Use Your Users’ Language - And Use It Well!

By Gemma Birch


Shari Thurow, founder and SEO Director of Omni Marketing Interactive, answers a few questions about search and international usability.

- If you could give just one tip to search marketers working on global campaigns, what would it be?

My one search marketing tip is actually a website usability tip: use your users’ language, and use it well. British English is very different from (US ) American English and Australian English. Parisian French is very different from Canadian French. Spanish in Spain is different from Mexican and Argentinean Spanish. The grammar is different. The slang is different. Word nuances are different. It is so very important to use your users’ language.

- You’ll be speaking about the scent of information at the International Search Summit - what exactly does that mean?

On a website the scent of information consists of textual and graphical cues that communicate:
(1) Where am I?
(2) Where can I go?
(3) How can I get there?
(4) Should i click on this link?

When the scent of information is strong and reinforces user mental models, people click. When the scent of information is diminished or lost, people leave your website.

- And what is the impact of this on international websites - do scents differ between countries?

Absolutely! Words have different meanings in different languages. And colours have different meanings in different languages. Therefore, if words and images communicate different meanings in different countries, then the scent of information differs between countries.

- During all of your research, what is the most interesting or surprising fact you have discovered about international usability?

Credibility is an important facet of user experience. I am continually surprised at how people in different countries determine a website’s, and a company’s, credibility. In the United States, there is a directness that is expected and acceptable. In other countries, that directness is unexpected and often perceived as rude, even though it is never our intention to be rude. Therefore, placement of the About US, News and Testimonials and Case Studies on a site is different in different countries.

Associated Link: Use Your Users’ Language - And Use It Well!

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