This section provides answers to common questions about Microsites and Multilingual Microsites.
How do Multilingual Microsites fit within a Digital Business Community?
Microsites and Multilingual Microsites provide the market visibility component within the Digital Business Community.
They help organisations and businesses improve discoverability, generate market engagement and support domestic and international business development.
What is the difference between a Microsite and a Multilingual Microsite?
Both have the same structure and functionality.
The difference is the language strategy selected by the organisation. The choices are:
You choose whichever is most appropriate for your organisation and objectives.
The FAQs are grouped into three main tabs:
1. Marketing
These questions relate to how your Multilingual Microsite supports international visibility, discoverability, and enquiry generation.
2. Operations
These FAQs explain how your Multilingual Microsite is configured, managed, and maintained, without requiring technical expertise.
3. Technical
These questions address the technical and structural aspects of Multilingual Microsites, including publication, indexing, URLs, classifications, and search-engine visibility.
The platform manages the technical complexity, allowing organisations and businesses to focus on content, visibility and business development.
If your question is not covered here, please feel free to contact us — and we will be pleased to assist.
The Next Tab, Marketing, answers practical questions about improving market visibility, attracting enquiries and making effective use of your Microsite.
Can I change my language strategy?
Yes. Many organisations begin with one or two languages and expand progressively as their business develops.
What do I do when I am contacted in a language I don’t speak?
Initially, you can use online translation tools such as DeepL or Google Translate for both incoming and outgoing messages.
If discussions progress and you require greater confidence in translation quality, or the support of an interpreter, we recommend using a professional language service provider: see the Translation Services listed in The ExportersAlmanac
You do not include a language that I need. What should I do?
We continuously work to expand language coverage. If you would like us to add another language, please send us your suggestion and we will see what we can do.
A foreign visitor comes from a foreign-language page of my Microsite to my English-language home website. Is that a problem?
Although not ideal, in practice, this is not usually a problem.
Multilingual Microsites allow you to create deep links to the most relevant sections of your main website, making it easier for visitors to find the information they need.
If a visitor is using Chrome, they can also activate the browser’s automatic translation feature by clicking “Translate” in the address bar.
What do I do if I am contacted but I’m not interested in the proposal?
You can, of course, choose not to respond. However, a brief and polite reply is often advisable.
A short message such as “Thank you for your enquiry, but this is not something we are able to pursue at the moment” is usually sufficient. If helpful, you can translate your response into the correspondent’s language using a tool such as Google Translate.
Maintaining a courteous response helps preserve goodwill and may be beneficial should circumstances change in the future.
My Multilingual Microsite is generating genuine interest from a particular country. What should I do next?
If you begin to see genuine interest from a specific country, this is often a signal that it may be worth taking more targeted action.
Typical next steps include:
The Next Tab, Operations, explains how to configure, manage and maintain your Microsite, together with practical guidance on achieving the best results.
What results can I expect, and how quickly?
Multilingual Microsites are designed to increase international discoverability and inbound interest over time.
Typical outcomes include:
The time taken to generate results varies from one organisation to another and depends on three principal factors: Search engine indexing.
Multilingual Microsites are designed to improve discoverability and validate international market interest. They do not guarantee immediate enquiries, sales or search rankings. Many organisations begin with a small language deployment and expand progressively as new markets are identified.
For guidance on preparing effective descriptions and keywords, refer to the Microsite Configuration Guide & Checklist.
Can AI help configure my Microsite?
Many subscribers choose to use AI tools such as ChatGPT to help draft or refine elements of their Multilingual Microsite configuration.
This can be particularly useful when:
AI-generated suggestions should always be reviewed and edited to ensure they accurately reflect your business and comply with any regulatory or commercial requirements relevant to your activity.
To help you get started, we provide a sample set of instructions - Sample Configuration Instructions for ChatGPT.docx - that you can adapt for your own use.
How important are the profile description and keywords?
They are very important. Search engines rely on the text contained in the company profile, page descriptions and keywords to understand what the microsite represents. Clear descriptions and well-chosen keywords help search engines match the microsite with relevant international search queries.
Can companies accelerate discovery?
Yes. Companies can help strengthen early signals by ensuring their profile and product descriptions are clear and well structured, and by referencing the Multilingual Microsite in their digital communications. For example, by linking to the Microsite from their website, LinkedIn profile, email signature and other digital communications.
Should companies modify their Multilingual Microsite content if no signals appear?
If no signals appear after several weeks, it may be useful to review the company profile, keywords and product descriptions to ensure they clearly describe the company’s activities and offerings. Improving clarity often improves discoverability.
Do I need to manage or update my Multilingual Microsite?
No. The service is fully managed.
You provide your core company, product, or service information once. There is no need for ongoing updates unless your business offering changes.
Will the Multilingual Microsites cause duplicate content or SEO issues?
No. Multilingual Microsites are structured specifically to support international discovery and to avoid common SEO issues associated with unmanaged translations or duplicated content.
They are designed to complement your main website, not to compete with or undermine it.
Can I see each language version of my Multilingual Microsite?
Yes. Once you have saved and published your Multilingual Microsite, all language versions are available within a few seconds.
You can view all published language versions by clicking the “Review” button.
Multilingual Microsites are published in 35 languages. Does this mean that there are 35 language interfaces?
Microsites can be published in a single language, two languages, selected regional languages or the full multilingual configuration.
The administration interface is currently available in English, Italian, Dutch and Ukrainian. Additional administration interface languages can be provided where required.
The Next Tab, Technical, explains the technical principles that underpin Microsites, including publication, URLs, classifications and search-engine visibility.
How long will it take for my Microsite to appear online?
As mentioned in “Configuring Your Multilingual Microsite”, when you publish your Multilingual Microsite for the first time, it may take a few hours before it becomes visible online. This is because a new subdomain is created and propagated across the internet.
After the initial publication, any subsequent changes or additions you make will typically become visible within a few minutes, and in all cases within a maximum of 10 minutes.
How can I check if my Multilingual Microsite can be found by foreign language searches?
Allow at least one week for search engines to index your Microsite.
Then:
Well-chosen keywords and phrases significantly improve discoverability.
What will be the address for my Multilingual Microsite?
The web address of your Microsite depends on how your organisation has chosen to implement its Digital Business Community.
For example, a Microsite may be published:
Each published language has its own web address using the appropriate language code.
Can I edit the text of a specific language?
No. You edit the content of your Configuration Pages, but individual translated language pages cannot be edited separately.
If you find that a translation is not satisfactory, we recommend adjusting the original text in your Configuration Page. When the microsite is updated, a revised translation will be generated automatically, often producing a clearer result.
Can I change my subdomain?
Yes. You can change your subdomain at no extra charge, provided that the new subdomain has not already been registered by another user. We recommend selecting a subdomain carefully because changing it may affect previously indexed URLs.
How do you classify Industry Sectors?
We provide an industry sector hierarchy with four levels, based on structures commonly used in international classification systems such as UK SIC, ISIC, and NACE.
We use simplified versions of internationally recognised classification systems because they:
How do you classify Products?
We provide a product hierarchy with three levels, based on structures commonly used in international product classification systems such as the HS and CN codes.
We use simplified versions of internationally recognised classification systems because they:
What do I do if I cannot find a Product or Industry Sector Description which applies to me?
If none of the available options fully reflect your activities, products, or services, we recommend the following approach:
N.B. If you are a service provider, where appropriate, describe your activities using the Company Description and Keywords sections rather than relying solely on predefined classifications.