How to Choose the Right Localization Strategy for Your Website

Website localization is the process of adapting the website's web page content to different languages while keeping the target market in mind. In the age of technology, ensuring the widespread reach of a product or service ensures its success in the market. But when it comes to promoting the service or product in different regions in the native language of a place, cultural differences and language translation present as the greatest barriers in business.

While human translators can do the job just right, machine translation can help save time, money, and the hassle of having to present the services in the target language over and over again. Websites of a business are one of the best ways to reach potential customers in different regions; therefore, website localization or internationalization in the other languages of the target audience can not only help in incremental sales but also helps enhance customer experience while also keeping tab of customer behaviors in the local markets.

It has been observed that people are more likely to buy things from a website that feels familiar to them in terms of language and the stylized format of their culture. In fact, about 65% of them prefer getting information in their local language irrespective of the user interface and quality of translation and localization of the language presented to them.

What business owners must keep in mind when rolling out a website in multiple languages is not only translation and localization of the same language verbatim but also taking into account the cultural differences, legal requirements, purchasing habits, and payment methods commonly preferred in specific regions. If you own a business and have to oversee the process of software localization or website localization, fret not!

Here are four ways to ensure a smooth transition in the localization process from website localization to an impeccable user interface experience. But first, let's understand how website localization differs from website translation.

Website Translation vs Website Localization: What’s the Difference?

Website translation is a straightforward process. It is as simple as taking the website's content and the UI elements and translating them into one or more than one language. But if the website has a lot of content to be translated, you can use the services of professional translators adept at providing high-quality translations in multiple languages. However, when translating a website from one language to another, it does not necessarily guarantee website localization. For website localization, you need to understand the given culture of the customers, transcending language barriers into the specific region you're targeting.

Thus, website localization is more than just language translation. A great example of website localization is presented by eCommerce websites. You can find stores' websites that offer different web pages for different countries, sometimes even for countries that share the same language, including the time formats and time zones that may be different.

Benefits of Website Localization

There are many advantages of implementing a website localization strategy using a target language.

Targetting a New Region

Sometimes, business website owners can make the mistake of assuming that they can go for website internationalization without adapting to the native language of the target audience. Adding new languages can help tap into new markets, but that's not the only thing to be done with website localization strategy. In fact, understanding and implementing elements in the development process that can help enhance customer experience in the target markets can give you an edge over your competitors.

Offer Enhanced User Experience

Browsing a website that doesn't account for the needs of customers in the local region can often discourage them from buying or using a product or service offered by a business. Website localization helps to pull in and retain the target audience from international markets by showing them that you care. This goes a long way in building a sustainable business, transcending languages and different cultures.

Obtain Local Audiences from Search Engines

Content localization is more important than simply translating a website to attract organic traffic on search engines and your website as well. For example, simply translating an English sentence into another language, say, French, may not yield the same traffic as knowing the related keywords that are actually looked up on search engines. Language translation can help to understand what keywords to look for in the other language, but website localization can help to understand where the competition lies.

4 Steps Towards Website Localization

Choosing the right website localization strategy doesn't need to be a matter of headache. Here are four things to keep in mind when choosing the right website localization strategy.

Define Your Target Audience

The first step towards building a proper website localization strategy is to understand your target market and audience. This entails understanding what the audience from one country wants you to focus on rather than offering a simple translation of the website content. Now, this involves quite a bit of research to understand how you can interest the consumers of a country in your products or services based on what's available on the website.

Alternatively, you may want to localize your website with respect to a specific region because you want to build your business there. Either way, it is best to focus on one place at a time.

Hire Appropriate Web Designers and Developers

When working with website or content localization, it is recommended to hire web developers and designers who understand the market that you want to venture into. Hire such employees who can understand and provide insight into what the local community wants to relish, preferably based on their personal and professional experiences.

While it is true that hiring such employees enriched with the knowledge of the local region can be expensive, the business that you can potentially bring in the long run can more than well compensate for the investment in terms of time and money.

Choosing a Website Translation Method

Although there is a significant difference between website translation and localization, it is undoubtedly a huge part of website localization. There are three ways to achieve this:

• Human translation: You can hire professional translators to collaborate with web developers and designers on your business.
• Machine translation: There are many quality service providers in the market offering free translation services. Some may be paid, but the quality of translation may not be on par with human translators.
• Machine-aided translation: This method involves using machine translation services and hiring translation professionals to check the translated text for errors.

Adapt Your SEO Strategy

Your website localization strategy should also include SEO optimization with a focus on localization in one language that has been targeted. This should include:

• Revising the targeted keywords and incorporating related words that are popular in a language
• Using SEO tools that are updated as per the new language
• Rewriting website content and web page titles to attract traffic and enhance engagement
• Rewriting meta descriptions and alt text as these UI elements also play an important role in engaging traffic

Takeaway

Localization of websites is a lengthy development process that requires the collaboration of professionals who have knowledge of localized languages and cultures and how to connect with the masses. When done right, content localization can help grow and expand a business, increase brand awareness, and boost your sales. Thus, choosing the right localization strategy along with the best translation service provider like Lingual Consultancy for your business website can make a huge difference.