Domain names are going global
Until last year, domain names could only be created using Latin characters a-z and numbers 1-9. This excluded accented characters and scripts such as Arabic, Chinese and Korean. In 2010, the use of non-Latin scripts in domain names was enabled, limited at first to the use of the country’s name in the official language.
Just how important is it to have domain names in various languages? We have previously discussed the importance of translating a website (obviously something we believe in!) in order to reach a wider audience, and surely domain names are an extension of that. Do Arabic speakers trust sites with domain names ending in .com or .co.uk? According to recent reports by the BBC, whilst some argue that domain names are becoming less important, given the ever-increasing popularity of social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook, others believe a good domain name is a sign of the importance and standing of a website. If potential visitors are discouraged from visiting a site that is only available in another language, surely the same applies to domain names? (more…)
Thinking of Japan
Japanese is one of the languages most often requested by our clients, and so Web-Translations naturally has many connections with Japan, with translators, designers, typesetters and web developers alike.
Our thoughts go out to our friends and colleagues suffering the terrible effects of the recent earthquake and tsunami, and we hope that they and their families are safe. We hope they are soon able to rebuild their lives and country.
You can make a donation and get involved in the appeals that have been set up by the following charities to help with the disaster in Japan: