Website Localization Services
Website localization: what do you mean when you say that?
The best word that may replace localization is probably adaptation. Website localization is in fact the adaptation of your web pages for markets in other languages than your local one in terms of appearance and functionality. In the end, your website will:
- Respect the local cultural, technical, and linguistic peculiarities
- Preserve the original intention of the website content as the brand representation
- Read like it was created in the target language, not translated or remade in any way
The whole project may seem challenging and costly, but the potential benefits of reaching out to a much larger audience are typically much higher than the effort taken.
Why localization and not simply translation?
Well, these are different things. Some customers start with translation as it is less expensive, but usually end up with localization if the new audience brings results – and it really boosts sales!
Translation is a straightforward process of converting text in one language into text in another one. It may have a global appeal but fail to resonate with a particular audience.
The localization is a much more delicate process when the content is made with a particular target audience in mind, and it goes beyond just translation by touching upon formatting and usability matters. Cultural preferences are also taken into account here to create an impression that your company treats the country and the values of its people with due respect.
Let’s take Sweden, for example. One of its core values is a collective approach to doing things, and topics like environmental protection would resonate with them greatly. It would be wise to use this peculiarity to connect with your audience there.
If we are talking about the United States, the core value is freedom, and that is something that should be treated with the utmost respect. And this message should be clearly understood throughout your texts – and this is the key to success!
Important things about Internet customers
Some entrepreneurs simply make a decision to create a website in one language, English, as the world’s lingua franca. And there is nothing wrong with that – unless you really want to win over more hearts and have more loyal customers at some period of time. And then you start to explore the opportunities and trends, and here are some figures to make you think about localization differently.
Internet is used daily by half of the planet’s population, with only one-quarter of these being English speakers. Google searches are made in English in 40% of cases, while you have a considerable share of 60% in other languages.
- Market studies showed that more than eighty percent of people will not buy the product until they can read something about it in their mother tongue (and this is an astounding figure! You need sales, right? Not just informing the users about your company and its products).
- More than half of all customers say that the price factor is secondary for them: when they choose between a product with localized information about it and without, they will prefer the first one (even if it’s slightly more expensive!).
- Seventy percent of users will not buy software that is not localized – and this is understandable as people want comfort, not stress. If some problems arise, they wish to have an opportunity to address them in their local language.
Just to give you some jaw-dropping experience:
- There are 12 languages that account for ninety percent (!) of all online purchases.
- Eighty percent of companies that decide to launch a multilingual website see business growth by two times and more!
- More than seventy percent of companies on the Fortune 500 list have localized websites in multiple languages that contribute to their success immensely.
What can we say for sure? Well, targeting mostly an English-speaking audience may be a poor choice for businesses – simply because everyone does that, and this category is overwhelmed with offers (more than half of all business websites are in English only). Hence the need to seek other niches, and that’s where localization comes in.
Online Experience – Key to Marketing
The first interaction between you and your customer often happens online. What impression do you make when the user browses your company’s website or opens an app to buy something? This is an essential thing in present-day marketing that makes the user either return for more or never open that page again.
The first interaction between you and your customer often happens online. What impression do you make when the user browses your company’s website or opens an app to buy something? This is an essential thing in present-day marketing that makes the user either return for more or never open that page again.
Localization will be a helping hand here as our specialists at HumanTranslation know how to build a smooth online experience for your customers in any language. No matter what project you are about to realize with the help of your website localization, we will help you create a global image that will be unique throughout.
Industry-specific localization
Are you operating in a narrow field where customers are the people well-versed in a particular subject matter? Our specialists will help you localize your website as well, and we are confident that it will have much more appeal than a monolingual version in English.
HumanTranslation has all you need for this daunting task:
- Highly-skilled staff that can produce impeccable texts
- Translators with specialization in a relevant field
- Well-thought-out workflow: we create glossaries and term bases to ensure adequacy and consistency
- Fast turnaround
- Seasoned editors and reviewers who will polish the text to excellence
HumanTranslation is your one-stop solution for all localization needs!
The website part you should localize
Should you localize the whole of your website or just a part of it? Or will the main pages be enough? These are the questions you may be asking yourself, and here are some main elements that should be considered first:
- Localize a short website version that contains useful information or just presents your brand
- User interface and user experience features are mandatory
- Product presentation and landing pages will help you in advertising campaigns and bring new customers
- Marketing materials in different forms (posts, videos, slideshows, books, etc.)
- Keywords for SEO efforts
These are the main things that are highly likely to boost your sales considerably. So if you are in doubt or on a tight budget, focus on them to achieve the best results.
Quality Assurance
How do we ensure the quality of our final product? We apply testing and reviewing throughout the working process:
- Linguistic review to get rid of any inaccuracies and inconsistencies
- In-country test to make sure it sounds authentic
- Technical review to check hotkeys, bad strings, and things like that.
As you know, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Order your website localization from us and boost your sales in a matter of weeks!
Frequently Asked Questions
➤Is website localization a costly affair?
That depends on the scope of work, language pair, content complexity, terms, and many other factors. Each company is unique, so a one-size-fits-all solution is simply impossible here. The quickest way to find out the price is to send the link to your website to our manager.
However, we always request our customers to think of website localization in terms of investment rather than an expensive purchase. It’s like investing in a promo campaign: it may be costly or not, but it will usually bring results that are commensurate with your efforts. The same thing applies to websites: you invest, and you get not just a website in a new language but you reach out to more potential customers!
➤Why choose HumanTranslation and not any other company?
As you see from our name, one of our core values is the provision of translation and localization services from human to human, a kind of H2H culture. We do think that any kind of machine translation and AI technology should occupy a subordinated place, and high-quality human translation should be put first in the hierarchy. If this value resonates with you and you search for impeccable human quality, place an order with us.
➤How long does it take to get a new website version?
That will depend on the volume, urgency, and language pair as some languages are more difficult to translate into than others (for instance, allow more time for Chinese or Japanese). If you need the translation urgently, we will have to divide it between several translators, and we will still need some time afterward for the editor to review the translation and for the proofreader to give the final touches to the text. Testing will also take some time, so website localization is not a matter of hours but rather of days or even weeks (if the website is big).
➤Why is it so important to localize your website?
Every business needs to expand, and website localization is your chance to reach out to more people who can become customers. However, simply translating the website may yield worse results than localization, when you adapt all content, images, and graphics to the new culture. In this case, you will have a chance to stay in that market for a long time and win over your loyal audience.
➤What are the benefits of localization?
If you simply translate the website, it becomes more informative. However, localization gives the users experience and emotional connection with you. And you probably know that these are the basics of present-day marketing: the user should come a certain way side-by-side with you to become engaged and turn into a brand fan. Communication is the key to sales – so give your users communication in a language they understand!
➤What are the steps of website localization?
There are four stages, and each of them is important:
- Preparation for localization – all technical processes, including analysis, copying the text into files, and so on.
- Localization per se – we modify the content and images to make it look authentic for the target audience
- Testing – the website is tested by several reviewers to make sure everything works just fine.
- SEO – we make sure the search engines see your website.
➤What are the good reasons to localize a website?
There are events that speed up making a decision to localize your website, and they typically include:
- Launching a new product and desire to expand to new markets
- Seeing website localization as an opportunity to overcome your competitors
- Establishing global headquarters and plans to go global on a serious scale
- The necessity to meet some requirements imposed by the regulators
- Just the need to reach out to more people which cannot be addressed on a local scale
What makes a good translation? First of all, a high-quality source text. If this is a marketing piece of translation, for instance, and the original seems to convey some vague message that is hard to understand for the translator, it will be just as vague for the reader. Therefore, the customer should be prepared to work on the text to get a really good translation, and the translator should be ready to ask the customer to do so. This will make cooperation really beneficial – contrary to the “I-need-the-translation-quickly” approach that may not bear the fruit you want.
Ask the client about the country for which the translation is intended. The Arabic dialect required for Saudi Arabia will differ from the one appropriate for Egypt or Lebanon.
Most Arabic translations will require transcreation due to major cultural differences between English and Arab countries.
The target audience will determine the level of formality required in Arabic texts, so be sure to find out all the required information from the client.
The more important the translation, the higher quality should be agreed upon with the customer. High quality is achieved by editing, sometimes by several editors; it may add up to the cost, but it will finally pay off.
