WebGiraffe.net has selected 10 free online resources about the French trade: importation, exportation, trade regulations, … All of these reports were published in the last 3 years.

1. Winning business in France

Date: 2009 – Pages: 85
Source: Entreprise Ireland
Content:: Foreword, France in Context: The Decision to Expand into France, Developing the Business Case, A Practical Guide to Doing Business in France, How Enterprise Ireland can Help, Data File and Further Reading – Download PDF

2. Doing Business in France: 2009 Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies

Date: 2009 – Pages: 153
Source: U.S. & FOREIGN COMMERCIAL SERVICE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATES
Content: Doing Business In France, Political and Economic Environment, Selling U.S. Products and Services, Leading Sectors for U.S. Export and Investment, Trade Regulations and Standards, Investment Climate, Trade and Project Financing, Business Travel, Contacts, Market Research and Trade Events, Guide to Our Services – Download PDF

3. Approaching France: 5 reasons to develop your business in France

Date: 2008 – Pages: 9
Source: UCCIFE
Content: The French Economy, Globalisation of the economy, Infrastructures, Research & development, Geographic Characteristics, Demographic information, The French State – Download PDF

4. Doing business in France

Date: 2009 – Pages: 92
Source: Invest in France Agency
Content: Setting up business in France successfully, French labor law, A Favorable environment for international mobility, Business taxes in France, Government support for business – Download PDF

5. France country brief

Date: 2009 – Pages: 14
Source: New Zealand Trade & Enterprise
Content: Key economic indicator, Overview, Political, Imports and exports, Sector opportunities, Sustainability, Market entry, Regulatory issues, Taxation, Freight, Doing business in France, Visa requirements, Time difference, Holidays, Contacts, Useful websites – Download PDF

6. French economy overview

Date: 2009 – Pages: 8
Source: Embassy of Israel
Content: Economic policy Overview, Economic outlook, Foreign trade, Business opportunities, Doing Business in France – Download PDF

7. France Country Profile

Date:2010
Source: Fedex
Content: Country Information, Trade Group Member, General Import Clearance Information, France Import Prohibitions, General Import Restrictions, France Import Restrictions, Special Import Provisions, Standards, General Export Clearance Information, France Export Prohibitions, General Export Restrictions, France Export Restrictions, Regulatory Contact Information – View Page

8. France’s Top Imports & Exports 2008

Date: 2008
Source: Daniel Workman
Content: French Trade with the U.S., Fastest-Growing French Exports to America, France’s Top Imports from America, Fastest-Growing French Imports from the U.S. – View Page

9. The French Republic

Date: 2007 – Pages: 8
Source: Enterprise Europe Network
Content: Economic overview, Infrastructure environment, Major sectors of the economy, Opportunities for UK exporters/investors, Business culture, Setting up a business in France, Further sources of information/useful addresses – Download PDF

10. France

Date: 2007
Source: FITA
Content: Introduction, Business Environment, Economic/political overview, Selling and buying, Operating a business, Investing, Traveling – View Page

The FEVAD recently released a report about the e-commerce industry in France.

• 33.1 million Internet users
• 22.7 million Internet buyers
• 85% pay by credit card
• 25% purchased on a foreign website
• 28% of the French companies buy online

If you are thinking of expanding your business to France, the Internet enables you to target half of the French population and to sell online to 2/3 of the French Internet users.

WPML and qTranslate are both WordPress plugins which enable you to create and manage multilingual websites.

From an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) perspective, which one works best?

First of all, the good news is that they both work the “with All in one SEO” plugin. Please note that you cannot optimise the home page directly one the home page. You will have to go to the “All in one SEO” Plugin options page and add all your home page title tags in the “home title field” using additional tags, such as:

<!--:fr-->Web Giraffe.net | Marketing anglais | Référencement anglais | Site web anglais<!--:-->
<!--:en-->Web Giraffe.net | French marketing | French SEO | Website in French<!--:-->

The main advantage of WPML over qTranslate is the URL rewriting. With qTranslate, you create a page, name it and every translated version will contain the same URLs elements.
E.g. www.webgiraffe.net/translation-french and www.webgiraffe.net/fr/translation-french
With WPML, every page can have a unique URLs which you can decide
E.g. www.webgiraffe.net/translation-french and www.webgiraffe.net/fr/traduction-francais

Furthermore, I find WPML more user-friendly. All the translated pages are listed on the Page section, and the translated versions remain accessible whenever a page is being edited.
It comes in handy when you manage several languages on one website.

I’d choose http://ezinearticles.com.
I’ve tested several article submission websites in the last couple of weeks and Ezinearticles gave the best results, in terms of SEO and visibility.
The article ranks very well and you can include up to 2 (follow) hyperlinks.
It takes longer to publish a article but it’s worth waiting.

According to a recent IFOP survey, 44% of the French think that the recession has no impact on e-commerce and 27% think that the recession has a positive impact.

In this economic climate, 65% buy as many or more products online.
76% intend to buy as many or more Christmas presents online than last year.

WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) which supports multilingual content.
A website available in several languages enables to your reach a wider audience and increases your online visibility.
In order to develop a multilingual website, follow these 5 straightforward steps:

1. Translate
Translate your content in the languages you want your website to be available in. You also need to translate the navigation items (menu, buttons and tags). You may choose different images from one translated version to another. Images should reflect local and cultural understanding.

2. Install
Install the latest version of WordPress and a plugin which manages multilingual content, such as qTranslate, WPLM or ZdMultiLang. List all the features that your multilingual website needs to have and choose the plugin accordingly.
When setting up the parameters, note that directory or sub domains-based architecture, such as site.com/language or language.site.com, are easier to manage and are better for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

3. Tweak
Either install a template that supports multilingual websites or tweak a regular template. The main difference between a regular and a multilingual template is that a multilingual template enables visitors to switch from one language to another, no matter which page is opened. Most multilingual websites use flag icons.

4. Upload
Upload your content and images. Optimise your pages for Search Engines with translated title, description and alt tags. Create one XML sitemap per language.

5. Monitor
Test your website thoroughly: check that the character set, the content and images look ok on different browsers and screen resolutions.
Add your website to Webmaster tools (Google, Bing). Set up a geographic target for each language if applicable. Submit the sitemaps.
Now that your website is up and running, it’s time to promote it using SEO and Social media!

Whereas French is the top 15 language spoken in the world (67m native speakers, 63m who speak it as a second language, as in Canada or Belgium), it is the top 5 language on the Internet, with 78m French-speaking Internet users.