How To Conduct and Process Website Localization – An Ultimate Guide
Website Localization
The process of modifying your original website through language, design, and cultural components to deliver a relevant user experience for your new target audience is Website Localization. As a marketer or business owner reaching your target market with your content is highly critical. For example, if your target audience speaks a language other than English; you will need to localize and linguistically modify your digital marketing content for better results. Here are the steps on how to do it:
Create a Localization Strategy for Your Website
The first stage in localizing a website is to create a plan that emphasizes a variety of aspects, such as:
- Carrying out market research to choose which languages and areas to target, the primary focus is how well the product will sell in that market.
- To check if the product or service is suitable for the region’s culture and the general purchasing patterns of individuals.
- You need to establish a multilingual SEO strategy, which should include keyword research, metadata translation, and the usage of Hreflang tags. This will enable Google to understand the language and location that the website is targeting.
- Identify who will be a part of the team in charge of the localization and choose a website localization firm. A project manager, translators, designers, developers, and marketers should be on the team.
Create Websites That Support Localization
When creating a website, use layouts and helpful design components regardless of the language. Make sure the structure supports text contraction and expansion. For example, 60% extra space would be needed to translate a website from English to Japanese, whereas 15 % extra space is required to translate a website from English to Portuguese.
The website design must also be customizable enough to accommodate languages that read from right to left and need more vertical space. Select a web localization services provider with the experience required to create the website with expansion in mind.
Make Globalization A Priority
Globalization is the process of creating a website that can be customized to local contexts by excluding distinctive, local, regional, or cultural characteristics. Globalization prepares the website’s coding to accept different configurations based on the target languages. It is implemented at the software design and development front end. To do this, particular coding is replaced that will automatically fetch the new language without requiring significant programming changes. The process also includes ensuring that specific components, such as time zones, dates, currencies, and number formats, may be easily updated.
Localize the Website’s Content
A successful localization depends on an accurate translation of the website’s content. Working with native speakers of the target languages will guarantee that the translations are correct and that the translators thoroughly understand the language and what is culturally appropriate for the website.
To ensure that the content will be effectively maintained and arranged, it’s also essential to involve a website localization firm with a professional translation management system.
Use Appropriate Images, Graphics, and Videos.
Since websites often contain more than just text as part of their content, all visual components must be thoroughly evaluated for cultural compatibility. Keep in mind that a picture that is acceptable in one culture could be offensive in another. In addition, you must also choose the embedded videos based on whether the contents will resonate with the particular region’s client base.
Final thoughts
By 2040, 95% of all retail trade is expected to be done online hence website localization is a crucial component of a business’s development strategy, With this growth rate, you must stay ahead of the competition.
Infognana has a comprehensive project team that will oversee all aspects of the localization per your requirements. For more information, call us today!