Posted by Over the past decade, the internet has emerged as a marketing enabler and significantly lowered the barriers to entry for companies that want to do business in the global market. Large multi-national corporations and small, locally owned businesses can now reach an international consumer base with little more than a website and an off-the-shelf e-commerce solution.
The question then becomes: How does a company wishing to reach out to a global market take the first step? Proper website content localization is the answer.
The introduction, sales, and support of a product (or service) to potential customers in another country requires planning and a strategic approach that addresses not only presentation language, but cultural differences in each target market. And there lies the difference between website “translation” and the concept of “localization” — bridging these variances — and in doing so, making the content truly relevant from a standpoint of local context. Export.gov, a U.S.-based website hosted by the Department of Commerce, characterizes the challenge of content localization thusly:“Internationalizing a firm’s website enables the company to be multilingual and be sensitive to cultural conventions without the need for extensive redesign.”
Even common languages such as English, Spanish, French, and German can have distinct regional variances in dialect, semantics, and slang, depending on the location where the language is native. Content localization, which (again) should not be confused with mere language translation, can smooth any rough edges in written material.
From a cost perspective, it’s important to differentiate between content localization (text) and source localization. Localizing text is a relatively straightforward process, and pays the greatest dividends at the lowest possible cost. That’s why creating original, non-complex content is critical when it comes to making the easiest (and least error-prone) translation of the content. This is especially true if the content will be translated to multiple languages. The more technical the content, the more difficult and costly that it becomes to localize the content.
When developing written copy that can be easily translated to reach a global audience, it’s necessary to consider a variety of factors:
° Who is the content intended to reach?
° What is the expected level of difficulty in understanding the material?
° Is the content localization designed to communicate at a technical or emotional level? Keep
in mind that consumers make purchasing decisions at an emotional level, but still need to
understand and associate technical details to use and implement the product or service.
Global content creation can be a collaborative process involving many partners, both internal and external to the company, in order for information to effectively communicate to the intended market by addressing the concerns listed above. Everyone involved in the content localization process – from the product engineers, to marketing associates and sales staff – must be able to communicate their contributions to product success in terms that can not only be easily translated, but localized.
Lastly, when localizing web content, concentrate on what is actually necessary in reaching the intended audience. In many cases, it’s not necessary to translate an entire corporate website, but rather focus on the sales and emotional appeal in a specific region / language. Don’t bury the content localization within a larger, single-language corporate website. Create a scaled down website that specifically caters to the potential customer in the target foreign market, but still delivers relevant information.
If you’re interested in learning more please download our free Website Localization Guide below:
