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Since launching in 2005, the Enterprise Nation team has helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder Emma Jones MBE, Enterprise Nation continues to be the most active UK small business community and a leading campaigning voice for small business. Joining Enterprise Nation connects you with resources, community and connections you need to reach your business goals.

Going global can seem a daunting prospect for small businesses. But the internet is making it easier - and more affordable than ever - for companies to dip their toes in overseas marketing. It can also reap huge rewards by tapping into growing, and under-served, markets. Christian Arno, founder of translation company 

, explains how you can span the world without leaving home.

Internet use is growing rapidly, mainly among non-English speakers. More than half of Google searches are now in other languages. While English use grew by 301.4 percent between 2000 and 2011, the number of Russian users rose by 1,825.8 percent and Arabic use soared 2501.2 percent. Chinese is expected to overtake English soon as the dominant online language. Unsurprisingly, most consumers want information in their mother tongue when buying goods. Businesses are struggling to keep up with this rapid expansion. For small companies, this means much less competition and higher returns on investment. It's easier to rise to the top of search engine rankings in other languages, simply because there's less content. And it's much cheaper to set up a website than an on-the-ground presence abroad. Of course, it's not quite as easy as running your website through Google Translate. Taking time to gain local knowledge, research the competition and target individual countries are the keys to success. Here are some tips to ensure your business doesn't get lost in translation.

While Europe might seem an obvious first step, don't forget to look further afield. There's huge growth in demand for consumer goods in China, the world's most populous nation, as well as other Asian economies, such as South Korea. If you're not sure where to start, free tools such as Google GlobalMarketFinder can identify the frequency of search keywords around the world.

Translating your entire website for each potential market can be expensive. Instead, just translate the main page and information about your bestselling products. Once you've established there is demand, you can expand the micro-site.

Ideally, register an in-country domain name for your website. Native-speaking translators and in-country localisation experts can ensure it has a local feel.Â  Remember, search keywords won't necessarily be direct translations of your English keywords.

International PR companies can get coverage on local industry websites. Social media is an increasingly valuable marketing tool. Set up separate Twitter feeds and Facebook pages for each country, and update them regularly.

This goes without saying, but it can be tricky across a language barrier.Â  Most small companies can't afford a native-speaking sales team, so it's best to restrict communication to email or online forms. While you'll want to ensure replies to customers are word-perfect, you can cut costs by using a free service like Google Translate to understand the gist of incoming communications.

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Christian is the founder of professional translation services provider 

. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has more than 160 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have

translated more than 60 million words for businesses in every industry sector, including the likes of MTV and World Bank.You can meet Christian and hear his advice in person in the first of the Go Global series of free events supported by DHL and Regus at the O2 Workshop in Tottenham Court Road, London, on Wednesday, 29th February. Christian will show how to localise your websiteÂ and attractÂ online visitors from across the globe. 

Register here to hear more from Christian Arno in person.

5 tips for reaching customers on the foreign language internet

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Managing Director

business.connected: Create highly effective landing pages

Watch back: Insight into creating highly effective landing pages for your business

&lt;p&gt;I'm the founder of The Digital Index, a data focused consultancy offering small business data support. As a data and insights analyst with 6+ years experience I have seen that small busines&amp;nbsp;are sitting on huge potential with their data and I want to help with easy, simple data analysis so small business can make the best business decisions.&lt;/p&gt;

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Director and Data Analyst

Data Analysis for Small Business

This group is for those wanting to become a more data-driven business, or those already utilising their data for decisions.

This group is here to support, guide and help, so please ask questions about data use in your business and provide support to others where you can.

Creative Director

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Steven Case

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