GoDaddy, one of the world’s largest web hosting firms, on July 7, said it would make its services available in three Indian languages – Hindi, Marathi and Tamil – to enable over 31 million small businesses (SMBs) build their online presence.

The company said its SMB products, website, marketing and customer support will be available in three languages. Since it entered India in 2012, the company has managed to bring 600,000-paying customers, who avail their subscription services on its platform. The company has also reportedly seen a 38 per cent growth year-on-year.

According to Target Group Index (TGI) research, as much as 61 per cent of India’s prolific internet growth is from its regional belts.

“In a country where 22 languages are recognised and more than 1,500 dialects spoken, local languages play a significant role. After the initial launch and going by the response, we will look at other languages as well. By localising customer touch points, including our website, customer care, marketing and products, GoDaddy is focusing on being closer to its clientele,” said Rajiv Sodhi, Vice-President and Managing Director, GoDaddy India and Australia.

India is the world’s second-largest internet market and home to the second-largest SMB base globally, with over 51-million businesses forming the very fabric of its economy. According to data from TGI, 73 per cent of those SMBs are located in India’s Tier-II and III cities.

While regional language-enabling websites are at a nascent stage, the trend, said Sodhi, would pick up soon. “Tier-II and III would play an important role in developing this segment. This segment will grow, as the demand for such services increase at a steady pace. Since we are the market leaders, we want to be the first ones in this space to provide such services,” said Sodhi.

GoDaddy would be providing SMBs with the option of providing a domain name in the regional language and help them design the website to get maximum hits online.

That said, according to a 2015 survey by RedShift Research and GoDaddy, around 63 per cent of India’s small businesses still don’t have a dedicated website.

“For most of these businesses, building a digital presence can be seen as complex and often intimidating. Since a majority is non-English speaking, the ambitions of having an effective online presence may seem perceptibly beyond their reach,” the company said.

“We are starting with Hindi, Marathi and Tamil. GoDaddy SMB products, its website, marketing and customer support will be available in these three languages, to help empower the 88 percentile of India’s population, not conversant in English,” added Sodhi.

Globally, GoDaddy offers services in over 25 languages, apart from English. It has presence in 53 countries, with 14-million paying customers.

Source: Business Standard