Beginners Guide to Localization

To compete in today’s global marketplace, companies need to communicate smoothly with people who speak different languages and have different cultures, customs and expectations.
There is a lot more to consider than simple mechanical translation of words when trying to communicate with audiences and target markets in different regions. It is a global process, which is called “localization” abbreviated as “I10n”

Here, we examine some of the most important aspects of localization.
Let's go:

- What is Localization?
- The importance of Localization
- Types of Localization
- Good Localization Practice
- Your Localization Roadmap
- Conclusion

Localization is the process of adapting your product or content to another market. This includes adjusting the user experience, text and images so that it is relevant and accessible to users in a different region.
Localized content is the foundation of any successful global business. By tailoring products to specific regions – not just to their languages, but to their cultures and customs as well – businesses can reach a wider audience.
Localization isn’t just about translating text. It’s about understanding cultural nuances and making sure your product is relevant to each specific region. Localization is the process of adapting content, including product branding and marketing materials, documentation and software, so it is appropriate and suited to the culture or language.
It is particularly important in a business context because it can help reduce misunderstandings between customers and partners, and increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Not addressing your customers’ needs can result in lost sales opportunities, bad reviews, unhappy customers and lost revenue. Customers who feel that you’ve failed to accommodate their needs might be less likely to buy from you again and may also warn others away from you.
Poor localization is a problem that can be extremely costly to fix. If you’re running a new product launch, you might be tempted to ignore localization requirements until the very end. But a last-minute scramble to translate your product could result in shoddy work and customers who are unhappy with your product as a result of poor translation.
Localization mistakes can include translation errors and poor translation choices, but they can also include miscommunication among your team members who may be using incorrect or inappropriate terminology to communicate.
The Importance of Good Localization Practice
The art of localization is the practice of taking your content and making it appeal to a global audience by tailoring it to the culture and language of each specific region. This includes terms, phrases and images that are culturally appropriate and relevant to each region.

Good localization practice focuses on a few different strategic areas.
- Content: What content do you have? This includes your product description, images, product name, marketing copy, website copy and more.

Good localization practice focuses on a few different strategic areas.
- Language: What languages are you going to support? What are the cultural nuances associated with those languages? Depending on the type of product you’re building, you may need to support more than just the usual languages.

- Design: How will your design match the design of the market you’re targeting? Are there cultural elements that need to be included in the design to make it culturally appropriate?


Crafting meaningful connections within different languages and cultures takes time, so the earlier you start that process, the better. Localization is better and easier when it’s included from the very beginning of planning and with the content creation process.

Ideally, your localization strategy will be formed in parallel with your globalization strategy. Globalization helps you reach foreign markets. Localization helps you connect with them.

If you’ve decided localization is the right strategy for your product or company, you’ll need to figure out how to do it effectively. One of the first steps is deciding which markets to target. You might want to start with your immediate region and expand from there, or you might want to start out with a global approach.
When you’re strategizing your localization strategy, there are a few different areas to focus on. You’ll want to start by taking inventory of what content you have and what languages you have that content in. You might also want to consider hiring a localization partner.
Here are six must-dos for great brand localization!

1. Conduct market research and research your target audience
Understand who you will be targeting, where they are located, what their language preferences are for audio/visual content and what might be offensive in other cultures that you haven’t considered.
2- Find out the linguistic, cultural, and technical differences
For companies looking to expand globally, a poor translation can jeopardize the entire brand image. Leave it to the experts to create an appealing user experience for your target market.

3- Consider localized pricing
Think about local pricing. What will you charge in this new market? Quality brand localization strategies go beyond just marketing. You’ll need to develop localization business strategies and use localization tools to adapt operations to all new target markets.

4- Localize your design and graphics
Design localization also plays a significant role in your localization strategy, so make sure you do it right by changing the visual factors according to the culture of each target audience.

5- Localize for each specific market
Adapt to each market’s interests and needs. You can’t simply use a one-size-fits-all approach. What works in the US won’t necessarily work for Germany or the Middle East.

6- Quality assurance & testing. Then release your localized product
Some websites, apps, and games can suffer from localization issues that disrupt basic functionality. When strings of a different length replace the original content, some aspects of your interface may be affected, which your customers will not appreciate.
You can avoid these localization issues by implementing a quality assurance system. You can use localization tools to automate some QA checks, but on-device testing is always recommended. There is no better way to discover flaws than testing on-device. The you will be ready to publish your new localized version.