An exporting manufacturer's website has to do four things at once: be found in the terms the target market uses, explain a technical product to a foreign engineer, prove the company is real, and route demand into a clear flow. The 30-item list below checks those four axes in order.
The list is fully visible on the page and printable. There is no PDF locked behind an e-mail address.
The four axes
An export site is usually strong on one axis and weak on the other three. The most common case: visually strong but technically unfindable. The second most common: full of technical information but carrying no trust signals.
A. Findability (1–8)
- Have you researched the terms the target market actually uses? (The same product may have three different names in English.)
- Does every language have its own indexable URL? (Automatic redirection by browser language is not sufficient on its own.)
- Are reciprocal
hreflangtags correctly implemented, includingx-default? - Are product pages separate from the category page and individually indexable?
- Do technical terms appear on the product page? (Standard names, material codes, capacity units.)
- Are titles and descriptions original in every language, or do they read as translations?
- Does the XML sitemap cover every language?
- Have Core Web Vitals been measured on the average device and connection of the target market?
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Start the 3-Minute CheckB. Comprehensibility (9–16)
- Is “what is this product for” answered on the first screen?
- Are metric and imperial units both given?
- Are the standards and certifications you comply with written on the page? (CE, ISO, ASME, EN equivalents.)
- Is the technical data sheet downloadable, and does it require registration?
- Is the working principle explained visually? (Cutaway, exploded view or animation.)
- Can variants and options be compared in a table?
- Are application areas and typical use cases written out?
- Is terminology consistent across languages? (Is there a glossary or term list?)
C. Credibility (17–24)
- Are the legal company name, address and founding details visible?
- Is there real information about the production facility? (Capacity, floor area, processes.)
- Are quality processes and test methods described?
- Does the contact page name a real person or department?
- Is a response time commitment stated? (For example “reply within 24 hours”.)
- Can certification documents be viewed?
- Are the photographs from real production, or stock imagery?
- Do the privacy and data processing notices comply with the target market's regulation? (KVKK and GDPR separately.)
D. Buyability (25–30)
- Is the enquiry form short, and is it clear why each field is requested?
- Are direct e-mail and phone options available besides the form?
- Does an instant channel such as WhatsApp actually work?
- Is distributor and dealer enquiry a separate flow?
- Is the minimum information required for a quotation listed?
- Are the trade fair calendar and a meeting request on the site?
Mobile and speed: the demand you lose silently
The most overlooked loss on export sites is on mobile. A foreign buyer usually opens your site from a phone — in a fair hall, on a plant floor, or travelling. If the page is slow, or a technical table cannot be scrolled sideways, the evaluation ends there and no form will ever show you that it happened.
Four things to check:
- Measure under target-market conditions. A site that opens fast on office wi-fi does not deliver the same experience on a slow mobile connection.
- Make technical tables scrollable. A table must scroll inside its own container rather than dragging the whole page sideways.
- Do not depend on PDFs. Product information available only as a PDF lowers both mobile readability and searchability.
- Keep contact one tap away. Phone and WhatsApp links must be tappable; making someone copy a number is needless friction.
Who should run the checklist, and how?
Letting the marketing team fill this in alone is a common mistake; the result comes out optimistic. The healthy method is three people completing it separately and then discussing the differences:
- The export manager assesses credibility and buyability realistically — they know which question customers actually ask.
- The product or application engineer assesses comprehensibility: could a foreign engineer select the product from this page?
- The web or marketing lead assesses findability.
The gap between the three assessments teaches more than the list itself. Where an engineer says “no” and marketing says “yes”, you learn whose language the site was written in.
Scoring
One point per “yes”. Out of 30:
- 0–12: The site does not represent the company's real capacity. Priority sits on comprehensibility and credibility.
- 13–21: The basics exist but conversion is weak. Priority sits on buyability and findability.
- 22–27: In good shape. Priority moves to content depth and market-level adaptation.
- 28–30: The site is not the obstacle. Priority moves to demand generation and visibility.
Which language, for which market?
A language decision is a market decision before it is a translation budget decision. The practical frame:
- English is the mandatory base for most exporters; it is the language of technical communication across the Gulf, northern Europe and many other markets. This is where investment starts.
- German is decisive if you sell into the DACH region, where expectations for technical documentation in the local language are high and an English page is often not sufficient.
- Arabic makes a difference in Gulf after-sales and dealer communication; it is a priority in support content more than on product pages.
- Other languages open only where genuine sales capacity exists in that market — a dealer, a representative, a service team. A language without sales capacity generates enquiries nobody can answer.
The rule is simple: open a language when there is a person who can answer demand arriving in it. Otherwise a new language creates reputational risk rather than visibility.
What changes per market?
The order of arguments is rebuilt per market for the same product. The practical differences observed across the three regions MORFAXIS works in:
| Region | Evidence that moves the decision | What content prioritises |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | Standards, certification, compliance documents | Technical document quality, unit systems, EN/ISO equivalents |
| Gulf / Dubai | Project references, delivery speed, on-site support | Project narrative, visual evidence, a fast contact channel |
| Türkiye | Dealer network, service and after-sales assurance | Service scope, spare parts, field team |
The brand message stays the same in all three; what changes is the order of evidence. Without that distinction content lands in the “translated but unconvincing” category.
The enquiry form: what to ask and what not to
The form screen is where export sites lose most enquiries. Practical rules:
- Do ask: country, application area, capacity or size range, estimated quantity, timeline. These are genuinely needed to prepare a quotation, and buyers know it.
- Do not ask: budget figures, tax numbers, detailed company data. These break trust at first contact.
- Explain: add one line saying why each field is requested.
- Leave alternatives: keep e-mail, phone and WhatsApp visible beside the form; in some markets first contact happens by instant message.
- Make a promise: a stated response time converts better than the form itself.
The three most common mistakes
1. Direct translation. Translating the Turkish copy word for word does not persuade in the target market. Evidence order and technical emphasis have to change per market.
2. Putting technical documents behind an e-mail wall. An engineer who cannot reach the data sheet stops evaluating the product. The wall does not generate demand; it blocks it.
3. No post-fair flow. Without content and a follow-up sequence ready for the business cards collected at a fair, most of that fair investment is spent for nothing.
Related pages
- Why doesn't ChatGPT recommend my brand? Ten real reasons
- How to produce a machine working-principle animation
This guide was written by the founder of MORFAXIS and reviewed for technical accuracy before publication.
