Redirect Web Visitors By Country Using ASP and COM Technology

Why redirect web visitors based on country #

In global web development, directing visitors to a localized version of your website based on their country of origin significantly improves engagement and user experience. Automatically switching the website’s language based on a visitor’s IP address ensures they instantly receive content they understand, reducing bounce rates and streamlining navigation.

This article demonstrates how to implement automatic, location-based redirection using Classic ASP and an IP2Location ActiveX component.

Case Study: Optimizing UX for Company XYZ #

The Challenge #

Company XYZ is a multinational enterprise serving two primary markets: the United States and Japan. To accommodate both audiences, the company’s website is fully localized in English and Japanese.

By default, the website loads in English, requiring Japanese visitors to manually find and select the language switcher. This creates a critical usability issue: if a Japanese visitor cannot read the initial English landing page, they may struggle to navigate the site or abandon it entirely.

The Solution #

To solve this problem, we will implement a simple, automated traffic-routing script.

• Traffic from Japan: Automatically intercepted and seamlessly redirected to the Japanese-language homepage (/jp/index.asp).
• All other global traffic: Continues to the default English-language homepage (/en/index.asp).

This logic ensures an optimized, friction-free entry point for international users.

How to redirect web visitors based on country #

Implementation Code

Below is the Classic ASP sample code utilizing the IP2Location ActiveX component to achieve this redirection:

C:> regsvr32 ip2location.dll

Sample Code:

<%
    ' Create server-side object
    Set ipObj = Server.CreateObject("IP2Location.Country")
 
    ' Initialize IP2Location object
    If ipObj.Initialize("demo") <> "OK" Then
        response.write "IP2Location Initialization Failed.
    End If
 
    ' Get visitor's IP address
    IPaddr = Request.ServerVariables("REMOTE_ADDR")
 
    ' Detect visitor's country of origin by IP address
    CountryName = ipObj.LookUpShortName(IPaddr)
 
    ' Free IP2Location object
    Set ipObj = nothing
 
    If CountryName = "JP" Then
        ' Visitor is from Japan
        ' Redirect the URL to index_jp.htm
        Response.Redirect "index_jp.htm"
    Else
        ' Visitor is not from Japan
        ' Redirect the URL to index_en.htm
        Response.Redirect "index_en.htm"
    End If
%>