Website localization is the first thing a company should do when entering the international market. This is a complex process requiring time and resources. It is very difficult to give exact figures as everything depends on the website volume and complexity. For instance, each translator of Localica can translate on average 2500 words for 7 hours of work. This is only translation without regard to other stages of website preparation and organizational issues. Naturally, the more complex a project is, the more effort and time it requires. But, this is vital, as the website itself is a major instrument for communication with potential customers.
Let’s see what localization is and how it is different from a simple translation, what are website localization methods and what should be done to drive traffic and convert it to customers.
What website localization is
Website localization is a process of recourse and its content adaptation in view of social and cultural peculiarities of the target region or country residents.
Don’t confuse simple text translation and localization; they are not synonymous. In the first case, this is an accurate reproduction of the original text in another language, and in the second case – a process of adapting, where one of the stages is translation.
You cannot do without adapting web resources, if your goal is to conquer the foreign market. According to CSA Research, 75% of customers prefer buying goods in their native language. And, 60% rarely or never buy from websites translated into English only. Thus, don’t assume that the English version will become the “golden key” that will unlock everything. Although English is called a global language of communication, only 17% of the world population speaks it.
Therefore, website localization into English is primary when developing an international strategy. But, it should not be the only one, if your target is the French, German, Brazilian or Chinese market, for example.
Cultural adaptation is required not only for online traders. Partners and customers would be grateful if they could avail themselves of information about the business or view the presentation materials in a language they understand. The same applies to landings, online catalogues and other websites – translation and localization make the company stand out among the competitors and improve its expertise in the eyes of potential customers and the foreign community.
Multilingual websites are a mark of good faith of the company in building an international business. It demonstrates reliability and openness to contact. This is sort of an invitation for foreign partners and a guarantee of convenient communication with them.
Take, for instance, the website of Saleforce, an American CRM-system developer. There are more than ten language versions on their resource, allowing potential customers from different countries and continents to get necessary information to decide on the purchase.
Multilingual localization on the example of Salesforce website
No matter how “expensive” the website looks, how trending the interface is, lack of translation into the target audience’s language will ruin the impression and will not bring the desired result. In contrast, even the simplest landing with content in familiar language can help to conclude favorable foreign contracts or get solvent customers.
Why do you need website localization
To answer this question, let’s look at the examples.
Cultural differences
Each country has its own culture, history, customs and holidays, mentality and attitude to historical events. Even neighbouring countries’ residents cannot always understand the traditions and humor of each other. The Brazilian will be surprised by what is close and clear to the German. The Chinese joke is unlikely to be appreciated in Belgium. And, the Hindus’ religious ceremony will be confusing in Mexico.
The Arabians do not accept alcohol-drinking scenes. The Germans prohibit imaging swastika. The Chinese do not understand the relationship between the New Year and tangerines.
Even separate colours have opposite meanings in different cultures. For instance, blue symbolizes reliability, stability and perfection for Europeans and Americans. Therefore, it is often used in the interfaces of websites and mobile apps.
Blue colour in the design of the website of HUSL digital marketing agency
The Chinese consider blue a symbol of immortality and blue is associated with higher wisdom in India.
White is quite an ambiguous colour. Residents of Europe accept it as a symbol of purity and solemnity, and it is a color of mourning in India, China and Japan. We will be surprised by white garments at funeral processions, and they – by our brides wearing wedding dresses.
Now imagine the reaction of a foreign buyer first visiting your website and answer the questions:
- what associations will the colour design and interface trigger;
- will he deal with functionality;
- will he be able to understand the texts’ underlying meaning, jokes and hints;
- what kind of reaction will be triggered by images, video and soundtracks;
- will he get all the necessary information in a familiar language.
If your culture differs from the target audience’s culture, the answers are unlikely to please you. Get ready to do some serious work, as localization can affect not only the text in the main sections. Depending on the situation, the following can be localized:
- interface;
- website audio and video content;
- images and their inscriptions;
- time and date format, currency, measurement units;
- auxiliary sections, including FAQ;
- technical specifications.
McDonald’s website is a good example. The company not just translates but also adapts its resource for each country, making it clear and close to the target audience.
See screens below – the brand uses clear and easy-to-read images for the local residents to communicate with visitors. These websites don’t copy each other; on the contrary, they differ as much as these countries’ cultures do.
Take a look at the website layout in the Emirates – it is adapted with regard to cultural peculiarities of the Arabs and their usual text direction.
The main page of McDonald’s website in the USA
The British McDonalnd’s website
The main page of McDonald’s website in the UAE
Language
According to Statista, the most widespread language on the Web is English with 25.9%. It turns out, if your website is in English, so, you may not think about localization, right? Not really.
We have already touched on the language topic in the previous section. Let’s take a deeper look.
There are really many English speaking users on the internet. But this segment cannot be called the most active. Statistical data from Internet World Stats indicates that the largest number of internet users live in Asia – for example, there are more than 2 billion users in China and India. Whilst the English-speaking United States has 350 million, and multilingual Europe – about 800 million users.
The world statistics of internet users by regions as of 2022
Sri Sharma, the Managing Director of Net Media Planet’s, provides the following data in one of his reports: when translating the target page and ads into the audience language, there is a 20% increase in conversion. And, after full website localization, including currency and product description change, there is a 79% increase in conversion.
I believe this argument in favour of website localization need can dispel all doubts even among sceptics.
Website localization methods
You can do localization by yourself, outsourcing or with online translators. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Let us consider them.
Free online translators
I know it is so tempting to take the easy way out and get by with just translation via Google Translate or similar services. Moreover, start-up entrepreneurs and developing companies still have small budgets. However, to achieve an ambitious goal of conquering the foreign market, free online tools are no good. This budget option is allowed only in cases when translation quality does not matter.
If you do use an online-translator, don’t leave a pure result – turn to a qualified editor able to put the text in order.
And, remember the risks: such a website cannot be called localized; moreover, nobody will provide you with a high conversion warranty in this case.
Personal team
It is quite possible to prepare a website for a new market by yourself but with sufficient resources:
- professional translators and editors, native speakers preferably;
- experienced marketing specialist for market research;
- copywriter;
- technical specialists;
- SEO specialist.
You recruit a team according to your requirements and tasks; thus, you can be confident in the executors’ qualifications and quality of translation. Moreover, continuous work on the same product or in the same niche helps translators better understand the terminology and business processes that facilitate and speed up the work.
The executors are always at hand, amendments and interaction between the departments is quick. You don’t need to pay for translation of each new piece, share files and access, agree on details and loose time because of this.
But this localization method suits those who need regular translations for a separate foreign market. But, to create a team for one-time website localization into English, another – for localization into French etc. – is a strange enterprise, you must admit.
Assess the future translators’ load: if you are going to adapt a single product or you will need localization from time to time, it’s unprofitable to maintain permanent employees. Moreover, in еру case of adapting to several languages, the need of personnel, and hence the budget, will significantly increase.
Professional translation agency
This is a perfect solution for companies just making their first steps in new markets or who don’t have their own team of localizers.
Experienced contractors will help build strategies and choose language, select specialized executors considering the project peculiarities, guarantee the confidentiality of the information and following deadline.
To benefit from the advantages of cooperation, be careful about selecting the translation agency:
- Explore the website of a potential contractor, its profile on social networks;
- read the customers’ feedbacks, study cases;
- talk to the company representative, find out how the team is selected for the projects, what guarantees can be provided;
- order a test translation.
As a result, you will have an overview of the contractor’s expertise and experience, its reputation, principles of operation, quality of services and level of service. And, you’ll be able to correlate this overview with the project calculation received. Just remember that too low localization service cost should be avoided. This is a complex process requiring multiple resources and efforts; thus, it cannot be cheap.
A reason for such a low price may be that the contractor engages inexperienced specialists or students with the minimum wage, saves on editorial reading or completely uses machine translation. As a result of these savings, you will get a website with many mistakes and gaps which should be redone, spending a much bigger budget.
Outsourcing contracts are one of the ways to optimize localization costs without loss of quality. What are its advantages:
- throughout the duration of the contract, you get translations at a fixed price;
- you do not waste time searching for a contractor each time, when you need translation services, and work with a trusted partner instead;
- the contractor’s team is selected specially for your project: they know your subject and niche, and are always ready to start working, which is very important in the case of urgent tasks;
- the longer our cooperation, the bigger your TM (translation memory) is, and therefore, each subsequent order will be cheaper than a previous one.
Freelancers
This is a rather cheap, but very risky method to prepare a website for the foreign market.
Why is it rather cheap? Experienced translator services, albeit a freelancer, won’t be cheap. If they have a good reputation, experience and cases, then they have long been on the market, know the cost of similar services and are unlikely to dump to attract customers.
Meanwhile, the risks are high: cooperation with a random freelancer, found through a labour exchange, can cause several unpleasant surprises. After all, you have no guarantees: following deadline, qualitative result, confidentiality of the information. Therefore, in the pursuit of savings, you can lose much more. Therefore, I advise you to take this step only after thorough collection of information about freelancers, studying their rating and cases.
How to minimize risks?
The first way is to engage only trusted freelancers according to the recommendations of friends or colleagues.
The second and more reliable one is to conclude a cooperation agreement, specifying the scope, term, cost and warranty. You cannot control the work of such an executor, and, in case of loss of communication with him, you will have the proof of the contractual relationship on hand. And, it can be used to return the prepayment for a not rendered or poor service.
Comparison of different methods of website localization
To make it easier for you to compare the methods and choose the appropriate one, we have made a table for you.
| Google
Translate |
Personal team | Freelancers | Translation agency | |
| Cost | Free | Payroll (from $250 per month per translator) | From $15 to $150 depending on the experience | From $70 to $200 depending on the scope |
| Advantages | Quick and easy | Process control, time saving | Budget saving | Reliability and guaranteed quality |
| Disadvantages | Unsatisfactory result | Not suitable, if localization need is non-permanent | No quality guarantee and deadline following | Time for contractor search, high service price |
How to localize websites
Localization is a multi-step process consisting of several stages. Let’s consider each of them.
Analysis of the target market chosen
This is preparation, the results of which will help to build the further strategy for your product promotion.
What is important to study:
- cultural features of the target audience – history, religion, traditions;
- features of everyday life, consumption habits and buying motives;
- native languages of the audience;
- competitive environment and advertising activities of the leading market players;
- effective advertising tools and relevant SEO keys.
Ideally, if you have an opportunity to use the help of local experts at this stage, as, for example, a marketing specialist – they know everything about the peculiarities of the region and the target audience for sure.
Most likely, the LOUIS VUITTON team ignored this step when bringing their new product to the foreign markets in 2020. Otherwise, how else to explain this scandalous situation which the brand has got into. It is about a yoga mat with cowhide straps. They started selling a new product, including on the Indian market, having forgotten that the cow is a sacred animal of Hindus, and yoga is a sacred activity. The Hindus felt offended and accused the brand of callousness. After all, doing yoga while standing on the skin of a killed sacred animal contradicts Indian philosophy.
This very LOUIS VUITTON mat, which offended the Hindus
Translation and adaptation of text content of all website sections
This is a major stage which resulted in the creation of the localized website basis.
Before starting the translation process, determine the localization depth: make a list of website items and sections, subject to obligatory adaptation. It is important to remember about the text in auxiliary sections, technical instructions, FAQ. Although, there is no need to duplicate the website completely in the target language. The translation of news archives, review articles on old products or description of goods still not available on their market is unlikely to be of interest to foreign customers.
CAT tools and cloud translation services, such as MemoQ, Trados, Crowdin, Lokalise etc., will be a good help during website localization.
Due to their functionality, including the possibility to use translation memory (TM), they speed up and make the translators work easier, at the same time saving the budget and time of website owners.
When entering a new market, to avoid unpleasant surprises related to the translation quality, text adaptation for the target audience is better to entrust to native speakers.
A case in point is IKEA’s entry into the Thai market. The company had to hire a local team, which checked each product name for euphony and adapted them. After all, it turned out that some Swedish names sound ambiguous or drop a spicy hint for the Thais.
The Thai IKEA website
Adaptation of visual elements
Visual adaptation implies the change of colour palette, fonts, images and videos. It may consist of several points: translation, layout, design, voice acting, creating subtitles.
Because of unequal text length in different languages, sometimes the button and window sizes have to be changed. And if the text direction differs from the original website, the layout is also finalized.
Let’s return to the IKEA website: the main page design has its own layout, different fonts, size and direction of the text in different countries.
The German IKEA website
The Japanese IKEA website
The Israeli IKEA website
Auxiliary elements localization
Remember to localize the formats of time, date, currency units, measurement units, addresses and telephone numbers as well.
Each country has its own formats of date writing. For example, we use DD.MM.YYYY, in USA – MM-DD-YYYY, in Latin America — DD/MM/YYYY, in Hungary — YYYY-MM-DD. Not to confuse visitors, this parameter should also be adapted on the website.
Here is an interesting fact about the Chinese consumers: they are alien to the concept of discounts in %. Instead, the Chinese use the hieroglyph 折 – a piece. For example, 8折 means that you need to pay 8 pieces of ten, which is the discount is 20%. Use this feature on your website for the local market, and the Chinese will give you their loyalty.
Consumers appreciate the care of their comfort. Look at the AliExpress website – how conveniently the possibility to choose not only the country and language, but the currency is implemented. This makes it a universal tool for use in different markets and for different target audiences.
Option to choose country, language, and currency on the AliExpress website
Website preparation for SEO promotion
At this stage, the selection of key words for the new market and filling the website with SEO texts is implemented.
Why cannot the current keys just be translated into the target language?
Internet users from different countries are used to searching for the same goods or services with different wordings. If you select the wrong queries, the website will not get to the front page of search results and the target audience will not see it. That is why the SEO strategies and results of experienced competitors are worth studying to understand which keys work in a certain search system.
I’ll give you an example of the industry close to me. A few decades ago, all translation organizations were called translation bureaus in our country. Everyone got used to this name and this is how they still often search for translation companies on the Web. There is no such a notion as a translation bureau in the West; translation agency and translation company phrases are more usual for them. Thus, using the translated key like a translation bureau, you risk losing potential customers.
Now about SEO copywriting. You have several options:
- translate the current content;
- adapt original content for new audiences;
- prepare new articles, focusing on features of the target market.
The way selection depends on how different the markets, consumer needs, effective key queries and search system features are in a certain region.
Localization testing
The final stage, which helps to identify errors and gaps – untranslated text fragments, broken links, non-optimized button and window sizes, technical bugs.
The testers are engaged for this – they climb on the website, go to all sections, check the links, pay attention to text and images location, graphic elements sizes, currency and measurement units adaptation. Then the report with gaps identified is passed on for correction.
Do not be tempted to ignore this step and save some time. Just imagine that potential customers will find these mistakes instead of your testers. Anyway, you will have to correct them, and even save your reputation and return visitors to the website. Thus, it is better to test a website before its launch and make sure that it is completely ready for conquering a new market.
Advice on how to localize websites without any problems
If you work in online trading, often introduce marketing activities or your website always needs updates for some other reasons, these recommendations will help to establish the process of primary and continuous localization easily.
- Identify a person in the team responsible for localization. He or she will interact with internal departments (marketing specialist, designers, developers) and the contractor’s managers. Ideal, if the decision making process is concentrated in the same hands – this speeds up and makes the process easy.
- Select the localization contractor. Study its experience, cases, customer feedback, websites and social networks. If you have any doubts, order a text translation to confirm the quality of the work.
- Decide on a translation soft – CAT program that improves the accuracy and speeds localization up due to creation of TM (translation memory) and a corporate glossary. These services allow to save budget as the translators use fragments previously translated, hence you don’t pay for translation of these elements. CAT tools are integrated with the developer’s repository or disk, thus changes to the product are made simultaneously with the translation. This reduces the term and allows us not to stop the development process.
TOP-5 popular CAT programs:
- Trados Studio
- Crowdin
- SmartCAT
- MemoQ
- Localise
Options for integrating the Crowdin platform with the developer’s repository
- For localization not to cause any problems, even at the stage of website development, make interface elements with a small margin, bearing in mind that the language change can cause the text length to increase.
- Do not embed the text subject to translation in the code, otherwise, you will create challenges for yourself and localizers. The same is with figures (date, time, measurement units).
- If you do not want to prepare graphic elements from the ground up, do not insert any text into them – it would be impossible to localize it separately.
