Effective Localization with Top 10 Best Practices and Tips for a Truly Global Business

Have you ever downloaded an app or seen a marketing slogan that didn't quite make sense in your native language? This is likely a consequence of a failed localization strategy. Companies that solely rely on translation without localizing their content are doomed to fail and their efforts to take over new markets are bound to fall through. How do you avoid this?

Well, the best idea here is to refer to best practices and top tips in the world of localization. Armed with this knowledge, your localization team is destined to achieve their goals and successfully expand into new regions and locales.

The only question is how do you acquire this knowledge without spending hours researching online (ideally). That's why this article is here: to guide you through the tricky path to a successful localization project.

What Is Localization?

Imagine trying to attract people in China with a 4th of July promotion aimed to celebrate the US independence? Or trying to seduce customers into trying your delicious beef burgers in India? The results are likely to be disappointing, 0/10: wouldn't recommend.

To avoid these (albeit exaggerated but you get the picture) mistakes, localization was invented: an art of adapting content, marketing strategies, offers, and products to fit the cultural, linguistic, societal, and other expectations in a given market or territory. Localization covers hidden nuances and presents your business message in a way that is easily understood and perceived by your customers. Which is a great thing in the global fight for the spotlight.

Translation and Localization: Difference?

These two terms are indeed similar but translation forms a part of localization as its integral component. Localization uses translation to convey the meaning and applies it to the local context to adapt content and create mental connections and images in the minds of customers that satisfy the original goal: attract people and increase revenues (in 99.9% of all cases, let's be honest).

To turn translation into localization, the following questions should be asked:

1. Does it make sense in the target language?

2. Is it culturally appropriate?

3. Is it relevant to the local context?

4. Does it align with local preferences and expectations?

5. Does it meet regional legal and regulatory standards?

If your answer is "yes" to all of them, congratulations! You likely have a perfect localization project on your hands (provided you've conducted research into the local market and its expectations).

Top 10 Localization Best Practices

We have the basics down, now it's time to focus on the main do's of the localization game. Here you'll find the top 10 most useful practices (you can also use this as a checklist to track your localization workflow progress).

1. Know Your Locale Inside and Out

Your target audience expects top quality and excellent content. Don't let them down! Conduct a thorough research before launching into efforts to create localized content. The global market is diverse and needs to be carefully studied in order to make informed decisions. Here's a table of key steps in this process:

Thorough research will strengthen your localization efforts in the long run, don't mess around with this crucial part of the work process!

2. Get to Know Your Target Language

Have you ever heard about Simplified and Traditional Chinese? Did you know that "ninety" in France is "quatre-vingt-dix" (four times twenty and ten, quite confusing if you ask me) but in Belgium and Switzerland they say "nonante"? Or that Arabic is not a monolithic language but rather it has five main varieties: Maghrebi, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Levantine, and Peninsular Arabic?

These are examples of linguistic features that all languages around the world have. Experienced translators and localization experts are aware of these important differences and can apply them as needed in their workflow, but a business venturing into an unknown territory might stumble if no focused research has been conducted prior to launching a localization project.

Localized versions of your product might need to be slightly tailored depending on the country, market, or region you are eyeing.

3. Select Content to Localize

The simplest solution is to just approve a sweeping decision to localize everything you have and get to work. But that might not be the smartest decision, especially when tight deadlines and limited resources are concerned. Instead, you should carefully review what your business has to offer and handpick the primary content that will lay down a foundation for your launch into a new and exciting territory.

Additionally, here's a list of things to focus on when localizing your content.

• Spelling: Variants like “localization” in the US vs. “localisation” in the UK are a simple but important switch.

• Phrasing: Humor, slang, or phrases that feel normal to one group might fall flat with another or even offend them.

• Keywords: SEO needs fresh research for local terms. People don’t search the same way everywhere, so update those target phrases.

• Time and date formats: MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY? 12-hour clock or 24? These small details can become very important when delivery dates or promotion cutoff times are involved.

• Measurements: Kilometers or miles? Pounds or kilograms? Use the system your audience expects.

• Hyperlinks: Link to content that’s relevant in their language. A local news article beats an untranslated one every time.

• Images: Swap in visuals that reflect their culture—landmarks, people, or anything that feels familiar.

• Emojis: Adjust your emoji set depending on the region. Pay attention to cultural norms and country flags among other things.

• Right-to-left formatting: For languages like Arabic or Hebrew, adjust the layout to make it flow naturally.

4. Adapt Your Brand Identity

Here’s a clever way to get ahead of the competition: lean into your brand values and make them resonate with your new audience. People want to feel connected. If your values align with theirs, they’re way more likely to stick around and stay curious about what you offer.

Need proof? Google recently found that 82% of shoppers care about this. If your values don’t match theirs, don't expect them to stick around. Sad, but true.

It’s quite simple, really: authenticity works. Especially when it comes to new brands that have recently arrived in a new location.

So, what does this mean for you? Your brand needs to be real. Find your voice, your vibe, and your own way of engaging with new customers and bridging cultural differences. That’s how you make people notice you, that’s how you stand out.

5. Pick the Right Localization and Translation Software

The process of adapting your content and services doesn't need to be long and drawn out. Imagine trying to localize and translate into, say, 5 different languages by hand? With the modern trends of having a tonne of materials available on your website, in your apps, and marketing strategies, this can take months, if not years!

To avoid unnecessary delays, use the power of modern technology to your advantage! Translation Management Systems (TMS) were created to streamline the translation process and offer excellent localization service, appreciated by developers, managers, and translators alike.

Platforms like Localit are at your disposal to save time, increase performance, and cut costs. With the strength of advanced automation and machine translation backing your project, localization becomes an exciting endeavour rather than a boring and tedious work task.

There are multiple benefits of partnering with Localit for your business:

• Localit Is Fast: with processing speeds of up to 200 ms, an avalanche of your content will be downloaded and processed by the platform faster than you can make a cup of coffee.

• Localit Is Pro Communication: with an integrated chat that supports voice notes, screenshots, and other media, your team will never need to use Gmail, Slack, Discord, and other messengers, while no messages will be buried in the sea of usual work routine.

• Localit Uses AI: ChatGPT, Google Translate, or DeepL? Whatever you prefer, Localit allows you to pick your favorite AI or machine translation software for excellent results.

• Localit Is Multilingual: with 111 languages on offer, Localit is certain to have what you are looking for, be it Chinese or Arabic or French.

• Localit Is Affordable: convenient packages and offers will make sure your company gets the results it's looking for without breaking the bank.

Head over to Localit's website to get your free trial and test its features today!

6. Assemble Your Localization Team

With all the preparatory work done, it's time to hire top members to join your localization team. But what are the key players in this game? Take a look:

• Project Managers: Keep everyone aligned, manage timelines, budgets, and last-minute changes.

• Linguists: Translate and adapt content to resonate culturally.

• Quality Assurance Specialists: Ensure translations are accurate, appropriate, and error-free.

• Developers: Adapt tech for different alphabets, text lengths, and character sets.

• Designers: Adjust visuals, icons, and colors for cultural relevance.

This list is not exhaustive, of course. The ultimate composition depends on the project, its scale, languages, and other variables.

7. Create a Style Guide and Glossary

When collaborating on a project, team members need to follow specific guidelines.

Most companies have a style guide in place. If you skip the Oxford comma or have unique spelling for certain terms, ensure your writers have access to it for consistency.

Creating a glossary of key terms is also a smart move. This is especially useful for industries like legal or medical, where precise definitions are crucial.

8. Proofread and Check Formats

Mistakes happen even under the most careful watch. Never assume you are immune to missteps, check and recheck your localized content regularly. To make localization work, you need precision and meticulousness. Otherwise you'll find out a mistake has happened when the target market doesn't quite react as expected. No bueno.

9. Test Regularly

The best way to nail localization? Test your content with native speakers in the target market. They’ll catch mistakes you’d never spot and make sure your brand message stays clear, natural, and spot-on in every language.

And don’t stop there—leverage their feedback. Native speakers can give you insights into cultural nuances, tone, and even how your content makes people feel. Listening to this feedback and making adjustments shows your audience you care, which can do wonders for your brand’s perception.

10. Keep Localizaling

A big mistake companies make with localization? Treating it like a one-and-done task. It’s not. Localization is an ongoing process. You’ve got to keep updating your localized content, learning more about your audience, and tweaking things as their preferences evolve.

Want to step it up? Focus on creating a better, more personalized user experience and user interface (UX and UI). Speed up your site, revisit old content, translate your metadata, and add a language switcher. Simple stuff, but it makes a huge difference.

And don’t underestimate the power of personalization. Only 47% of companies adjust their communications based on real-time customer behavior, yet 1 in 2 customers are more likely to become repeat buyers after a personalized experience. Coincidence? Nope.

Extra Tips to Localize Better

Localization doesn't just stop at the key steps! Here are a few more useful tips that will make sure your business stands out for all the right reasons and doesn't get lost in the crowd.

Analyze Global Business Competition

Nothing helps you to stay ahead in the game than being fully aware of what your competitors are doing. This will especially be useful when analyzing local companies that operate in their native language. Leveraging this knowledge can be a huge advantage if done right. Follow these steps:

• Identify Competitors: Include direct, indirect, and substitute competitors.

• Gather Information: Evaluate competitors using the “Four Ps” (Product, Pricing, Place, Promotion) and other factors like positioning, reputation, people, and partnerships.

• Analyze Strengths and Weaknesses: Rank competitors on key criteria and summarize their pros and cons to understand consumer choices.

• Determine Competitive Advantage: Identify your strengths relative to competitors or exploit their weaknesses to refine your strategy.

• Stay Updated: Refresh your data regularly to remain proactive and adapt to market changes.

Nail Multilingual SEO

Getting your content localized is great, but it won’t do much if your target market can’t find you. Use multilingual SEO algorithms to your advantage!

Make Google and other search engines boost your site by using smart backlink strategies, optimizing for local keywords, and setting up dedicated URLs with the right hreflang tags. It’s all about making sure your content shows up exactly where and when your new audience is searching for it.

Track Global Audience Trends and Expectations

The globalized nature of our world and the fast pace of modern life gives rise to new trends every day, if not every hour. Make sure you stay on top of things and developments by carefully tracking global and local trends. Doing so will ensure your translation and localization can be infused with this extra oomph and relevancy to audiences at home and abroad.

Improve Your Localization Process and Workflow

Localization isn’t just about translation—it’s about connecting with people in a way that feels natural. If you want to thrive in international markets, it’s all about doing the work to make your brand feel familiar, no matter where it’s seen. By following smart tips and best practices, you can streamline your content localization process and create something your audience truly values.

Start by building the right team, one that understands both your brand and the local culture. Use tools that simplify the process but don’t cut corners. Always test your localized content with native speakers to avoid embarrassing slip-ups. Keep tweaking and improving based on feedback—it’s the best way to stay relevant.

Localization isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s a living process. Keep an eye on global trends and audience expectations. Make sure your content localization keeps up with what people actually want. Stay flexible, stay curious, and you’ll make your mark in international markets without missing a beat.