Get More Visitors & Customers: Localize Your Website
Your company probably has a website. It may even be doing its job of generating sales and informing people about your services. You likely provide an English version for foreign visitors. However, one day you’ll come across a statistic that will make any website owner feel uneasy – a whopping 40% of online users refuse to buy products or services online in a language they’re unfamiliar with.
Site localization is the only way to combat this issue. Today we will talk about website localization and discuss best practices to help keep websites global, so stay tuned!
What Does Localization Provide?
When people hear the word “localization,” they commonly think about translation. However, localization is more than that. It means providing a tailored user experience for each website visitor based on their location.
You are likely curious about how you can benefit from website localization and whether it is even worth doing it. The most obvious benefit of localization is increasing the loyalty of those user groups who prefer to perceive information in their native language. Another pleasant consequence of website localization is brand image improvement. In general, it is definitely worth localizing a site if:
– Your company has foreign clients and/or partners.
– You are planning to expand abroad.
– You position yourself as an international company.
– You want to expand the top level of your sales funnel.
Which Tasks Does Localization Resolve?
Localization is beneficial in many ways. Here is a list of things proper localization helps take care of.
– Expands the target audience, allowing your website to get more visitors.
– Increases income.
– Reduces losses from search engine sanctions if the language version is made on a subdomain. You should invest in multilingual marketing in order to have the best results with website localization.
– Strengthens an emotional connection with target audience representatives, actively transforming website visitors into customers.
– Provides advantages over competitors.
How Does One Go About Localizing a Website: 5 Pro Tips
Your localization strategy should include these steps:
1. Do extensive research of your target market.
It is easy to fail when brands base their decisions on assumptions. Conduct extensive research and gather enough information about the target market before performing website localization. Once the target audience’s needs are established, look into potential competitors. This way, it’s easier to understand which strategies work within a local market and will help you dominate it.
2. Account for cultural differences.
If one wants to be successful in a new market, one must be culturally aware and mindful. Understanding local cultural nuances is crucial so that you could avoid offensive or insensitive statements. It may be wise to invite professional translators from that target market region to review what has been translated or perform localization altogether. Although this may make translation costs higher, skilled translators will quickly identify content that isn’t suitable for the local market.
When translating, you should not only focus on translating words correctly but also be familiar with local requirements such as the date and time formats. Little things like this can make a huge difference as they allow your visitors to relax while browsing your site.
3. Create multilingual brand assets.
Your website should be interactive and engaging so that visitors can have a fun and interesting time. There should be several things on your site that your visitors can interact with. Make sure that all your downloadable content like reports, e-books, documents, etc. is also translated.
This does not mean that you have to translate all your content before entering a new market. Instead, it is better to create new quality content piece by piece based on your target location. You should also consider multilingual customer support when entering a new market. Here are top 5 localization tips for maintaining a multilingual customer support you better get acquainted with if you wish to do it successfully.
4. Localize the media on your website.
Images, videos, and infographics on your web page need to be localized. Making these media components of your website available in a way that visitors can understand will reflect well on your brand. Make sure your website’s media is consistent and adapted to the needs and requirements of emerging markets – this will help attract new customers to your brand.
5. Tweak website layout and design if needed when localizing.
Sentences and paragraphs in the target language may not be the same length, and this will ultimately affect how text and other website content is displayed. Create responsive web pages that can adapt to any changes that might occur during translation.
You may also need to adjust website design, color scheme, and visuals before venturing into a new market to make sure that your new customers have the best possible experience with your resource.
Wrapping Up!
Start applying the website localization techniques mentioned in this article to help you get to know your new audience and realize what they are likely to expect and need from your brand. When you apply everything that has been covered in this article, you can create enjoyable browsing and shopping experience for everyone, regardless of their location in the world.
BIO: Elizabeth Baldridge
Elizabeth is a stellar writer who enjoys delivering valuable content to her many readers. Her unique approach and abundant experience as a researcher help her note concerns and questions of her numerous contemporaries, vocalize them in her work and provide answers. Elizabeth is well-versed in many trendy topics and loves sharing her many insights with the world!
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