7 Key Steps in the Website Localization Process

What is website localization?

The website localization process is a series of steps that are taken to translate your content formats into the most accurate and native language possible for your target audience. It’s a critical step for global expansion, directly impacting the internationalization process and overall user experience. Having a multilingual website also allows you to reach new markets and attain a higher overall level of search engine optimization, firmly establishing your presence and authority around the globe. 

In this article, we’ll be exploring different localization efforts and elements you can leverage as you continue to break through foreign markets, offering you a more comprehensive content management strategy to help you move efficiently when you’re ready to expand.

Important Features of Website Localization

Before you begin any sort of website localization process, it’s important to ensure that your localization team is completely clear regarding the types of potential customers you’re looking to target, the overall translation management process, local culture, and the features of website localization you’re focusing on. 

Not sure where to begin? The localization process can include (but is not limited to): 

• Adapting media and graphics: These elements of your site experience can often be overlooked for other optimization tasks. However, taking the time to adapt media and graphics cohesively with your site can result in a more well-rounded and inclusive optimization process. Internet users in your target market ideally want to see every element of your site in their native form of preference, and this is a valuable step to do that. 

• Editing content to suit cultural and general preferences: This generally goes deeper than translating your content into different languages. Rather, this step focuses on truly incorporating a human translation element with local culture—making your content sound as if it was spoken or written by a native speaker rather than through machine translation. 

• Modifying site design for cultural norms: Text that reads right-to-left rather than left-to-right, as well as certain date formatting preferences, can differ depending on the type of foreign markets you’re looking to impact. You may choose to consider these important details in your website localization strategy. 

1. 1. Adjust the quantifiable elements: Numerical elements, such as date formatting, currencies, and units of measurement, can all have an impact on your site’s overall localization and authority. Translation management teams ought to consider preferences and norms around the world, rather than just in their native country. 

• Differing naming conventions: Your local market may have different language preferences when it comes to the names of certain objects or products. Including culture study and evaluation in your workflow can help your localization project reach a deeper and more sustainable level of success. 

• Local regulations and legal requirements: International markets may feature different legal requirements or region-specific regulations—especially in the e-commerce space. Localization in global markets is often a vital step that’s necessary for seamless compliance and enhanced brand awareness.

7 Key Steps in the Website Localization Process

Ready to make your localized site a success? Here are a few key steps you can take to make the new localized version of your site more impactful and aligned—no plugins required. 

1. Consider Your Website Localization Strategy.

Website translation is most effective when it’s paired with an effective localization strategy. When considering your strategy, you might also include SEO best practices and input from your target market in the form of micro surveys and analysis. After all, you’ll be able to better serve your target market with website content that meets their needs—which you can ensure by including your prospect’s interests in the creation process. 

The next step from here is actually assembling the steps you know that you need to take into a comprehensive strategy. You’ll also need to plan the execution and collaboration workflows. OneSky offers a comprehensive approach to professional translation and quality assurance, bringing all steps of your flow in-house. This means you’ll spend less time in the actual tactical steps, and more time where it matters most—strategic execution. 

2. Market Research

Market research is vital to the localization process. It allows you to put content properly in the prospect’s own language and gives you valuable insight to help you exceed local expectations. Market research is the foundation for solid brand awareness, presence, and profitability, especially as you work to expand into new target markets. 

OneSky’s translation experts are able to bring a native element to this process, connecting you linguistically to what your market members expect to see in their content. Not sure where to start? While our linguists currently offer translation into over 50+ languages worldwide, there are ten common languages that many choose as their first target for localization as they begin to expand. These include: 

• 1. German
• 2. French
• 3. Italian
• 4. Spanish (Spain)
• 5. Japanese
• 6. Chinese
• 7. Portuguese (Brazil)
• 8. Korean
• 9. Russian
• 10. Swedish

3. Find Your Translation Management System

After you determine your strategy and your language of choice, you’ll need to find a translation management system that works for you. Many professional translation services work with third-party software to keep everything moving. However, this can result in fractional, time-consuming organizational flows. 

OneSky offers proprietary and inclusive translation management software that’s native to our platform, giving you a completely comprehensive and collaborative approach to project management. 

4. Detecting the Content on Your Site

Once your workflow has been established, it’s time to evaluate the total content on your site. From there, you can detect every page and asset you’ll need to localize. It may be denser than you anticipate! 

Our recommendation? After detection, feel free to prioritize your content and determine the minimum amount you’ll need to launch. That way, you can begin your split testing process and determine the best possible way to present your localized site to your consumer. 

5. Set Up Translation Rules

Establishing translation rules early on can give your content a level of polish that isn’t typically seen across a user’s experience. This is due to the level of consistency and quality assurance that you can have with a solid content strategy and your rules of choice. 

There isn’t really a “wrong” way to set up these rules. You can create them around specific elements, such as numerical formatting or specific lingo you use. Alternatively, you can focus on brand voice and site personification in the context of localization—sticking to certain sayings and tone(s) across your content. No matter what you choose to do, however, consider having the information readily available for your team members in the form of an SOP or document in your project management system. 

6. Choosing the Translation Method

Finally, it’s time to choose a translation method. There are many different ways to translate, such as machine translation or human translation. 

While AI systems are available, we recommend choosing an option that allows you to have the highest level of control and oversight, which can help you to receive higher-quality content. Humans may also catch more nuanced elements of the localized content, enhancing them beyond what you’d expect to see from any tool or software.

7. Launching Your Multilingual Website

At last, it’s time to launch your website. Before this step, you’ve hopefully taken the time to run through your content and analyze it with the help of a linguist, catching all the last-minute elements that can be missed—such as grammatical errors and style missteps. You may have also invested in beta-testers, running through every element of your UX to work out any bugs. 

After these steps, your launch can occur with a higher potential for success. Consider split testing or ongoing tracking of your site’s visitors, click-through rates and conversions to determine potential areas of growth for later improvements. 

Leave Website Localization to the Professionals at OneSky

Website localization is a useful tool to support your plans for global market expansion and presence. By connecting with members of your target demographic in their native tongue, you can easily build brand awareness and enhance your current marketing efforts at a fraction of the cost you’d otherwise pay. 

OneSky is your resource to make your localization initiative a success. Our inclusive software connects you with master linguists in your industry of expertise, collaborating and constructing on our native platform. From there, the sky’s the limit—and you’re empowered to chase your highest level of success yet.

For more information about what OneSky can do for you, please connect with us today. We look forward to serving you.