A Study Of Localization Strategies Adopted By Chinese (Global) Corporate Websites

Due to the prevalence of web-based cross-cultural communication, more and more Chinese companies have established their English websites as a global window to promote their products and brands in the overseas market. Building up well constructed English websites for Chinese corporations goes far beyond mere translation, but calls for a more complicated process of website localization which can cater to target users in an even better way. With findings from the comparative analysis and theories from previous literature, the present thesis probes into the localization strategies which should be adopted by Chinese (global) corporate websites.The present research selects the websites of four companies in high-tech industry-Huawei and Lenovo of China, Cisco and IBM of America-as the examples for comparative analysis. It is discovered that the websites of Chinese and American companies share some similarities in website purposes and functions, website columns and elements. However, their linguistic differences shown in company profiles, cultural differences on various subpages and physical differences in web page design remain the key to website localization. Supported by theories and researches of localization, with the comparative findings in this thesis, the author proposes three localization strategies for Chinese (global) corporate websites:web text translation should be the first step, including the trans-editing method of condensation and deletion, structure reorganization and adaptation; then the web content should be customized based upon the classification of global content and local content; finally the web page should be redesigned by focusing on the adjustments of page layout and visual elements. In addition, successful website localization also requires update management in order to guarantee website quality and retain target customers.The study aims to explore specific localization strategies for Chinese (global) corporate websites, thus improving their website practices. It is expected that the findings of the thesis can provide some practical insights into the localization efforts of Chinese (global) corporate websites and meanwhile offer some inspiring suggestions for future studies of website localization.