- Why isn't our Japanese website generating leads?
- Usually the translation is not the problem. Leads stall because somewhere between the homepage and signup, English or unnatural Japanese is still there, and because the trust materials Japanese buyers check first, such as company information, legal pages and customer references, cannot be found in Japanese. Translating the homepage does not help if the form, pricing or terms stop them.
When a Japanese site launches and the lead count stays flat, the first suspect is often the translation itself. Teams commission a second review of the homepage, adjust a few headlines and wait. The homepage is often not where the visitor gave up. The more common pattern is that the Japanese experience ends a few clicks before the point where a visitor would have become a lead.
This page is a diagnosis guide for the team that owns the website at headquarters. It does not assume you read Japanese. Each check below can be done by walking the path yourself, or by asking a Japanese colleague to do it while you watch.
How do we find where Japanese visitors drop off?
Walk the full path a Japanese visitor takes, from the landing page to the confirmation email, and mark every point where the language changes or the wording reads as translated. Then match what you see to the table below.
| Symptom | Likely cause | How to check | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitors reach the signup or application page, then leave | The page where the visitor commits was never localized, or switches to English partway through | Click every CTA on the Japanese site and note which screen first shows English, including error messages | Signup page |
| Form starts are fine, completions are low | The form does not fit Japanese names and addresses: single name field, no furigana, Western address order, no postal code lookup | Fill the form with a Japanese name and address, typing in full-width characters as a Japanese user would | Forms |
| Enterprise prospects go quiet after a first look | Terms, privacy policy or the 特定商取引法 (Act on Specified Commercial Transactions) page is missing or in English | From the Japanese footer, open every legal and company link and check the language of the page that loads | Legal pages |
| Good time on page, few clicks on the main button | The CTA is a literal translation, or offers an action that does not match how Japanese buyers proceed | Ask a Japanese reader what they expect to happen after clicking, and whether they would click | Landing pages |
| Inquiries arrive but few reply to your follow-up | The auto-reply or first email after an inquiry is in English or reads like a template | Submit your own Japanese form and read every message you receive in the next few days | Common mistakes |
| Traffic grows, pipeline does not | The page reads as a translation rather than a case made to a Japanese decision-maker | Check whether proof and risk reduction appear before the feature list | Traffic without pipeline |
Why does an English signup page cost so many leads?
Because it is the one page where the visitor has to act, and English there tells a Japanese visitor that the product was not really built for them. Many will stop rather than guess what a field or a button means.
Localization projects tend to start with the pages that explain and persuade: the homepage, product pages, articles. The pages further down the path, such as signup, onboarding, payment and account settings, often sit with a different team or a different system, so they fall outside the original scope. Our article on a signup page left in English describes how a checklist that covered persuasion but not action left exactly this gap. The fix is less about translating more and more about adding the commit screens, and the emails they trigger, to the same checklist as the homepage.
What makes a Japanese form feel broken?
A form built for Western names and addresses. Japanese users expect separate family and given name fields in that order, a furigana field for the reading of the name, and an address that starts from the postal code and prefecture.
None of these are cosmetic. A single "Full name" field leaves users unsure which order to use. A missing furigana field means your sales team cannot be sure how to read the name aloud on a call. An address form that starts with street and city, then asks for a state, reverses the order Japanese addresses are written in. Validation adds another layer: rules that reject full-width numbers, or messages that appear while a user is still converting text with a Japanese input method, look like errors on the user's side when they are really errors in the form. The form localization guide covers names, addresses, phone numbers and validation messages field by field.
Which trust pages do Japanese buyers look for before they contact you?
Company information, terms of service, the privacy policy and, where it applies, the 特定商取引法 disclosure, plus some form of customer reference. If these are missing or only in English, a careful buyer often stops before filling in the form.
Japanese business buyers are often preparing material for colleagues and approvers, not only deciding for themselves. They need pages they can forward, and a Japanese visitor who clicks a footer link and lands on English legal text has a hard time doing that. The 特定商取引法 page deserves a separate note: it is consumer-protection law, so purely B2B sales are generally outside its scope, but a free plan, individual plans or any consumer-facing checkout can bring it into play. That is a question for Japanese counsel, not for the translation team. Our guide to Japanese legal pages explains what each document is expected to do.
Is a literally translated CTA really a problem?
It often is. A word-for-word CTA can sound stiff, vague or pushy, and the action itself may not suit how Japanese business buyers proceed.
Two separate issues tend to hide in the same button. The first is wording: a phrase that works in English may come out as an overly formal request or as an unclear instruction in Japanese. The second is the action: a self-serve "Start free trial" button can signal a low-touch product to a buyer who expects a Japanese point of contact and materials to share internally. The B2B landing page guide suggests matching the primary CTA to how the buyer actually moves forward, which for many Japanese B2B products means requesting materials or a consultation first. Keep the trial, but consider whether it should be the main button.
What if we get traffic but no pipeline?
Then the entry point is working and the problem sits later: in how the page makes its case, and in the first message a new inquiry receives.
A Japanese page can attract steady traffic and still produce little pipeline if it reads as a translated feature list rather than an argument to a decision-maker. In the case described in our article on traffic without pipeline, the changes that helped were moving proof points ahead of features and rewriting the first follow-up so it came from a named person with a clear next step. Check your own auto-reply in the same way. An English or generic first email undoes much of what the page built. Small issues compound too; the list of common Japanese localization mistakes, including English strings left on Japanese pages and literally translated error messages, is a quick way to review the rest of the path.
A short checklist before you change anything
- Walk the full path in Japanese, from landing page to confirmation email, and screenshot every screen.
- Mark the first point where English appears, including errors, emails and pages linked from the footer.
- Test the form with a real Japanese name and address, typed with a Japanese input method.
- Open every trust page from the Japanese footer: company information, terms, privacy and, if relevant, the 特定商取引法 page.
- Ask a Japanese reader about the main CTA: what they expect it to do, and whether they would click it.
- Read your first follow-up email as the recipient would, and check who it appears to come from.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Japanese homepage was professionally translated. Why would leads still be low?
Because the homepage is rarely where Japanese visitors stop. They stop later, on a signup page, form, pricing page, terms or auto-reply that is still in English or reads as a translation, or when they cannot find company information and legal pages in Japanese.
Which page should we check first?
Start with the page where a visitor commits: the signup, application or inquiry form. Go through it in Japanese as a new visitor would, including validation errors and the confirmation email, and note every point where English or an unnatural phrase appears.
Do we need a 特定商取引法 page if we only sell to businesses?
The Act on Specified Commercial Transactions is consumer-protection law, and purely B2B sales are generally outside its scope. If you have a free plan, individual plans or any checkout that a consumer can use, confirm with Japanese counsel whether you need the disclosure page.
Is a literal translation of our CTA really a problem?
Often, yes. A CTA translated word for word can sound stiff, unclear or pushy in Japanese, and a self-serve action such as a free trial may not match how a Japanese business buyer prefers to proceed. Many B2B buyers look first for a way to request materials or talk to someone.
We get traffic but no pipeline. Is that a localization problem?
Partly. Traffic shows the entry point works. If inquiries do not turn into pipeline, look at whether the page makes a case to a Japanese decision-maker, with proof and risk reduction early, and whether your first follow-up reads like a template rather than a message from a named person.