Language localization

Localization is your ticket to the international market

You decided to upscale your operations and claim your share in a foreign market?

Then you will definitely need language localization. With it, you will be able to make your product popular and receive profits by attracting foreign customers.

A lot is said and written about localization. But people do not always fully understand what it means and often confuse translation and localization. They take the easy route and translate the content from their site or advertising materials into the target language without giving much thought to whether the texts will be correctly understood by foreign consumers. A better way is to adapt their materials in order to encourage people to buy a new product.

Why you need language localization

Localization is more than just translation, it entails product or content adaptation with consideration to national specifics and the cultural code of a certain audience. Potential consumers should understand your message correctly and perceive the product as if it was created in their native language.

For example, a company decides to enter a foreign market and translates their site into English. Looks like everything is right, it is the international communication language and such a site would be understandable for people from most countries. But English in England, USA and Australia is somewhat different, isn’t it?

Moreover, each of these countries has its own history, traditions and culture. And so they are not at all similar in their perception and consumer behaviors. Why, they even word their search queries differently, though still in English.

That’s why not just translating your site or content into a foreign language, but making it clear for your selected audience is essential. Website localization solves this task.

Products requiring localization:

• Websites
• Video and mobile games
• Apps
• Software
• Advertising materials
• Audio and video content

Choosing a localization company

Localization is an important step, so you shouldn’t entrust the first company you meet in the market with it. Here are several simple but effective tips to help you choose the right vendor.

1. Check the service and quality of the localization studio before you sign a contract by ordering a test translation. It is usually a free of charge service with limited scope. You will immediately see who you are dealing with.
2. Find out whether the translation agency is prepared to use your corporate glossary while working on your project. This will let you assess the flexibility of the potential vendor and their willingness to respect your wishes.
3. Ask the localization company for the guarantee of quality and confidentiality of your information. There is really no sense to continue negotiations without those guarantees.
4. Make sure that the vendor engages professional translators and not random freelancers to work on the project. And remember to ask about the quality control steps: editing, proofreading, and QA.
5. Order a cost estimate for your project. Compare the figure you get with your overall impression of the company and the test translation results. If the price doesn’t match your evaluation, look for another vendor.

You decided to proceed with localization? We have a lot of experience in this field: in the 9 years of operation we have completed over 60 thousand of projects, 50% of which involved localization. Click the link to read about some of the cases.

If you have further questions, we are willing to give you detailed answers and to find a solution for your specific project. Submit a query at the website or call a manager to receive a consultation.

Translation and localization: is there a difference?

We are often asked: “Can we perform localization ourselves if our employees speak English”?

First of all, translation is not localization and language knowledge is not enough in this case. Apart from the translators, a team of experienced professionals is involved in localization, inluding a marketing specialist who is a native speaker, a multilingual copywriter, a SEO specialist etc. The resulting product is not just translated, but fully adapted to the specifics and needs of the target audience in the respective market.

Second of all, in many attractive markets with active and paying audiences only a small share of potential customers can speak English (for example, in Indonesia). In these cases you will need localization into native languages of your target audiences.

A multilingual product version is your best option. It will let you cover several regions with audiences speaking different languages. This will save you time for project preparation for new markets and enable you to implement your international promotion strategy efficiently.