since it's more in line with the majority of other gateways. Don't try to get too creative with your global gateway because your non-English speakers may not understand what you're saying.
Once you click on the link, you will arrive at another, more detailed, gateway, shown below:
Now this gateway is useful, but it comes one click too late. In Avon's defense, the localized sites do have country-specific domain names, such as www.avon.com.au for Australia or www.avon.ru for Russia. It is likely that Web users in Australia or Russia will type in the a country-specific address and skip the gateway altogether. But, once again, that's a big assumption to make. Instead of defaulting to an English-language Web page, many companies now rely on a splash gateway.
The Splash Gateway
In order to get to the MAC web site, users will first encounter the splash gateway, shown below. Users have three choices: USA, Canada, or Other. Granted, MAC could work on offering a few more localized sites, but it's a start. What makes a splash gateway so useful is that users know immediately what sites are available to them.
If you do build a splash gateway, don't load the page up with graphics. Numerous, and large, graphics result in slow-loading Web pages for dial-up users -- which make up the majority of users outside the U.S. (and even within the U.S.). As a necessary evil, the splash page must be built to load fast and get to the point. Needless to say, Flash-driven animated splash gateways are not a good idea.
The Clinique splash gateway offers a few more choices than MAC - seven in all. The logo is a link to the U.S. web site while the text links at the bottom of the page take the user to six localized sites. This gateway creates the impression that the U.S. site is a bit more important than the other sites, hence the large link. Whether or not this is true is irrelevent; the best gateways are those that treat all locales equally.
On a more practical note, when you create one link that overwhelms the others, Web users may not notice the "fine print" and end up on the U.S. site without realizing that other sites exist.
While Clinque offers seven choices, Lancôme offers a whopping 24 choices.
What's interesting about this gateway is that localized Web site links are provided in the native language of the end user, such as "Suomi" for Finland or "Italia" for Italy. Details such as these make a big difference to your Web users. Providing links in Asian languages is more challenging, because non-Asian Web users may not have the necessary fonts installed on their computers to view Asian text. As a workaround, you should embed the Asian text within graphics so they display properly on any browser regardless of font, as done here.
The one drawback to this gateway is that the "Other Countries" links above don't make any sense. Should an English-speaking user from the U.S. click on the "United States" link at the top of the page or this "English" link?
The Visual Gateway
While the previous three splash pages relied on text links, the Nivea gateway requires no text at all. Although the "Select your country" button is in English, the map overcomes any language barriers.
You don't have to understand what the text says to guess that you should click on your particular region. And once you do click on a particular region, a pop-up menu helps you drill down to a particular country. In all, Nivea offers an impressive 20 localized Web sites.
The tagline at the bottom of this gateway, "Or have a look at the International Version" is a bit confusing. How international can an English-only Web page be? It actually is placed there as a sort of a catch-all site for users who don't have a localized site to go to; if the link had been edited to simply say "Can't find your country? Please use our International Version" it would have been less confusing. Overall, the Nivea page does a good job of ensuring that users get to their specific sites before actually entering the site.
Making Gateways Disappear
Gateways are fine for the first time you visit a Web site, but you don't want to bump into the same gateway every time you return. Cookies come in handy in times like these. Cookies are commonly used to remember a user's shopping preferences; why not also store the user's language or country preference? As shown below, the IBM site asks users if they want to store their local preference:
By doing so, users won't have to bump into that gateway again and again; they will go straight to their localized sites.
Which Gateway is Best?
The best gateway is the gateway that works best with your users and your site. For example, if you only have two or three localized sites, the gateway you build will be quite a bit different than if you have 40 localized sites. The difference between an average gateway and an excellent gateway will be measured, ultimately, in traffic.
Here are a few guidelines you can follow that will help you develop a more successful gateway:
Want to Learn More?
Order the new Byte Level eBook: The Art of the Global Gateway.
... or it may be an entire splash page that users encounter before entering the Web site proper.
Web designers and marketers often overlook the importance of the gateways to the success of their localized Web sites. After all, what's the use of localizing a Web site into French if French speakers cannot find it?
Gateways to the Cosmetics Industry
Cosmetics companies are no strangers to globalization. It would take you only a few minutes to round up a half dozen Web sites that rely on some form of global gateway. Even if you have no interest in this industry, it's useful to study how companies address the universal problem of global navigation.
The Case of the Hidden Gateway
Home page real estate is precious. Often, the gateway to the localized sites is not given the prominence it requires, as shown here with Avon. See if you can find it.
The gateway is located on the lower right-hand corner in the "Inside Avon" section. The location and the text itself does not make it clear that this link will take users to localized Web sites. The text could just as easily lead to a global press release section. Instead, a phrase such as "Select your country" would have been more useful, since it's more in line with the majority of other gateways. Don't try to get too creative with your global gateway because your non-English speakers may not understand what you're saying.
Once you click on the link, you will arrive at another, more detailed, gateway, shown below:
Now this gateway is useful, but it comes one click too late. In Avon's defense, the localized sites do have country-specific domain names, such as www.avon.com.au for Australia or www.avon.ru for Russia. It is likely that Web users in Australia or Russia will type in the a country-specific address and skip the gateway altogether. But, once again, that's a big assumption to make. Instead of defaulting to an English-language Web page, many companies now rely on a splash gateway.
The Splash Gateway
In order to get to the MAC web site, users will first encounter the splash gateway, shown below. Users have three choices: USA, Canada, or Other. Granted, MAC could work on offering a few more localized sites, but it's a start. What makes a splash gateway so useful is that users know immediately what sites are available to them.
If you do build a splash gateway, don't load the page up with graphics. Numerous, and large, graphics result in slow-loading Web pages for dial-up users -- which make up the majority of users outside the U.S. (and even within the U.S.). As a necessary evil, the splash page must be built to load fast and get to the point. Needless to say, Flash-driven animated splash gateways are not a good idea.
The Clinique splash gateway offers a few more choices than MAC - seven in all. The logo is a link to the U.S. web site while the text links at the bottom of the page take the user to six localized sites. This gateway creates the impression that the U.S. site is a bit more important than the other sites, hence the large link. Whether or not this is true is irrelevent; the best gateways are those that treat all locales equally.
On a more practical note, when you create one link that overwhelms the others, Web users may not notice the "fine print" and end up on the U.S. site without realizing that other sites exist.
While Clinque offers seven choices, Lancôme offers a whopping 24 choices.
What's interesting about this gateway is that localized Web site links are provided in the native language of the end user, such as "Suomi" for Finland or "Italia" for Italy. Details such as these make a big difference to your Web users. Providing links in Asian languages is more challenging, because non-Asian Web users may not have the necessary fonts installed on their computers to view Asian text. As a workaround, you should embed the Asian text within graphics so they display properly on any browser regardless of font, as done here.
The one drawback to this gateway is that the "Other Countries" links above don't make any sense. Should an English-speaking user from the U.S. click on the "United States" link at the top of the page or this "English" link?
The Visual Gateway
While the previous three splash pages relied on text links, the Nivea gateway requires no text at all. Although the "Select your country" button is in English, the map overcomes any language barriers.
You don't have to understand what the text says to guess that you should click on your particular region. And once you do click on a particular region, a pop-up menu helps you drill down to a particular country. In all, Nivea offers an impressive 20 localized Web sites.
The tagline at the bottom of this gateway, "Or have a look at the International Version" is a bit confusing. How international can an English-only Web page be? It actually is placed there as a sort of a catch-all site for users who don't have a localized site to go to; if the link had been edited to simply say "Can't find your country? Please use our International Version" it would have been less confusing. Overall, the Nivea page does a good job of ensuring that users get to their specific sites before actually entering the site.
Making Gateways Disappear
Gateways are fine for the first time you visit a Web site, but you don't want to bump into the same gateway every time you return. Cookies come in handy in times like these. Cookies are commonly used to remember a user's shopping preferences; why not also store the user's language or country preference? As shown below, the IBM site asks users if they want to store their local preference:
By doing so, users won't have to bump into that gateway again and again; they will go straight to their localized sites.
Which Gateway is Best?
The best gateway is the gateway that works best with your users and your site. For example, if you only have two or three localized sites, the gateway you build will be quite a bit different than if you have 40 localized sites. The difference between an average gateway and an excellent gateway will be measured, ultimately, in traffic.
Here are a few guidelines you can follow that will help you develop a more successful gateway:
- Make it impossible to miss and easy to understand.
- If you use a splash gateway, keep graphics to a minimum.
- Use cookies to "remember" the user's locale preference.
- Use visual icons, such as maps or a globe.
- Flags are typically a bad idea; for example, what flag would use to represent Spanish?
- Finally, study other global gateways.
Want to Learn More?
Order the new Byte Level eBook: The Art of the Global Gateway.