Five questions to ask yourself before localizing your website

Today, more and more companies are realizing that having a multilingual website can not only increase conversion rates and direct revenue, but also help long-term brand building. However, many companies are unclear about how to achieve this goal in practice. Before starting a website translation project, make sure to think deeply about the following five key questions:

1. Why localize your website?

Before discussing how, who will do it, and when, it is important to first clarify why you are localizing your website. Do you want to increase conversions and revenue in the short term, or do you want to use localization as part of long-term brand building? How does localization fit into your company's global strategy? Clarifying this is critical to developing a goal-oriented plan and evaluating the success of future efforts.

2. What are your short-term and long-term measurable goals?

Once you’ve determined your “why,” the next step is to identify your success criteria. If the goal is to increase conversions, set a specific goal (e.g., increase current conversions by 30%). If the goal is to improve brand image, how will these goals be quantified and measured? Once you have a clear understanding of your current baseline and desired goals, it will be much easier to develop a business case for the project.

3. Which internal and external people should you collaborate with to create the most cost-effective and time-efficient process?

How do you localize content currently? Do you rely on your internal marketing team to translate content directly and upload it to your content management system (CMS), or do you outsource translation to a language service provider? If so, do you have a trusted local representative who can “own” the brand voice and review the translated content provided by the vendor? Or do you need to seek out these resources?

Your timeline is a key factor in deciding how to allocate resources. Professional translators can typically complete about 10 pages of content per day, while in-house resources (who know the target language but lack translation experience) can typically only complete half as fast. Translation teams can speed up delivery by scaling up, but after a certain point, quality and consistency may decline (just because it takes an amateur 1,000 days to build a house doesn’t mean 1,000 professional workers can complete the job in one day).

While working with a central language service provider can increase efficiency and reduce costs, it can also introduce internal changes and expectations that are more difficult to manage. Using local suppliers is generally less politically sensitive but requires more project management effort and investment of internal resources.

4. When do you need to launch a localized site?

There is a certain trade-off between time, cost and quality, and overly optimistic time planning may have an impact on cost and quality. Technology and automation can significantly speed up the translation process, but implementation must be built into the overall timeline.

During the planning phase, it is recommended to work with an experienced LSP to obtain advice on infrastructure, processes and resources, and to work backwards from the intended launch date to develop a balanced plan that addresses deadlines, quality and budget expectations. .

5. Which solution is right for you?

Website localization solutions consist of three interrelated parts: infrastructure, processes, and resources. Depending on these elements, you can choose different infrastructure configurations:

• A hands-off proxy solution that lets you focus on your primary language content
• Enterprise-grade translation management system that integrates into your content management system (CMS), product information management (PIM) and/or marketing automation system
• Hybrid solution, combining the above

Your goals, available resources, and infrastructure will determine your process arrangements. Which resources you need to allocate will depend on your infrastructure and processes. A full-service language services provider—providing technology solutions, process consulting, and professional language resources—can help you design the most appropriate solution.

By thinking deeply about these questions, you can be more likely to achieve your localization goals on time and on budget. The sooner you start answering these questions, the better you can ensure a smooth and successful localization project.

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