Boston, MA, December 30, 2010 –(PR.com)– Many companies do

business online, but very few display the best practices for global

website design. What does it mean to build a global online presence, and

what do the world’s top websites do in order to accomplish this

feat? New research from Common Sense Advisory, “Gaining Global Web

Presence,” details the best (and worst) practices for the top 1,000

global websites, including eBay, Porsche, Avon, and Dell.

To conduct the research, the firm compiled 40,000 datapoints from

the 1,000 top global websites culled from three separate listings of

companies, brands, and websites: the Forbes Global 2000, Interbrand Best

Global Brands, and Alexa Top Sites. The team looked at each site’s

purpose, the number of languages and countries targeted, how social

media and video content were incorporated, and many other multilingual,

global web development factors.

Adds lead report analyst Ben Sargent Ben Sargent (born 1948) is an American editorial cartoonist. Since 1974, he has been drawing editorial cartoons for the Austin American-Statesman. His cartoons are also distributed nationally by Universal Press Syndicate. , “The best global

websites have certain things in common – most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly – above and beyond all other consideration; “above all, you must be independent”
above all, most especially , they’re

well-rounded, with a diverse mix of possibilities for interactivity, the

option to get content in multiple forms (text, audio, and video), and

they take advantage of social media platforms. The report allows for

companies across a multitude of industries and countries to benchmark

their website’s multilingual properties against the top online

brands and set a path for the site’s global future.”

Key datapoints include:

– Average number of languages per website grew in 2010. In 2009,

41% of Alexa’s top sites sported more than one language. In 2010,

Common Sense Advisory research found multiple languages on 46% – a

year-on-year growth rate of 12%.

– Fewer than half the top sites offer only one language. 433

websites addressed a single market in a single language with no attempt

to address the needs of geo-lingual visitors. Another 21 sites used a

single language but included navigation to country-specific content or

sites.

– Twitter A Web site and service that lets users send short text messages from their cellphones to a group of friends. Launched in 2006, Twitter (www.twitter.com) was designed for people to broadcast their current activities and thoughts.