World Trade Center to Present Free Webinar to Teach Online Exporting, Website Localization

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The World Trade Center Arkansas is partnering with IBT Online to present a free webinar from 9-11 a.m. Tuesday, July 16, to teach businesses how to use their website to sell online to international markets.

IBT Online is an international online marketing company that specializes in website localization, the practice of adapting websites to local languages and customs in target markets. Since 2002 they have helped hundreds of companies, including Arkansas companies, expand their online global presence. They partner with the World Trade Center to conduct the Arkansas Online Global Program to increase the number of Arkansas businesses exporting online.

"Website localization and online exporting is more critical now than ever before," said Denise Thomas, Director of Africa and Middle East Trade for the World Trade Center Arkansas. "Only 25 percent of internet users speak English and the most important global websites receive 86 percent of their traffic from outside United States. So there a huge market that could be missed if websites are not equipped to reach these non-native speakers."

According to IBT Online, leveraging a website is an easier step than companies think at first. Technological advances have put foreign sales opportunities within the reach of small businesses, the company says.

"Selling online is the easiest way to export and the website localization is critical to selling online effectively," Thomas said.

Thomas will join Susanna Hardy, chief content officer for IBT Online to present the webinar. Participants will have the opportunity to learn:

• How to make websites effective and compliant for international markets.
• Why exporters need localized websites, country specific search engine optimization, international online marketing and social media.
• Key insights on Arkansas' top export destinations.
• How the World Trade Center Arkansas's support for the Online Global Program can help them.

Participants will also get access to case studies of Online Global Programs that have delivered for companies and get practical examples of how exporters in Arkansas are using the web today to grow their international sales.

Click here to register for this webinar or for more information, visit ibt.onl or contact Thomas through email at deniset@uark.edu.

The mission of the World Trade Center Arkansas is to grow trade and increase Arkansas exports by connecting Arkansas businesses to the world through international trade services. The Center is part of the University of Arkansas and serves as the trade promotion arm for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. For more information and valuable updates, please follow the Center on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to the World Trade Center Arkansas newsletter.