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LOCALISATION OF A HOMEPAGE: 9 SIMPLE STEPS

ALL YOU NEED IS A GOOD TRANSLATOR?

Unfortunately, there is a misconception that all translators have localisation skills, which can negatively impact the results of the work related to important assets, such as a company’s website. The sequence of actions described in this article applies mainly to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as large companies usually receive localisation services on a case-by-case basis.

But first, let’s define what the term “localisation” actually means.

WHAT IS LOCALISATION?

Translation is the simplest form of language service that is offered by the language service provider (LSP) of your choice. It is the process of converting a source language text into a target language text while preserving its meaning. For the translation of official documents written in relatively simple language, one translator may be sufficient.

However, if you are developing marketing materials that are meant to help build your company’s image and make it appealing to audiences in a new country, you’ll need something else. In fact, a lot of things.

Localisation is the adaptation of texts to the socio-cultural context of the new market. It affects all non-textual components of the translation:

  • purpose,
  • specifics of the target audience and their needs,
  • SEO Requirements,
  • UX/UI aspects

and many other issues.

Once localised, your web page should feel natural to its visitors. It should be readable due to being fully consistent with your clients’ customary communication style.

Based on this, let’s look at the nine steps in the process of localising an internet page.

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Two women are looking at a tablet, discussing the content of a website, symbolizing website localization.
Person holding a tablet with an e-shop interface, symbolizing website adaptation for different markets.

STEP 1: PREPARATION.

The decision to translate and localise a website should be a carefully considered and thought-out one. The most common reason for performing website localisation is the desire to bring your company to an international level in order to conquer new markets. A good reason to translate and localise your page can also be an increase in traffic from other countries (recorded by Google Analytics or another web analytics tool).

The second thing to consider is what you need to localise exactly. Some businesses only localise key elements and subpages of web pages. This approach is not always justified, as it unwittingly creates a sense of understatement that customers may associate with your business. When working on specific sales pages, it’s often useful to test the potential of a new market on a small scale. For example, you can start checking out advertisements and other elements related to your local market via the pages of specific products.

In general, the safest option is to localise all elements related to the website, but this task depends on many factors such as the market, available resources, timing, business objectives and technical content (see step 4).

A man in a suit and a woman in a jacket smile as they discuss documents in an office, symbolizing website translation and adaptation with the support of Skrivanek Baltic.
A computer keyboard with a bright red “Translate” key, symbolizing website translation with machine translation and artificial intelligence solutions.

OTHER ASPECTS TO CONSIDER

As part of the preparation process, you will need to consider a number of the following key factors.

  • Your product or service. Can you just start offering your products/services on a new market or do you need to adapt them to the new market?
  • Pricing. Will your pricing model work on the new market?
  • Target market(s). What language, cultural and demographic groups do you want to reach out to?
  • Team. Do you have resources available to help localise an internet page? If you have employees in your team who can serve new customers or other specialists who understand the new target market, you can involve them in the localisation process.

The list goes on, depending on the profile and needs of your enterprise.

Finally, consider the preferred form of this service. To make it simpler, we will only cover the three most common options, although there may actually be more.

  • Translation and localisation are performed by humans: the task is performed exclusively by translators and localisation specialists, using limited software support in the form of CAT tools.
  • Machine translation: the task is performed fully automatically by MT tools. There are many “free” tools for this, but we’ll look at those in other articles.
  • Hybrid solution: machine and human labour is used simultaneously, i.e., the source material is created by an MT tool and then edited and improved by specialists.

If you want your web page to look as natural as possible, we recommend choosing either the first or third option.

STEP 2: UNDERSTAND CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS

You can’t localise an internet page without knowing who your target audience will be. There are often certain groups within a country that use different forms of communication, dialects and even languages. This must be found out before undertaking localisation.

Understanding the customer’s requirements starts with identifying the type of buyer. It is a representation of your ideal client archetype. The buyer type is formed by basic demographic information about your target customers as well as information about their behaviour, motivation, intentions and pain points.

To determine your buyer type, you will need to gather more information about your future market, ideally obtaining reliable data through the use of analytical tools. To better understand your target market, you can also use market surveys and white papers.

Unless you have just started your own business, by the time you start localising your website in another language, you usually already know your customer profile and can use this knowledge when entering new markets.

Another important method for understanding your target market is to conduct a keyword analysis (see step 4).

STEP 3: FORM A TEAM AND FIND AN LSP

Good localisation results are never achieved alone. This process should involve representatives from various departments within the company, including:

  • marketing,
  • customer service/sales,
  • technical support for the web page, especially for customised solutions,
  • the author of the best ideas.

Each participant will have a different perspective on the goals and how to achieve them. Don’t forget to appoint a person responsible for defining and adhering to the scope of project work. Technical support will help you export texts for localisation, which will be useful when preparing a quotation – either in-house or together with third parties. If this option isn’t available, you can use web aggregator methods.

Normally, if localisation enters the equation, the webpage already exists so it won’t be difficult to choose a solution. It can be WordPress, Shopify, Drupal, Wix or any other system, but each has its own limitations.

It is a good idea to find a company that can help you translate and localise an internet page. These companies, called LSPs, work with specialists who know the target language and culture inside out. They are native language editors and experienced translators. LSPs are able to provide a comprehensive package of services that includes planning, consultation, research, localisation and editing of all your marketing texts, as well as technical support and final testing.

When localizing website content, Skrivanek always asks the client what general style we should use. This means that the translated website will fully meet your expectations. All language service providers should follow this practice.
A young woman sits at a computer and smiles, while her colleagues discuss the data on the screen in the background, symbolizing the choice of a translation service provider.
A woman in an office talks on the phone and takes notes, with colleagues visible in the background, symbolizing the creation of a translation team and coordination of work.

STEP 4: CONSIDER SEO AND METADATA

All of the texts on your website are extremely important, but there are some other things to consider during the translation and localisation process. There are certain elements associated with a web page that Google and other search bots use to understand what your page is about, for example:

  • meta titles (title tags) are displayed in Google (specifically on the search engine results page) as titles of links to your page (so users only see them if you are in a favourable organic position);
  • meta descriptions are summaries of the contents of internet pages, which are also displayed on the search engine results page;
  • ALT attributes are small pieces of content that describe what can be seen in all graphics, images and photos published on an internet page.

Did you know that you can now use emoji signs as well as submitted images in meta descriptions?

All of the above aspects (and more) have an impact on the SEO of your internet page, albeit indirectly. However, they can increase the number of clicks on your links!

A young woman with glasses smiles and holds a tablet, while her colleagues discuss work in the background, symbolizing SEO and meta data compliance in content localization.
A person holds a tablet with the words “SEO keywords” on the screen, symbolizing keyword research and optimization

KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Now, let’s move on to the issue of keyword analysis. If you, like most of our clients, want to get to the top of the search results on Google, a special analysis will need to be performed on, for example, what keywords and key phrases are being used by buyers and users in your market. There are many free tools available for keyword analysis, such as:

  • Google Keyword Planner,
  • Keyword Surfer, which is an SEO extension for Chrome,
  • Ubersuggest.

Skrivanek mainly uses two tools:Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner, depending on your business goals.

Keyword analysis also allows you to understand what products your potential customers are searching for and in what ways. You’ll also recognise your main “organic” competitors because they’ll be visible too. You can then analyse how your competitors present themselves and even learn from them. We have noticed that many people use the phrase “website localisation” instead of the search query “website translation”, often entering shortened and incorrect word forms. Incidentally, incorrect forms can also be used to your advantage; we have been using them successfully and will always suggest them to you too, as in many cases it ensures good results!

Once you have completed your target market research, you can provide the results to your localisation company and ask them to use new keywords in the process of localising your page content. Why is it important? Choosing the wrong keywords can reduce the number of searches in a new language and, therefore, the traffic in a new market. Skrivanek conducts keyword analyses based on previous queries in the source language or new research depending on the client’s requirements.

Remember: keyword research is especially important if your company has long-term plans to “fight” for organic traffic. However, if your main source of customers is advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, or similar platforms, then securing organic positions may not be as important.

STEP 5: KEEP ALL LOCALISED TEXTS IN ONE PLACE

You will likely have a lot of files and instructions regarding the new version of the internet page. It is advisable to keep all the documents in one place, preferably in a cloud storage. This will ensure that your employees, contractors and LSPs have direct access to all the necessary files in their current editions.

Cloud storage will help you avoid a lot of problems, especially those related to using different versions of the same file.

It is worth using CAT tools too – not only to speed up the process but also to store web content. Of course, it’s always better to have unique content on an internet page, but some things remain the same and can be reused in the future. CAT translation memory will save on repetition, speed up the translation process and ensure the consistency of translations. If you have made the decision to partner with an LSP, the selected business must have CAT tools.

STEP 6: LOCALISATION CHECK BY A NATIVE SPEAKER

Before publication, the localisation of a website should be checked by at least one native speaker, although not all of them have the necessary knowledge and skills to do so. If you are working with a translation agency, they’ll be able to arrange this. Ideally, this should be a representative of your target audience, but if your resources are limited, you can simply turn to your friends, acquaintances or relatives for help. You could go even further and organise a focus group to test the perception of your new webpage, but in most cases this isn’t necessary.

STEP 7: TEST THE NEW CONTENT (AND YOUR NEW WEBSITE)

Before you start using your new website, it is important to make sure that everything looks and works as it should: all subpages are translated and localised, the layout of each new website looks harmonious and everything functions correctly from a technical point of view. Conduct testing via both mobile and stationary devices. Include the most important aspects for your business in the analytical report.

Examples of items that should be checked:

  • names, currencies, units of measurement;
  • internal and external links;
  • images and their attributes;
  • menu and webpage functionality;
  • payment procedure;
  • shopping cart;
  • compliance with Google requirements (to check this, use the free Google Lighthouse tool);
  • all downloadable materials/display as PDF files;

linguistic elements:

  • errors (spelling, grammar, punctuation, typos, etc.);
  • cultural appropriateness (terms, words and phrases);
  • readability in general and correspondence to your company branding.
Three colleagues in an office discuss work on a computer, symbolizing the checking of language copies for localized websites.
A man and a woman are looking at a computer with code and a browser; the woman is pointing at the screen, symbolizing website testing in the context of localization.

STEP 8: POST THE LOCALISED TEXT ON THE INTERNET

Owners of a long-established business will find it easier because you can use the same CMS system or eCommerce platform as before, as most tools of this kind fully support different language versions.

What if you’re just starting out? Then you’ll need to choose a relatively simple solution that offers support for multilingual versions at no extra cost. It should include a CMS as well as e-commerce platforms if you own an online shop.

When everything is ready, all that remains is to ensure a smooth transition from one language version to another. The corresponding option can be added to the main menu or placed in the header or footer.

STEP 9: DON’T REST ON YOUR LAURELS

Like any other work related to an internet page, localisation is a never-ending process that continues as long as you run your business. It is advisable to monitor how your webpage is performing, what feedback users are leaving, what questions potential customers are asking, what aspects of your webpage and online presence in general are working well and what aspects need improvement.

This proactive approach allows you to react quickly to market changes and provides a great user experience for all visitors of your page, whatever language they use.

If you need marketing materials to be translated and localised, including website copies, we’ll be happy to help. Email us and we’ll decide what can be done together!