What Is Language Localization?

Language localization involves a set of modifications to the original text, crucial for the target audience. Purely textual changes, like the idioms used, completely new puns, using different values and addressing different emotions – all of these might be the result of such process. On the other hand, if you do not localize your products, services or website, you might create an unpleasant user experience, one that will deter potential customers away from your product. Plus, it might make it harder to find your products in search engines. Do you want to learn more? Then keep reading!

Starting from the pole position, let’s begin by answering the question from the title: What is language localization? The definition may vary depending on the source, so we’ll look into a few of them.

Although the term localization is often used as a synonym to translation, they are two separate approaches. In a nutshell,

• Translation is focused on the meaning;
• Localization is focused on the experience.

Proper language localization is critical from the business perspective. It is a part of your website UX, it builds your image as a business and it ensures that you reap the most out of your SEO strategy. Let’s look at this in more detail.

Starting from the UX perspective, localization impacts the way users navigate your website. Let’s look at some examples that illustrate this:

• Navigation – Lack of localization may lead to your clients being unable to navigate your website if they do not know the language. It simply reduces your reach. Even a translation will not always do the trick, since the unnatural translations may cause disorientation.
• Comfort – A well-localized website or product affects the comfort the users feel when interacting with your content. The better localized it is, the more appealing it appears, leaving users with positive emotions and willing to visit your website again.

What’s more, the lack of localization might lead to misunderstandings, hence frustration – even the tiny elements matter. For instance, in Poland we use commas to divide decimal parts, while in English, decimal point is used instead. Usually, users will see a difference based on the number of digits, but in some cases it’s dangerous, since the user may think that, for instance, the price is drastically different. The same goes for date formats. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Looking at the PR, localization plays two roles:

• maintaining consistency in your brand image,
• keeping up a professional image.

What’s the difference between “look at” and “examine?” The register. If you simply translate your content, it won’t matter which phrase you use because the meaning will be the same. However, from your brand’s perspective, it does matter, as you want to use a certain tone of voice, evoke specific emotions and keep a defined image – one of these two will simply suit you better. With localization, you won’t compromise your values and ensure that your brand is consistent no matter the language.

When it comes to being professional, language localization is invisible… until your website or products lack it. In such cases, users will immediately see the unusual phrases and treat it as a signal that you can’t be fully trusted. After all, there’s a difference between “Enhance your look with hair colors that highlight your natural beauty,” and “Modify your look hair color with dyes that stress your natural beauty,” although the meaning is the same and if you sound too robotic, your brand won’t be treated seriously.

When SEO copywriting is involved, language localization impacts two areas:

• UX,
• keyword localization.

We’ve already explained the first one, so let’s look a bit more into the second.

Many businesses decide to translate their content when entering a new market and creating a new language version on their site. However, this approach is prone to problems. If you do not work with experts in the target language, you will likely mistranslate certain texts and phrases, making your content less appealing. And that’s just the beginning.

Without an SEO-oriented localization, you might fall into the trap of using wrong keywords in your context. For instance, English “home improvement” can be translated into Polish as:

• remonty i wykończenia – meaning renovations and repairs,
• urządzanie wnętrz – meaning interior design and decorating.

The direct translation of this term into ulepszanie domu would cause even more troubles, since such term does not exist in Polish. In the end, you’d need to use both terms in one text or divide the content into two groups, based on the localized keywords.

If you look at this from the other side, as a Polish website owner, there are even more difficulties. Yes, you can translate your services into “home improvement” but then you get a keyword that… competes with content on the popular TV show, Home Improvement.

It will be much easier for you to target keywords like “home renovation” and its long tail versions, but you need to be aware of the cultural context to know that. That’s why you need localization if you want to keep your SEO as effective as possible.

Having explained what language localization is, let’s talk about its execution. How do you ensure that your website is properly localized? What if you have already launched your new language version, and you’re not sure about the quality of the content? Here are our tips:

If you still haven’t launched your new language version, you have everything to ensure that your content will be truly localized. Yet, this does not mean that it’s an easy task – despite the clean slate, you will need to work with several experts for this process to go smoothly.

If you already launched your website’s new language version and have doubts about the quality of the localization, don’t worry – it’s not the end of the world. We can help you locate and eliminate all the issues with our content audit services. Our team will analyze your content thoroughly and prepare a list of recommendations, including a section on language localization issues. What does it look like? Here’s an example of such an audit.

Ensuring high-quality language localization is necessary if you want your website or products to perform as well (if not better) as they do on your initial market. Errors in localization lead to bad UX, inconsistent tone of voice or even SEO issues, so you need to pay a lot of attention to the whole process. If you need help creating your website’s new language version, you can contact as at Delante. Book our content marketing consultations and let us help move your website forward into new, promising, foreign markets!

References:

1. 1. TechTarget. Localization. https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/localization
   2. Pym, A. (2011). Localization and linguistics. Intercultural Studies Group, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Tarragona, Spain.
   3. Wikipedia contributors. (2024, October 22). Language localisation. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
      https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Language_localisation&oldid=1252783051