The Localization Process: What You Need to Know
Targeting a new audience with your content isn’t as simple as it may seem. Not only does your message need to be translated, but you also need to ensure the graphics, colors, fonts, and other elements of your content effectively communicate your brand. This is where the localization process comes in.
An effective localization process bridges the gap between globalization and personalized communication. It requires a skilled localization team, the right localization tools, and a deep understanding of different languages, cultural differences, and market expectations. Done right, it helps you deliver a localized product that engages your audience, supports brand growth, and ensures long-term success in global markets.
Table of Contents
7 Steps in the Localization Process
Step 1: Research & Goal-Setting
Step 2: Translation and Cultural Adaptation
Step 3: Localizing Graphics and Visuals
Step 4: Design, Formatting, and Functionality
Step 5: Converting to Local Units and Formats
Step 6: Quality Assurance and Testing
Step 7: Compliance with Legal Requirements
Why the Localization Process Matters
What Is Localization?
By definition, “Localization is the process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale or market.” This process addresses all aspects of your content, ensuring the elements involved will be clearly understandable to your new target audience. When you’re ready to penetrate a new market, here are the steps of the localization process that your content needs to follow.
Localization can be applied to different company resources, including:
- Websites
- Newsletters
- Social media content
- Brochures
- Mailers
7 Steps in the Localization Process
Expanding into global markets means more than simply translating your message into a different language. To connect with a local market in a meaningful way, you need an effective localization strategy that adapts your content, design, and user interface to fit your audience’s culture, expectations, and legal requirements.
The localization and translation process, often referred to as a localization workflow, ensures your localized product delivers a high-quality user experience that feels as if it were originally created for your audience’s native language and cultural nuances.
Follow these essential steps to create your localization process:
Step 1: Research & Goal-Setting
Before beginning your localization project, your organization and your Language Service Provider (LSP) will work together to identify your target audience and their needs. This will include detailed research into the culture of your new target audience and any information that will help you to effectively reach them. The proper formatting for dates, times, graphics, fonts, and more will be determined as well.
Your strategy should identify:
- Business objectives and KPIs for your localization campaign.
- Target audience demographics, preferences, and cultural references.
- Style guides and terminology glossaries to maintain brand consistency.
- Translation memory systems to store approved translated content for future reuse.
- The tools and services to use to achieve your translation goals.
Thorough cultural research will help you adapt not only your language but also your visuals, layouts, and functionality so that your content fits naturally within the target culture.
Step 2: Translation and Cultural Adaptation
Your content will then undergo translation into the new target language. But translation is only one part of the localization workflow, and it’s much more than word-for-word substitution. Your translators must convey your brand’s voice, tone, and intent while respecting cultural differences and cultural sensitivity.
To prepare for this step, be sure that you know what language and dialect your target audience speaks. If you want your content to be clearly understood, these two pieces of information are vital, as many languages have nuances that are important to specific immigrant groups – e.g. Traditional vs. Simplified Chinese. Your LSP will translate your content into the target language, give you the opportunity to review it and make edits, and then move on to the next steps of the localization process.
To streamline this part of the localization process, your LSP may use a combination of professional human translators and technology, such as machine translation, AI translation, and localization tools. Supported by translation memory and automation, this approach helps maintain consistency, speed up production, and reduce costs while ensuring high-quality translated text.
Learn more about the benefits of human-in-the-loop translations.
Step 3: Localizing Graphics and Visuals
Your graphics also need to be localized as you continue through the process. This step includes changing the text, colors, images, and other elements of your graphics as necessary. If your logo includes text in the source language, you’ll want to consider changing that text into the target language to better be able to reach your target market.
Step 4: Design, Formatting, and Functionality
Once your content is translated, it’s time to integrate it into the design. In this stage, your team ensures the user interface works seamlessly in the target language. This may include adjusting for text expansion or contraction, changing reading direction, and fixing spacing or alignment issues. Testing the functionality of forms, navigation menus, and other interactive elements is key to providing a smooth customer experience.
Learn more about desktop publishing services and why they’re important.
Step 5: Converting to Local Units and Formats
An often-overlooked but important step is adapting measurements, dates, times, currency, and other units to local standards. These details may seem small, but they help your localized content feel truly tailored to the local market and reinforce cultural sensitivity.
Step 6: Quality Assurance and Testing
Before launch, a thorough quality assurance review ensures that your translated text is accurate, culturally appropriate, and free of errors. This process typically includes:
- Proofreading for grammar, syntax, and style.
- Reviewing for cultural nuances and cultural references that may need adjustment.
- Checking the functionality and user interface in the localized version.
- Ensuring alignment with your style guides and terminology glossaries.
By testing the product or content in real-world conditions, you can confirm that it meets high-quality standards and supports a positive customer experience.
Step 7: Compliance with Legal Requirements
Your localization team should also verify that your content meets all local laws and regulations. This could include privacy policies, labeling standards, or accessibility requirements, especially important when expanding into highly regulated international markets.
Why the Localization Process Matters
An effective localization process bridges the gap between globalization and personalized communication. It requires a skilled localization team, the right localization tools, and a deep understanding of different languages, cultural differences, and market expectations. Done right, it helps you deliver a localized product that engages your audience, supports brand growth, and ensures long-term success in global markets.
Learn about a recent medical website localization project.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Localization Process
Who should be involved in the localization process?
A successful localization project typically involves multiple stakeholders:
– Project managers to oversee timelines and budgets.
– Translators and localization specialists for language accuracy.
– Subject matter experts to ensure content is factually correct.
– Marketing or brand teams to maintain tone and style.
– Developers and designers to adapt layouts, interfaces, and technical elements for the target market.
How do I pick tools to make the localization process easier?
Choose tools based on your project’s scale, file formats, and workflow needs. Look for:
– Translation management systems (TMS) for organizing and tracking work.
– Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools to improve consistency.
– Glossary and terminology databases to standardize language.
– Collaboration platforms that allow translators, editors, and developers to work together seamlessly.
Work with an experienced language service provider (LSP) like Avantpage, which will streamline the localization process.
What types of content need to be localized?
Any customer-facing or market-specific content may need localization, including:
– Websites, landing pages, and blogs
– Marketing materials, ads, and social media posts
– Software and mobile app interfaces
– Product documentation and user manuals
– Legal agreements and compliance documents
Learn about how the best website localization services enhance accessibility.
How do I ensure cultural nuances are respected in translated content?
Work with native speakers who understand both the source and target cultures. Provide them with:
– Brand and style guidelines
– Context for the content’s purpose and audience
– Examples of culturally sensitive scenarios
Also, review content for imagery, colors, and idioms that may not translate well or could be misinterpreted.
What’s the difference between translation, localization, and internationalization?
– Translation: Converting text from one language to another while preserving meaning.
– Localization: Adapting content to suit the language, culture, and preferences of a specific audience.
– Internationalization: Designing products, software, or content in a way that makes localization easier for multiple markets.
Learn more about the differences between translation and localization.
Streamline Your Localization Process with an Expert LSP
If you’re ready to expand your reach with high-quality localized content, Avantpage can help. Our localization services combine expert translators, advanced technology, and proven localization workflows to help you succeed in any international market.
Call us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today.
