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The Internet enables even the smallest companies to do business on a global basis. But it’s not just a matter of slapping up a Web site and expecting sales orders to come rolling in from all over the world. Building an effective global presence via the Web takes lots of planning and requires that organizations understand local markets and the needs of customers overseas.

“First and foremost, companies that want to be global on the Web should do more than pay it lip service,” says Ron Rogowski, p rincipal analyst at Forrester Research. “ Too many companies take what they have in the U.S. — or their home market, if not in the U.S. — and export it via translated content and think they're done. But users are different around the world, and it's imperative that companies know who they are and how they behave.”

Rogowski says companies should include local marketers in their decision-making process. “A good way to do this is to establish a global site committee made up of individuals from key regions or markets who can help companies create content and functions that are global or can be easily localized to suit target markets,” he says.

Organizations looking to do business globally face several key challenges. These include dealing with cultural differences, working with multiple currencies, handling issues involving legal or government regulatory restrictions, understanding tax code differences and overcoming language barriers.

There are many software products that can help organizations deal with these challenges and build a global Web presence. These include applications for language translation, currency conversion, customs forms processing, tariff calculation and global shipping cost calculation.

Language translation alone can be a huge consideration. Sometimes organizations will need to translate numerous documents into multiple languages daily as information is updated. Some software products are capable of translating several hundred documents a day into different languages. Automating the translation process eliminates a huge amount of labor-intensive manual processes.

Currency conversion is another important consideration, as customers will want to see prices and do business in their own currency. Currency conversion software enables companies to display pricing in multiple currencies. Along with the front-end Web applications, companies will need back-end applications to support multiple currency transactions.

In addition to supporting local languages and currencies, organizations that want to reach a foreign market need to cater to the cultures and preferences of that market. That might mean customizing Web sites for individual countries or regions by designing these sites based on the likes and dislikes of the local market. One tactic is to consult with local businesses to determine the best way to present information on a site.

Businesses also must deal with factors such as calculating the cost of shipping goods overseas, international customs duties and overseas tax codes.

And companies wishing to do business overseas via the Web need to be aware of all legal and regulatory issues that could have an impact on business. For example, countries might have regulations about how certain customer information is used. This is where lots of advanced planning and research about foreign markets can pay off.

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