10 Dos and Don’ts for the Software Localization Process

Software localization is a complex process that requires much more than just translating text. It involves adapting your software to meet the language, cultural, and legal requirements of specific regions. This means not only translating content but also adjusting graphics, layout, formatting, and ensuring compliance with local regulations, data protection laws, and regional technological preferences.

With so many nuances to consider, it’s easy to overlook seemingly minor details that are essential for delivering a flawless product to a wide-ranging international audience. To avoid common pitfalls and ensure a smooth localization process, here are 10 best practices and things to avoid when localizing your software.

1. Do Treat Localization as a Strategy, Not Just a Task

First and foremost, make sure you approach software localization as part of your overall strategy. It should not be treated as a standalone task. Treat localization as an ongoing strategic effort that is crucial at every step of the process.

Phases of Software Localization:

• Discovery — Goals and Requirements
• Content Audit, Analysis, and Transfer
• Proposal Stage
• Project Kick-off
• Translation and Localization
• Review and Quality Control
• File Delivery, Go-live, and Follow-up

By thoroughly analyzing your requirements and design phases, and ensuring all stakeholders are aligned on target markets, languages, and region-specific challenges, you can prevent the need to re-engineer your product to capitalize on market opportunities later on.

2. Don’t Forget to Design With Localization in Mind

A localization-friendly design can help prevent delays and cost overruns. It features source code and structure that minimize the risk of:

• Replicating bugs from source files in target languages
• Avoidable translation errors
• Common software localization errors, such as functional, display, abbreviation issues, and over- or under-localization.

Tip: Use templates to ensure brand consistency across languages. To ensure your design is localization-ready, conduct thorough testing. Pseudo-localization (testing the product with fake translations) is a useful quality assurance method that identifies potential layout issues caused by special characters or long text strings before actual translations are made.

3. Do Build a Library of Internationalized Objects

Internationalization (i18n) sets the foundation for successful localization. By developing a library of internationalized objects, you’ll avoid unnecessary rework when adapting your software to multiple languages. These objects might include:

• User interface (UI) design elements
• Sorting and searching functionality
• Support for multi-byte characters (for languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean)
• Bidirectional support (for languages like Arabic and Hebrew)
• Formats for addresses, phone numbers, dates, and currencies

4. Don’t Make Source Text Too Long

Different languages have varying sentence structures and use different amounts of words to convey the same idea. Keeping your source content concise can minimize translation issues:

• Keep sentences short and to the point
• Use standard word order in English wherever possible
• Avoid long noun strings (sequences of many nouns)
• Use one term for a single concept (avoid synonyms)
• Avoid humor and idiomatic expressions
• Clarify dates, times, and measurements
• Use active voice
• Avoid using phrasal verbs or acronyms

Tip: Be cautious when reusing words that could serve multiple roles in English (e.g., "file," "share," or "design"). For clarity, pick one meaning for each word and use it consistently.

5. Do Plan for Text Expansion

English often takes up fewer words than many other languages. For example, “Buy Now” in English becomes “Achetez Maintenant” in French and “Jetzt Kaufen” in German, both of which are longer translations. When translating from English to languages such as Chinese, the text will typically contract.

Plan for an average text expansion of 30–35%, and consider white space in your design. Keep your source text concise to help minimize layout issues that can arise when text expands or contracts.

6. Don’t Misuse Icons

Icons are useful in localization because they reduce translation costs, but not all symbols are universally understood. Some icons that may seem neutral in one culture could have entirely different meanings in another.

For example, an image of a mailbox may be familiar in the U.S. but meaningless or even confusing in other regions. Avoid symbols like hands, feet, or animals, as they can carry unintended cultural meanings.

7. Do Use UTF-8 Encoding

UTF-8 is the most widely used character encoding standard and is compatible with all major hardware and software platforms. It’s especially important for translating languages that use non-Latin scripts, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic.

UTF-8 is a versatile encoding system that ensures characters are displayed correctly across languages, making it essential for the translation of multilingual applications.

8. Don’t Hardcode Text or Punctuation

Hardcoded text in source code must be extracted for translation, which can cause delays and errors if not handled carefully. To streamline localization, use separate resource files to store content such as titles, product names, error messages, etc., and provide clear resource comments to prevent translation mistakes.

Tip: Avoid concatenating strings using placeholders, as this can lead to incorrect translations due to differences in word order and grammar across languages.

9. Do Consult with a Localization Expert

Before kicking off your localization project, consult with an experienced localization service provider (LSP). Providing them with as much information as possible will help ensure a successful partnership.

• Are you planning for international expansion soon?
• Who are your primary customers?
• How many languages do you need to support?
• Do you have an in-house localization team, and how will they collaborate with external partners?
• What are your main priorities (e.g., speed, quality, cost)?

By consulting with an LSP, you’ll save time, money, and effort by ensuring the localization process is optimized and customized for your needs.

Tip: Provide your LSP with a Do-Not-Translate (DNT) list to ensure critical terms are handled with care and not over- or under-localized, which can affect software functionality.

10. Don’t Just Meet Expectations—Exceed Them

Finally, every detail matters. Whether you're developing a simple mobile app or a complex, multi-user system, software localization is key to ensuring global success. By exceeding customer expectations in design and functionality, you can significantly improve user experience.

Adopt the 80-20 principle of "glocalization," which involves tailoring 80% of your product to meet global standards while optimizing 20% to meet local needs. By understanding local markets and incorporating cultural sensitivities, you’ll not only meet expectations—you’ll delight your users. With a global-ready product, there’s no limit to the market opportunities you can tap into.

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