How to Dominate a Website Localization Project? Work Smart and Save Big

Congratulations on building a magnificent website! Your stunning design, seamless connectivity to digital campaigns, and flawless automations are all working perfectly - in one language. But how do you replicate this beauty across multiple languages? Where do you begin? How do you manage the budget, save on costs without compromising quality, and balance the need for significant investment against measuring the return on investment?

These are crucial questions. Let's start by focusing on being efficient in the work process, as it will make everything else easier. But first, some numbers and a brief explanation.

Translation vs. Localization: What's the Difference?

The difference between translation and localization is like the difference between a quick, tasty meal on the go and hosting a full, hospitable dining experience.

Professional website translation ensures that the source language content is accurately and correctly conveyed in the target language - nothing more, nothing less.

Website localization, on the other hand, prepares your site to make your future customers feel at home. It considers the technical aspects of supporting additional languages, includes pre-work testing, personalized content management, and pays specific attention to the site's appearance in the target language.

This is the difference between professional translation and localization that creates a local user experience.

The Numbers Game

As Israelis, we might sometimes forget the power dynamics between our country of 6.5 million Hebrew speakers and the rest of the world, leading to biased and incorrect decisions.

Let's talk numbers:

- There are about 350 million native English speakers worldwide - less than 4% of the total population.

- Every 15 years, about a billion people are added to the world population, mostly in non-English speaking countries.

Here are some figures that will draw the attention of every marketing and Marcom manager looking for the next profitable market:

German: 100,000,000 native speakers

Italian: 65,000,000 native speakers

Bengali: 300,000,000 native speakers

Vietnamese: 99,000,000 native speakers

French (France + Canada): 270,000,000 native speakers 

Spanish (Spain + South America): 550,000,000 native speakers

Japanese: 130,000,000 native speakers

Polish: 40,000,000 native speakers

Besides these, there are about 5,990 languages in the world, more or less.

What do these numbers tell us? 

First, Israel is probably not the center of the universe. Second, even seemingly exotic languages like Bengali can be gateways to tremendous business potential, with nearly 200 million native speakers worldwide.

Consider these statistics:

- 82% of people won't visit your site if it's not in their language.

- In many African countries, with about 2 billion inhabitants and 2,000 languages, mobile devices are the primary means of virtual connection. Is your site mobile responsive? 

- 72% prefer to make online purchases on websites in their mother tongue.

- 55% would prefer and remain loyal to a site that is not only translated but also creates a local user experience.

If you work correctly, you can earn significantly. Your competitors are likely investing the necessary resources to create proper local engagement. Don't settle for a fraction of the potential - fully exploit the global market.

However, website localization can be expensive, lengthy, and risky if done last-minute without proper planning, management, and accuracy. Here are some tips for efficient and economical website localization to help you fully leverage markets of tens and hundreds of millions of people.

Proper Planning and Definition

Build a designed, beautiful, accessible website from the start that is ready for localization. This means easy exporting/importing of content files with minimal bugs, horizontal and vertical button flexibility, direction flipping, etc. Your time to market will be faster with fewer delays and quality issues.

Choosing the Right Work System 

WordPress, which powers about 57% of websites worldwide, has various plugins for translation. The leading one, WPML, allows selecting pages for translation and exporting them as XLIFF files containing site instructions, design, and text. BlueLion knows how to work with this file format.

Other WordPress plugins like PolyLang are less flexible, offering only in-plugin translation (not recommended) or offline files like Word or CSV (a 2014 solution). Still, these are better than working within a built-in translation system.

Built-in systems may seem like a great solution - no exporting, just translate and upload. However, they are very inefficient due to lack of organized content management, quality control, terminology consistency, etc. This leads to slower, more expensive, and poorer quality translations, especially for periodic updates.

Wix is another popular platform but with closed code, meaning no efficient built-in solution for exporting content. Manual work is required. The recommended localization method is compiling content into external files (e.g., Word, Excel) for professional translation, then manually copy-pasting the translations back in.

Wix also offers an automatic translation solution, but we strongly advise against using any such "out-of-the-box" translation on any platform. It will damage your reputation and drive potential users straight to competitors who invested in proper localization.

We don't recommend one system over another, but rather understanding that localization aims to create engagement and trust with audiences speaking different languages. Be prepared for this from the website building stage.

When choosing your platform (WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Konimbo, etc.), consider the implications of each option in terms of manual work hours, potential bugs, etc.

Focus, Focus, Focus

Do you really need to translate into 20 languages if you're working in 20 countries? Maybe fewer languages or even just English will suffice.

For content-heavy sites, translating everything may not be necessary. Use Google Analytics to learn your local customers' browsing habits. Translating specific pages with faster calls-to-action may be enough. Measure the ROI and gradually expand as needed. BlueLion offers an agile localization solution for this.

Working with the Right Files

Sending a translation company a link to your site for a quote is wrong! You won't get precise quantification or correct planning of timelines and costs. 

Sending your entire site in a Word file for a quote, while allowing for speedy translation, will require slow manual insertion of texts afterwards, increasing the chance of human errors. But it's better than nothing.

We recommend working with organic site files (XLIFF, XML, JSON, HTML) for more accurate technical processes. Your CMS can place translated files correctly with lower bug rates. If your CMS exports as Word, Excel, CSV, or TXT - great. The key is that the site system can read the codes and variables and act accordingly.

Local Keyword Analysis

Just as you do organic promotion in Israel, you can promote in any country. Use local SEO experts familiar with local behavior and laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA). If you have important keywords, use them as a term dictionary. The translation can incorporate these words for relevant searches, consistent translations, and adaptations to your product and preferences - a triple win!

Budget Planning 

It's hard to predetermine the total cost before you have a single word written. But you're not buying words by weight - you're buying the ability to make your site a well-oiled global marketing machine that creates trust and engagement with target audiences.

A professionally translated site by the right teams will serve and market you properly. Still, word counts give an idea of the work volume for planning realistic schedules and budgets. 

Full localization involves additional costs beyond translation, such as pre-translation term dictionary management and pre-launch testing (LQA).

There are also hidden costs. If the site isn't built correctly from the start, the launch time will be extended. If it's not translated properly or adapted for use, the investment will be wasted as the target audience won't engage or convert.

Here are some cost-saving tips for language adaptations:

- Plan word distributions in advance. Map out identical, repeating content (e.g., CTAs, purchase process, product specs) and copy them identically everywhere. 

- Write short sentences to increase similarity to other sentences.

- Work gradually instead of translating the whole site at once for better budget control. Consider our agile localization service.

- For small sites or landing pages, check out our special website translation packages.

Modular Language Management

Translation alone does not address the visual aspect within the overall system. A professional translator, however experienced, cannot anticipate specific terminology preferences and style.

Any terminology preferences must be managed in a dedicated pre-translation term dictionary process. The visual translation check within the site system itself happens during the concluding LQA process, producing a precise Bug Report before going live.

Summary

In 2022, the business benefit of a website will not be isolated. A system that presents you, your product, and your uniqueness is good for anywhere in the world. 

As part of your service, allow potential customers to understand you without language barriers. Fully exploit markets of tens and hundreds of millions of people, create a trust bridge in you and your product, and differentiate yourself from competitors in the same market who may not invest in smart localization like you. If they did invest, you must not stay behind.

Remember, the direct cost of translation is not the whole story. When you're ready to adapt your working site for additional target audiences, choose a company that can manage complex localization processes with the most experienced professionals. This ensures your site is professionally adapted to every language, allowing you to enjoy a site that works in every language.

BlueLion Language Services