12 Best Practices for website Localization

Simply put, website localization is the process wherein the website is created or modified to suit a specific audience.

Website localization assists you to build a client base outside of your location by serving these clients in their native language and cultural context.

Website localization is not only limited to languages but while going for a localized website, owners should also take into account the cultural sensitivity of the targeted audience.

Website localization helps organizations create a better audience for their business while also taking care of business expansion in multiple locations.

Let’s discuss the steps that need to be followed while going for the website localization process.

It’s essential to do proper research of the target market that your website will be a part of.

One should be sure about the target audience.

Geolocation should be adequately checked, like whether the target audience is domestic or international.

Research about local cultures and languages that are being used, should also be done.

Before localizing your website, do gather the information about the legal environment that your target audience is a part of.

An example of the same will be GDPR (General data protection regulation).

If a particular organization wants to start its online business in the European Union, legal steps like GDPR must be followed.

GDPR has been introduced to protect the customer's privacy and declaring to the customer as to which of their data will be recorded.

Likewise, a user has to do proper research about the regulatory requirements that should be taken care of before serving the target audience.

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Different countries provide different broadband speeds to their consumers.

Within localization, this plays an important role.

Segregate your audience accordingly and make the necessary changes based on their respective available speed.

Audience with poor connectivity needs to be served from a website In which heavy multimedia or JavaScript libraries are avoided.

Suppose a customer is served by a website that displays the concerned information’s in his/her native language. In that case, such customers can, in the nearby future, become potential client for the organization.

An international customer will have a better experience if he is served in his native language.

Investing in a multilingual website will surely attract many customers as a multilingual website enhances their overall experience.

UTF code is essential while creating web pages.

Implementing UTF-8 code makes sure that our content is displayed correctly irrespective of whatever alphabet or writing systems are being used.

Its opted for by every modern software provider and can be used on multiple platforms without being converted or altered.

Ensure that your customer can easily switch between languages to understand the content presented in front of him.

Customers should find it easy to switch to a translated version of the website.

This, in turn, will improve the customer experience.

To quickly translate the content for audiences translating tools can be used too.

Such tools are commonly known as CAT (Computer-assisted translation) tools.

The best thing about these tools is that they store the content with their translation in their database to be reused in the future.

This thus makes the overall translation process easy and quick.

Not only the website content but the currencies have to be localized too.

While going for website localization, do take care of the payment methods too.

Buyers or users should be able to understand the prices, discounts, or subscription plans within their currency.

Popular payment applications within the user’s geographical location should be promoted for easy monetary transactions.

Within this part, a user has to be aware of its technical specifications for a particular territory.

Some of the technical specifications, like browser, pop-ups, cookies, add-ons, etc., need to be taken care of.

Not every platform will be ideal for every territory for which you are localizing your website.

You might need to update your technical specifications according to new territory.

It is advised to keep a plan ready in such situations, which will guide the tech team as to where a change is needed, what difference is needed, and how it can be done.

Do proper quality checks like broken links, missing or incorrect content, speed, uptime, etc., need to be appropriately checked and taken care of.

Avoiding quality checks might create goodwill issues and possibly invite costs to repair the damage.

Translation vendors should be selected after proper research.

Do check for an authentic experience and genuine certificates while hiring a localization expert.

A good vendor is aware of cultures and cultural issues, and they have the Knowledge on how to translate the content accordingly on your website.

Merely having a website won’t serve any purpose unless it is adequately marketed for the targeted audience.

Make sure the promotions, too, are according to the accepted behaviors of your target audience.

Be specific and do proper research when marketing your website.

Many actions that might seem legal in a particular country might be offensive in another.

During the process of website localization do avoid some of the below-mentioned steps:

If an accurate translation solution is not applied to the process it will affect the website owners in terms of speed, accuracy, and costs.

Ignoring the widely accepted format of design can create a bad taste for your business in the customer’s minds.

Do select the proper theme that would be widely accepted and compatible with other apps so that a better user experience is delivered.

When you are expecting international customers on your website, it is expected to perform the multilingual SEO.

The only difference between local SEO and international SEO is the promotion work a website owner does for every language version of its website.

Conclusion
Website localization will, for sure, assist you in achieving a better grip in the foreign market. So be sure that you are choosing the right steps for its localization. Above mentioned steps can simplify your overall localization process.

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