TEN MOST USED LANGUAGES ON THE INTERNET

Ten most used languages on the Internet

With so many languages available online, many website owners wonder whether they should translate or localize their websites. For some time now, the English language has been the most common language on the internet. The dominance has been mostly constant and still is. But there is a lot of other language content on the internet besides English. The idea of multiple languages is changing the way websites work now more than ever. Companies and individuals from all over the world should consider translating their websites. Some of the most spoken languages in the world are the ones people use on the internet.

It is one of the great ideas you should consider translating your website into other languages. There are many reasons to make sure your site is available in more than one language. Language translation tools can be used to translate your websites. You can download them from the internet for offline use, or you can use them online. Whichever works for you? According to statistics, the top languages used on the internet are:

1. English

According to statistics, English is the most prevalent language online. The English language is used by 25.3% of internet users. It is no surprise that English dominates the internet, as it has for many years. It was the founding language of the internet, which means that most content is in English, then translated to the language of your preference.

2. Chinese

It is believed that Chinese is the fastest growing language in the world, and according to statistics, this is indeed the case. Chinese take the second place with 19.8% of internet users using it. The population of 1.35 billion makes it deserving of a second place on the log. If you want to make your website accessible to Chinese speakers, you need to translate it.

3. Spanish

There are over 750 million people who speak Spanish in the world. Over half of them speak Spanish as their native language. If you would like to reach this population, you need to translate or adapt your website. The content available in Spanish is increasing. Spanish speakers are becoming more connected, so they need more content in their language. Reports show that Spanish is the third most used language on the internet, used by 8% of users. The ranking is progressively expected to increase in the coming years.

4. Arabic

Arabic was just a small language a few years ago that people used on the Internet. In 2015, it was not even in the top ten languages used on the internet, but it has grown to be one of the most used languages online. There are more than 16 million Arabic internet users today, despite only 37% of Arabic speakers being connected to the internet in 2013. It is worth trying to translate your website into Arabic because the language just misses out on the top three.

5. Portuguese

Portuguese content online has grown since 2011. As time went by, the number of Portuguese speakers connected to the internet increased to 131.9 million. This implies that at least 4.1% of Portuguese-speaking people use the internet. Even though the language may seem like a donkey compared to horses, it comes in fifth place.

6. Indonesian/Malaysian

These languages would be unlikely to take the sixth spot on the list. If you want to reach your target group, it's important to translate your website to Malaysian/ Indonesian. These people would like to find more information about foreign products and services, so you can translate your website to these languages. 

7. Japanese

The Japanese language has been used the most on the internet since 2011. The Japanese speakers are creating a lot of content online. There is a lot of room for improvement. Localizing your website to Japanese will bring you more traffic, business, and an increase in your return of investment. According to surveys conducted by Internet Solutions, 3% of internet users are Japanese, which translates to more than 114.9 million users.

8. Russian

The Russian language has experienced considerable growth, with over 103.1 million users online. More people are using it to access content on the internet, so it is seventh on the log. In 2011, the number of people who speak Russian and use the internet went up by 41.5 percent. Translating your website into the Russian language is possible with top language translation tools.

9. French

Most people would have thought that the language would be in the top five on the list. Although French is an official language of 29 countries and that France has a reputation for protecting the French language, French surprisingly has a decent share of website users. There are approximately 2.8 internet users who are ninth on the log.

10. German

German was the tenth most common language used on the internet in 2015. The statistic remains largely unchanged. According to recent statistics, German ranks tenth among the languages used online, with 2.2% of online users.