{"id":181541,"date":"2025-03-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/motionpointstaging.wpmudev.host\/?post_type=blog&p=1286"},"modified":"2025-03-20T08:32:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T12:32:32","slug":"is-english-still-the-lingua-franca-of-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.motionpoint.com\/blog\/is-english-still-the-lingua-franca-of-the-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"Is English Still the \u2018Lingua Franca\u2019 of the Internet?"},"template":"","blog_categories":[10,5,9,15],"resource_categories":[37,30,35,33,21,32,17],"targeted_localized_audience":[],"document_categories":[],"class_list":["post-181541","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","blog_categories-marketing-strategies-customer-experience","blog_categories-international-business-strategies","blog_categories-marketing-strategies","blog_categories-website-translation","resource_categories-content-type-blog-post","resource_categories-business-goal","resource_categories-content-type","resource_categories-business-goal-global-expansion","resource_categories-topic-international-marketing","resource_categories-business-goal-optimize-performance","resource_categories-topic"],"acf":{"article_word_count":"2322","article_read_time":"9","blog_short_description":"For years, companies have served global consumers exclusively with English-language websites. Have they been getting it wrong all this time? ","news_inline_styles":"","blog_video_id":"","article_body":"

Language enhances human connections and shapes our day-to-day lives in powerful ways\u2014both in the real world and online. <\/span><\/h3>\n

In the global marketplace, customers invest far more trust in, and spend more on, websites that literally speak their preferred languages.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet many major companies are just now beginning to appreciate the vital role language and website translation play for online global customers. Not only does it govern our online conversations and behavior, but it also limits what information we access.<\/span><\/p>\n

Customers invest far more trust in, and spend more on, sites that literally speak their preferred language.<\/h3>\n

Twenty years ago, <\/span>researchers determined<\/span><\/a> that about 80% of the Internet\u2019s content was published in English\u2014not surprising, given that the Internet was initially developed <\/span>in the U.S. and UK<\/span><\/a>, and was rapidly adopted in those countries.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These days, businesses need more than English-only websites if they hope to connect effectively with global customers. The Internet and the world have changed radically since the mid-90s. To remain competitive, companies must keep pace.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Evolution of Internet Communication\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Since then, a lot has changed. The Internet’s expansion into a global communication landscape was swift. In 1993, after 10 years of existence, it only communicated 1% of the information flowing through two-way telecommunications networks. That shot up to 51% by 2000, and more than 97% by 2007.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some of the ways the internet was able to expand into a global communication tool:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n