In today’s era of globalization, website localization has become increasingly prevalent since localization is the key to helping businesses penetrate new markets and reach audiences in various countries. Here are some best practices and a step-by-step guide on how to build a successful website localization strategy.
Website localization involves creating different website versions tailored to the culture, language, and customs of the target market. By converting content such as text, images, videos, layout, interface, and features, localization enhances user experience and conveys content in a way that new markets can easily access and comprehend.
Localization and translation are often mistaken to be the same. However, localization covers more than just language conversion. For website localization, besides language, other elements including images, symbols, icons, and even the layout, interface, and features of the website are also adapted to a specific culture.
Therefore, the website localization process is usually divided into several stages. Each stage entails specific tasks to achieve the goal of completing the final product.
In other words, a website localization strategy consists of specific steps helping the website successfully approach the target market by bringing a friendly, intimate experience that is well-received by the local audience.
Localization goes beyond translation and brings along numerous benefits. That being said, this complicated task also poses certain challenges for people who want to build a comprehensive website localization strategy. Here are some noteworthy rules that you should take into account when constructing a localization strategy for your website:
Developing a website localization strategy is becoming increasingly popular these days. Businesses of different scales, types, or fields will employ different strategies. However, there are some foundational steps in the website localization process that should not be overlooked.
The first step is to determine the target audience that your website wants to reach. This is considered the most crucial step since misidentifying or not fully understanding the target audience can lead to unsuccessful localization strategies. Therefore, it is best to dedicate significant time to researching your potential audience to make the most of this step.
To accurately understand your target audience, you may need to conduct surveys and market research to identify important demographic factors. It is also recommended that you refer to your competitors’ websites and research more on psychological factors such as interests, habits, behaviors, etc.
Another critical step in developing a website localization plan is setting localization goals. Based on the target audience determined in Step 1, you can establish strategic milestones for the website to successfully approach the intended customers.
Defining clear goals, business requirements, and evaluation criteria guarantees all parties involved in your localization project follow the same path. This is a prerequisite to ensure seamless workflow and cooperation between parties.
Before embarking on building a website localization strategy, you should try answering questions first:
In addition to qualification and professional knowledge, experience is another indispensable factor when looking for a reliable company. Localization companies will have strengths in certain specific fields. This can somewhat be evaluated through past projects and the team of experts the company employs.
When choosing localization services, it is advisable to opt for companies with experience in the same field as yours. This gives you the benefit of saving time in the localization process.
Additionally, make sure to review carefully the company’s information, ensuring that all information presented is explicit and correct. Also, check if the company provides high-expertise expert teams, optimal workflow, constantly updated progress, and transparent quotes.
Check out these successful translation projects at Thao & Co. to explore more about our quality language solutions.
After figuring out your suitable localization agency, it is now time to start planning for linguistic testing and functional testing.
For high-quality content, you should have ongoing discussions with the translation team and conduct thorough linguistic testing. This ensures that the translation accurately conveys the message and fits the context.
It is also important to note that language conversion could result in some changes to the layout, interface, and sometimes even the features. For example, most websites in English uses the word “Sign in” while their Vietnamese version uses “Đăng nhập.” As it can be seen, the Vietnamese text is longer than its English counterpart and so necessitates a longer login button.
Monitoring and updating are the tasks that need to be done throughout the website localization process. With such a large workload and numerous adjustments in the website interface and content, mistakes are inevitable. Even if testing was thoroughly done before use, monitoring and updating must still be conducted with great care.
Aside from detecting the remaining localization problems, the website should also be updated with fresh content or features to better serve local users. You can go through competitor websites, seek advice from experts, or conduct user surveys to add new features and upgrade current ones.
In the context of rapidly growing demand for internalization, Thao & Co. translation company continuously enhances our expertise and innovates with our high-quality B2B translation services in order to satisfy any requirements of our business clients.
Especially, our Website Translation and Localization Services help provide a natural and smooth user experience thanks to accurate translations performed by experienced native Localization Specialists.
Thao & Co. offers a wide range of innovative language solutions to assist you in bringing your products to the international market. Our team of native language experts can manage any complex translation project and ensure its timely completion.
Thao & Co. is proud to be among the leading technology-oriented translation companies in Asia and the world. With extensive experience gained from many completed projects across various fields from Advertising, Medicine, Finance – Banking, Law, to Real Estate, Tourism, Education, and more, Thao & Co. is confident in meeting all your translation requirements.
Thao & Co. offers a systematic and scientific workflow. Our proprietary platform provides clients with transparent real-time updates of every stage of the localization process.
This is a technology that can support you in managing all project documents, payment information, and project progress tracking conveniently and securely.
At Thao & Co., we develop Translation Guidelines to ensure the utmost accuracy and consistency for your projects. Moreover, our domestic and international SEO experts with extensive experience guarantee to meet any of your website localization requirements to help your website rank high on search engines in the target market.
Before the product reaches your target audiences, programmers and IT specialists at Thao & Co. will integrate content into the website to ensure consistency throughout layout, design, content, and functionality. In the final stage, our seasoned linguists will review and refine the product before handing it over to you.
We hope that the information provided here has helped you better understand the beneficial role of the website localization strategy in your global journey. For any questions or further information about website localization services at Thao & Co., please contact us directly at our Get a Quote page for prompt consultation.
