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The most spoken languages on the internet in 2022
Mar
To have a highly successful website that transcends borders, the best option is adaptation and translation into other languages. A well-adapted site not only shows interest in the globalized world, it also allows for greater dissemination by the users themselves. But, do you know which are the languages most used by them and which are the most successful languages on the internet? Join us to discover and analyze them so that you can choose the one that best suits your project.
If, on the other hand, you want to know more about The importance of translating ecommerce content, we recommend our blog post with the same name. There you can better understand why this is so important for the globalized world.
How is a language counted on the internet?
To understand the information we will share with you below, you first need to understand how it is counted and classified. The numbers recorded for each case are vastly different, so you should know which of the two you should focus on to generate a multilingual strategy and translate your website.
In the first place we have the number of users who use the Internet and the language in which each one does so. This statistic, which we will see in detail later, measures how many people, whether native or not, use each language to browse the internet. This is very useful when translating your website since knowing this number will allow you to target the most popular market.
In second place, there are the statistics of how many webpages exist in each language. W3techs took as a sample the 10 million most successful web pages worldwide and recorded the language in which each one was found. You will find the results below.
The language that doesn’t stop growing
Ten years ago, BBC published an article declaring English as the language that will dominate the internet. Among their arguments was the statistical fact that, even if half of the web pages were in Chinese by that time, more and more people were adopting English as a second language.
And there is a reason for choosing it as such: it is a language that more and more people are learning and, therefore, it is beginning to become universal. Its popularity on the internet developed because, despite not mastering it, people can use it without problems in this medium. Even today few pay attention to spelling and not to mention pronunciation, becoming a paradise to apply it and be able to communicate with people from all over the world.
The anglicisms present in a wide variety of languages also help this communication decision. The most curious thing is that by 2012 it had evolved into what the BBC article called “glish” or combinations of the local language with English. Two great examples are the “Spanglish” , a mix of Spanish with the Anglo-Saxon language and the “Hinglish” where it joins Hindi.
It is interesting to think that in ten years of constant advances and technological innovations, the linguistic situation of the Internet has not changed that much. Today more than half of web pages are written in English. In addition, statistics show that there are already more than 1,100 million users who surf the net in this language.
English also dominates the statistical list when we talk about webpages with the most visits. Currently, 63.7% of them are written in the so-called “universal language”. The number is even more impressive when we compare it with the next language, Russian, which only writes 6.8% of these pages.
Don’t underestimate second places
The predominant presence of this language both on the internet and in our daily lives is undeniable. However, we cannot ignore another language that, despite having lost its supremacy, continues to move an enormous number of users: we are talking about Chinese.
By 2012, more than half of the web pages on the internet were in Chinese. The reason? The entry of the Asian giant into cyberspace meant a big change in the user count. By that time, more than half of China’s population had access to the internet, we are talking about more than 675 million people. Consequently, the webs targeted this audience.
However, globalization also affected this phenomenon. For that reason, even native speakers of this language switched to English in order to communicate with markets and users from the rest of the world.
Despite this fact, today we cannot underestimate the number of people who use Chinese to navigate the Internet. By 2020 the number had risen to more than 888 million and has continued to rise.
On the other hand, at this point separations begin to be generated in the statistics. Although Chinese is the second language with the most users on the Internet, the second most used for the creation of web pages with a high success rate reflected in their visits has been Russian. In this statistic, the simplified version of the Asian language moves to 10th place.
In other words, the fact that there are a large number of Chinese-writing and/or Chinese-speaking users on the Internet does not ensure that pages written in their language are positioned successfully. Russian, being a language with only 118 million users, has a success rate of visits 5 times higher.
Don’t choose the most popular, choose the one that works best for you!
While the stats are a guide, don’t forget to always make your decision based on the audience you’re targeting. The Internet is full of tools available in all languages that will help you make the best decision to translate your website in 2022. Take your time and find the most appropriate one(s).
If what you are looking for is virality and globalization, English will undoubtedly be the language that will open doors for you this year. However, if what you need is diffusion in a specific audience, you should not take the statistics so personally. The important thing is that you keep your marketing plan as a guide to make the best decision.
A multilingual website will give your potential customers or followers a better user experience. Today, simply with a drop-down menu, you can give them the option to see your content or products in the language that suits them best. Such a small detail can make them want to come back more often!
Of course you don’t need to learn every language you want to target. All you have to do is study your audience and hire a translation agency like Lebloo to obtain professional results that will delight your audience anywhere in the world.
Remember that the two great keys to making your website really popular are: Do not neglect the user experience with details as simple as keeping your information updated and offering them quality content. Everything that involves a language is our specialty!
Trust us to ensure that all the world can receive your message.
