Are you going to build a global brand identity?
Well, it is a good idea that could open up new doors of opportunities for you, especially when globalization is at its peak. When it comes to growing your business globally, the first thing that comes to mind is creating a localized brand presence.We know that the website is the face of your brand.
It represents your values and vision and makes a very first impression of your brand among customers. So, you better do your website localization the right way to keep things in your favor from the beginning. In addition, website localization would help you engage with potential customers in foreign markets. For localization purposes, you must hire an experienced team, work with reliable language service providers, and partner with a professional localization management platform. This article is a step-by-step guide to localizing your website correctly.
Localize Your Website In 7 Steps
You have to be very careful while localizing your website for international markets. Make sure to follow all the essential steps in website localization so you are not missing out on anything important.
Develop A Website Localization Strategy
Start your localization journey by developing a robust website localization strategy. In the end, how well you can carry out your website localization depends on the effectiveness of your strategy. While making your localization strategy, you must have your website localization goals clear in your mind.
How many regions do you want to target, how many languages do you have to translate your website into, and how do you want to carry out your localization operations? Everything has to be sorted before starting actual website localization. You must have a good understanding of all cultural and social nuances of target countries before creating your strategy.
Built Your Localization Team
Once you have your localization strategy made, it’s time to assemble a team of experienced translators and developers. To ensure high-quality outcomes and higher work efficiency, you must get on board the best resources. All of your team members should have sufficient experience in your niche and industry. You can hire remote or in-house teams at your convenience and affordability.
For translation, you should only hire native translators who have a good understanding of cultural context. For development, you must hire professionals with fair experience in Unicode development.
Partner With a Localization Management Platform
To keep your website localization process agile and seamless, you must invest in the best translation management software or localization management platform. From managing extensive translation work to monitoring your localization teams, everything is simplified and easy with professional platforms.
Project managers can easily handle website localization projects with professional TMSs. These systems have MT tools, and QA testing features to make your translations super agile and high quality.
Be careful while choosing your localization management platform, and ask your TMS vendor about the features and functionalities it provides.
Built Initial Website with Unicode
You must build your initial website keeping localization in mind from the beginning. When you develop your website in Unicode, localizing it further for different regions becomes easier. Unicode websites are easily modified and adjusted to foreign markets because elements are not hard coded.
When you have already built your website in Unicode, it gets easier to change the design and layout later on.
Hardcoded websites cause your localization process to get slower, and it is going to take a lot of time to localize your website for a new marketplace.
Translate All Web Pages
The translation is indeed the most important and critical part of website localization. The idea behind localization is to eliminate the communication barrier between you and your audiences.
Language plays a major role in connecting with people because when you talk to people in their language, it influences them deeply. Make sure you have your website pages translated by native translators.
After translations are complete, have your translation documents tested using a QA tool or proofread by professional translators. If you are using the MT tool, make sure you are getting it from reliable language service providers, and the translation generated by these tools should be natural and relevant to the brand’s voice.
Adapt Your Web Design & Layouts
You have to work on the website visuals and layout as well based on the preferences and interests of your local customers. from the choice of colors or graphics, you must modify everything to your target regions.
Similarly, you have to make changes to the navigations of the website based on whether your target language script is left or right. Moreover, some languages may take up more space than others in delivering the same message; you must make an adjustable design that makes it easier to get adjusted to different languages.
Adjust Formatting
Last but certainly not least, you have to change the formatting of your website to the local preferences. For instance, some countries are more used to 12-hour clocks while others use 24-hour clocks; so, if you are showing time on your website, you must adjust it with every new region.
Similarly, the format of writing date varies in different regions, so you have to adjust the format accordingly.