Catering to the Internet users in tier II and III towns, technology giant Google is now focusing on expanding usage of its products like Maps and searching in Indian languages, especially Hindi.
Hindi is one of the official and most prominent languages in the Union of India. There are more than 500 million Hindi Speakers in a population of 1.3 billion in India. Hindi is the fourth most spoken language in the world after Mandarin, Spanish, and English.
Hindi content consumption on Internet growing is on the rise
While there are an estimated 500 million speakers of Hindi, there are just about 100,000 Wikipedia articles. There is going to be an avalanche of Hindi language content on the web. This is because of a sudden spurt in Internet Users throughout India due to Digital India Campaign and awareness about the advantage of Internet for Entertainment, Education, and Commerce. Due to better internet connectivity, affordable prices of Smartphones and the convenience factor, Internet usage has been growing.
India is the fastest growing country in the world in terms of the number of Internet users. It is also one of the lowest in terms of penetration level. Along with the growth of Internet comes the need for content in native language.
There is a growing demand from internet users who aspire for native language content instead of English. It is not surprising therefore for global companies to take advantage of the huge potential that exists for market expansion in India by resorting to website localization Hindi as a top priority. “India’s Internet population is growing really fast, from 100 million users in 2011, we are now the world’s second largest Internet base with 300 million users and we are well-poised to touch 500 million by 2017,” Google India Marketing Director Sandeep Menon told PTI.He added that one in five (21 percent) prefers to access Internet in Hindi in the country.
Multi-lingual website – A cost-effective marketing tool
A multilingual website is one of the most cost-effective marketing tools to build relationship with the consumer. A website in the local language is more preferred due to comfort level in reading the content in their local language. It helps to promote the products in the target market without having to spend an exorbitant amount.
To do business in India, multilingual website will become a necessity. Start early on a multi-lingual website. Website translation in Hindi could be the first priority. Engage with Shakti Enterprise, a professional translation service provider for the entire translation and localization requirement. You will find the results rewarding.