Common Sense Advisory

Topic

Web Experience: By Definition, It Should Be Global

Related Research

Data

How We Researched this Report

Our Research Cohort: Top Brands and Most-Visited Sites

The “Funnel” Clarifies Both Designer Goals and User Intent

Purpose and Audience Influence Approach to Global Content

Site Organization Reflects Underlying Business Reality

Selling Physical Products? Most Organize by Country

No Physical Distribution Lets Companies Organize by Language

Domain Strategy Reflects Site Organization

Countries and Languages Most Favored by Global Companies

Analysis

Global Gateways Come in Three Flavors

Zero-Click Metanavigation Strategies Gain Ground

Geolocation Redirects Visitor to Best Country or Region Site

Content Negotiation Serves Page in Visitor’s Preferred Language

Must-Have Manual Overrides

Single-Click Strategies Empower Visitors

Active Menus Accelerate User Experience

Global Splash Makes a Brand Impression

Toggles Rule for Multilingual Country Sites

Multi-Click Strategies Are Still Too Commonplace

Worst Case Scenario: Pulldown Menu with Go Button

Stymied by Bad Site Organization

Manual Cookie Accept – Worth the Extra Click?

Preferred Grid Positions for Links and Metanavigation

Implications

Appendix A

Appendix B

Figures 

Figure 1: Country or Language Option Availability, by Cohort List Component

Figure 2: Funnel Metaphor Helps to Clarify Stages of Online Experience

Figure 3: Site Purpose and Intended Audience

Figure 4: Ad-driven Sites Organize by Language, Corporate Sites by Country

Figure 5: Sites Organized by Language Likely Use “All on one” Domain Strategy

Figure 6: Top-Level Domain Strategy Used Mostly by Corporate Sites

Figure 7: Site Deploy Decisions Leave Visible Trace in Domain Strategies

Figure 8: Selector Methods on Website Gateway Types

Figure 9: Best Use Cases for the Three Gateway Types

Figure 10: Nivea Provides Exemplary Case of “Brand.com” as Global Splash

Figure 11: Nivea’s Hosts Complete International Website on its “Brand.com”

Figure 12: Nivea Country Websites Each Resides at its Own TLD

Figure 13: Nivea’s U.S. Site Employs a Unique Domain, niveausa.com

Figure 14: Three in 10 Multilingual Sites Use Zero-Click Metanavigation Schemes

Figure 15: Best Use Cases for Geolocation and Content Negotiation

Figure 16: Metanavigation via Pulldown Menu on megaupload.com

Figure 17: Metanavigation via Active Foldout Menu on hp.com

Figure 18: Ikea’s “Brand” .com Splash Gateway

Figure 19: Toggle-style Navigation Common on Bilingual Country Sites

Figure 20: Toggle-style Navigation Leads to Abbreviations to Conserve Space

Figure 21: Semi-active Menus Lose the Extra Click for “Go”

Figure 22: Microsoft’s Four-Click Gateway Experience

Figure 23: Pulldown Menus Most Likely to Need 3-Clicks

Figure 24: Checkbox to Remember Visitor Choice a Common Gateway Feature

Figure 25: Where Metanavigation Appears or Gets Linked

Tables  

Table 1: Average Number of Countries and Languages on Offer, by Industry

Table 2: Organizing Principles for Domains

Table 3: Countries Most Frequently Found in Metanavigation

Table 4: Languages Most Frequently Found in Metanavigation

Table 5: Handicap Points and How They Add Up

Table 6: Top 40 Global Online Brands

Table 7: Top Alexa-listed Global Websites

Table 8: Interbrand-listed Global Websites