Who this decision is for
- A European manufacturer that has received Korean distributor inquiries by email and now needs a Korean-language site that buyers can forward internally to their managers.
- A software vendor opening a Korean sales effort whose English-only website is losing credibility with procurement teams who expect Korean documentation.
- A tourism or trade body whose Korean visitors currently land on a machine-translated page and need an official Korean presence.
- A foreign startup preparing investor and partner meetings in Seoul that wants a credible corporate site before the first meeting.
The decision to make
The core decision is how much of the global website to carry into Korean and how much to rebuild. A full mirror is expensive to maintain and often includes pages Korean readers never need. A short, focused Korean site with company overview, offerings, proof and contact usually performs the real job: giving a Korean reader enough confidence to reply.
The trade-off is depth against upkeep. More Korean pages create more to translate, review and keep in sync with headquarters. Fewer pages are easier to keep accurate but may leave buyer questions unanswered. Start from the questions a Korean counterpart asks before a first meeting, build for those, and expand only where inquiries show a gap.
Options compared
| Option | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Focused Korean microsite of five to ten pages | You are testing demand, have limited internal capacity, and need a credible presence quickly. | Thin coverage can stall serious buyers who want technical or commercial detail before replying. |
| Full Korean mirror of the global site | Korean buyers are a main revenue source and the global content is already stable and well structured. | Content drift between languages, higher review cost, and Korean readers wading through irrelevant pages. |
| Korean section rebuilt around local buyer questions | Your global site structure does not match how Korean buyers evaluate suppliers or partners. | Needs real research and internal approval time; not a quick translation project. |
Risks to manage
- Translation that reads foreign. Literal translation of headlines and company claims sounds stiff or unclear. Have native editors rewrite key pages, not only proofread them.
- Missing company identity details. Korean readers look for who is behind the company. Omit legal entity, address or contact and doubt grows. Show only details you can verify.
- Two versions that disagree. Product names, specs or contact details differ between Korean and global sites. Assign one owner and a change log for both.
- Search invisibility. A well-designed site that Naver and Google cannot index or understand brings no discovery. Plan indexing, titles and structure with the build.
Evidence to gather first
- A list of the questions Korean partners, buyers or officials have already asked your team, taken from email, meetings and sales notes.
- Verified company facts: legal name, registered address, contact person, product names and certifications you actually hold, with documents for each.
- Examples of competitor and peer Korean websites in your category, so structure and tone can be compared against what Korean readers already see.
- A decision on who inside your company approves Korean copy, and how fast they can respond.
Recommended process
- Define the Korean audience. SWIN and your team agree who the site is for: buyers, distributors, investors or officials. That choice sets the page list and the depth of each page.
- Review the global site. SWIN audits the current site, marks what should carry over, what needs rewriting and what Korean readers do not need.
- Plan structure and copy. We draft a sitemap, page outlines and Korean copy direction, with company details, offerings and contact routes placed where Korean readers look for them.
- Build and localize. Design, Korean writing, technical setup and indexing basics proceed together so the site is discoverable at launch.
- Launch and review. After launch we check inquiries, search behavior and page feedback, then recommend additions based on what visitors actually use.
What SWIN can deliver
- Agreed Korean sitemap with the purpose of each page written down.
- Korean copy for company overview, offering pages and contact page, reviewed by native editors.
- Mobile-ready, indexable Korean website with company details in the footer or about page.
- Change-control note explaining who updates Korean and global content and how.
- Post-launch review with recommended next pages.