website localization thesis

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Website Localization and Translation

• Published 2007
• Computer Science, Linguistics

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Evaluation of multilingual websites using localization matrix, translation strategies in the content localization of agoda.com, linguistic analysis of dove indonesia’s website and its localization, rethinking the scope of localization, translation procedures applied in localized websites, foreignization and domestication in the ministerial website localization, a comparative evaluation of localisation tools : reverso localize and systanlinks, multilingual website assessment for accessibility: a survey on current practices, english-arabic localization of taglines on food and beverage brand websites: an eco-translatological approach, automated analyzer to assess multilingual websites with reference to localization guidelines, 13 references, translation-mediated communication in a digital world: facing the challenges of globalization and localization, translating as a purposeful activity: functionalist approaches explained.

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Inter in Iran: Theory and Practice of Web Site Localization

In an increasingly globalized world, web site localization has rapidly become an important form of cross-cultural and multimodal translation. The current pandemic has poignantly demonstrated how crucial multilingual web sites are to all aspects of life – from healthcare to education, from business to sport. The localization of football clubs’ web sites, however, has received very little attention in terms of academic research. As any other brands with local and global markets, football clubs rely on multilingual and multimodal communications to reach wider audience and increase their profile as well as their revenue. Most of the internet users in the world are non-native English speakers. The relevance of this data also applies to the most popular game in the world, football, and ought to be taken into serious consideration by football clubs in shaping their profile and priorities in terms of identity and outreach. The aim of this interdisciplinary thesis – one of the first academic studies worldwide devoted to the theory and practice of football club web site localization, especially in the context of Iran, where interest in national and international football is constantly growing – was thus to investigate how accurate and cross-culturally appropriate the translation of leading football clubs’ web site content actually is. This research project was conceptualized and conducted as a mixed-method case study to generate and combine quantitative and qualitative data in order to analyse and assess the translation and intercultural communication strategies adopted by some of the top football to produce multilingual web site content. Gathered data has been used to establish a set of theoretical principles and practical guidelines to help not only web site localizers and translation scholars but also media consultants and marketing analysts acquire a deeper understanding of how crucial translation quality and cross-cultural competence are – all the more so when localizing into a such a unique language as culture that is far-removed from the source language and culture. The theoretical and practical rubric I have devised has then been tested by translating into Persian selected pages from the web site of Football Club Internazionale Milano, one of the most international (as its name attests) and globally-minded as well as successful football clubs in the world. The findings of this study demonstrate that football clubs ought to consider linguistic and cultural accuracy, alongside up-to-date technology and appealing content, as key factors in achieving not only effective communication but also short-term and long-term success on and off the field.

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Translation Of University Web Sites As A Stage Of Web Site Localization

The term is becoming very popular nowadays. In this article, the term is considered from the point of view of translating a University web site as the main component of web site localization. Localization of a website is not only an adaptation of the navigation structure, design, and multimedia, but also a translation of the text content to improve its functionality and cultural suitability for a new target audience. The research is based on a comparative analysis of Russian and foreign university websites (semantic aspect). Since the website is mostly text information distributed in different sections, it is quite obvious that translation is one of the most important and laborious stages of localization. The findings revealed that a University website performs two functions: academic and educational, informing users, and advertising, attracting new applicants, partners and employees. The research has shown that a translator should be very accurate while translating academic terms: the meaning of the international words can be quite different in the Russian and English languages. In translation process, some academic terms should be supplemented with information that is relevant to the target audience, since its absence may cause misunderstanding for a foreign site user. On the other hand, when translating a site, one should omit sections that are not relevant to the target audience, as this will facilitate navigation on the site and bring important sections to the main menu.

Keywords: Localization , the university web site , translation

Introduction

Thirty years ago, information technologies entered schools and colleges to gradually change the entire learning process ( Beshenkov & Trubina, 2017, p. 169 ). For the last several years, the cooperation of the post-Soviet states and the Commonwealth of the Independent States in education and culture has tended to increase ( Marinosyan & Kurovskaya, 2017, p. 398 ). The information age, or the age of, possesses a number of distinguishing features: change in energy sources, the reshaping of fundamental manufacturing principles, forms of business organization, communication, and information exchange, etc. ( Toffler, 1984 ). The transformations in economy and society lead to the rise of educational needs and the centrality of science and research meeting the growing demand for intellectual technologies ( Ladyzhets & Neborskiy, 2017, p. 417 ).

Nowadays, in the age of digital technologies, every educational institution has a web site that people from all over the world can access.

The website is not only an information resource, but it also plays an important role in promoting the University in the market of educational services. To successfully position its activities in the field of international education and attract applicants and partners, the University must have a version of the site not only in Russian, but also in the English language. However, as practice shows, the English-language version of the site is not always successful. Quite often translators of University web sites face difficulties looking for the correct variant of translation. Translation is, in practical terms, an on-going practice that never reaches completion or perfection ( Creole, 2016 ). Translation shows the mentality of the source language with the comprehensible methods of the target language ( Yucshenko, 2019 ). The authors intend to consider the difficulties in translating some of the most ambiguous terms in academic sphere.

Problem Statement

A site can be a source of information of different content, as well as a kind of, or even a trading platform. At the same time, in order to attract foreign visitors to the site who may later become clients or partners, it is necessary to create a version of the site that will be clear in content for a certain audience.

Russian universities are faced with the task of immense complexity – to integrate into the global education space while preserving traditions and the cultural code intrinsic to the national system of higher education ( Boguslavskiy & Neborskiy, 2017, p. 183 ).

At the moment, the process of adapting a web page, or localization, depends to a large extent on the translator. Knowledge workers, who deal with complex and diverse information, are now in the forefront ( Aristova et al., 2017, p. 97 ). This process is complex and painstaking, since localization must take into account not only linguistic, but also extra linguistic aspects.

The relevance of the research topic is quite evident due to the fact that localization of a University web site, and in particular the competent translation of academic terms, is currently a popular and little-explored issue.

Research Questions

What are the features of internet discourse.

• What does a translator have to take into account while translating a University web site?

How to deal with academic terms in translation?

• What does a translator have to do if the academic terms of the two languages do not coincide in their meanings?

Purpose of the Study

The research aims to perform a comparison of the academic terms that make up Russian and British/American university websites and to determine what factors affect the understanding of the text by a foreign site user.

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About this article

Publication date.

15 July 2021

Article Doi

https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.07.02.32

978-1-80296-113-3

European Publisher

Cite this article as:

Petrova, Y., Bogemova, O., & Lantikova, O. (2021). Translation Of University Web Sites As A Stage Of Web Site Localization. In A. G. Shirin, M. V. Zvyaglova, O. A. Fikhtner, E. Y. Ignateva, & N. A. Shaydorova (Eds.), Education in a Changing World: Global Challenges and National Priorities, vol 114. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 266-273). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.07.02.32

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Website localization

Asymmetries and terminological challenges.

• Source: The Journal of Internationalization and Localization , Volume 6, Issue 2 , Dec 2019, p. 108 - 130
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/jial.19004.cha
• Version of Record published : 08 Jul 2020
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Traditionally, website translation has been considered a process moving from the global to the local, or from the major to the minor, and has largely been termed localization. Yet, the various meanings and interpretations of the term create the need for more specific terms that designate specific types of localization such as the cases where a locally generated website, created in a locale with ‘minor’ presence on the international market, needs to be provided in a language that is considered ‘major’ in cyberspace, e.g. websites into English as a lingua franca. In such cases, the website content transfer follows an opposite direction, i.e. from the local to the global. We would like to capitalize on the major-minor metaphor as a methodological tool for cases emerging as a quasi-opposite process to the prevailing conceptualization of localization, in an attempt to highlight differences which might justify new terminology. It will be argued that the concept of locale from which the term localization stems does not apply when a culturally undefined audience is addressed, and a new term will be proposed.

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A step-by-step guide to effective website localization

Discover the benefits of website localization and learn how to modify your content and marketing strategy to cater to local audiences effectively.

From design to translation to best-in-class SEO, Webflow Localization is an end-to-end solution for customizing your site for a worldwide audience.

Website localization transforms your digital outreach by catering your site content to local audiences around the world.

Expanding into international markets is about more than just widening your reach — it’s about forging deep, authentic connections in each locale. With website localization services, you go beyond mere translated content by crafting a multilingual website that feels inherently familiar to a local audience. Localization imbues your content with the richness of local context and cultural nuances. It’s a strategy that boosts engagement and positions your brand as culturally attuned, paving the way for success in new markets.

Read on to learn how to localize your website and capture new markets successfully.

What’s website localization, and why is it important?

Website localization (l10n) adapts your website to mirror different target markets’ unique cultural and linguistic nuances. Beyond literal website translations, localization fine-tunes visual design elements like color schemes and layouts while adapting practical details like currency, date formats, and measurement units to align with the local audience’s preferences and norms.

This strategic adaptation aims to resonate personally with each user by presenting your offerings in an understandable, culturally relevant, and engaging way. At its core, localization makes every user feel that you designed the website with their specific cultural context in mind, which fosters a sense of belonging and increases user satisfaction. And since 76% of consumers prefer to make purchases in their native language, website localization ultimately leads to higher conversion rates. 

How is localization different from globalization, internationalization, and translation?

Localization involves modifying your content, products, and services, whether online or offline. However, similar terms may overlap with localization despite having distinct definitions and purposes, including:

• Internationalization (i18n). Internationalization is the preparatory step that makes products or content adaptable to different languages, regions, and cultures without losing its essence and structure. For example, rather than hard-coding a specific date format (like MM/DD/YYYY), you can dynamically adjust to the user's locale, displaying a format used in their region, such as DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD. The application adapts to different cultural conventions without requiring extensive changes during localization.
• Globalization (g11n). Unlike localization, globalization doesn’t focus on adapting to local nuances. Instead, it involves optimizing for an international audience. More of a marketing strategy than a process, you focus on making a product or service universally relevant and efficient so users in different countries and regions can and want to interact with it. A global brand, such as Apple or Android, maintains a consistent presence with minimal adjustments, like SIM versus eSIM options, to cater to varying technical standards.
• Translation (t9n). Translation converts text from one language to another while preserving the original content’s meaning and context. While it’s critical for localization, translation services focuses solely on language conversion. For example, translating a website from English to French means changing the language to suit French-speaking audiences while preserving the original message, tone, and context.

What are the benefits of website localization?

Embracing website localization offers multiple advantages that are crucial for businesses aiming to expand their global footprint, such as:

Higher SEO rankings

Localizing your website optimizes it for region-specific keywords and phrases commonly used in search engines like Google and Bing. This localization leads to better search engine optimization (SEO) and visibility in local search results, drawing in audiences actively searching in their native language.

For example, incorporating popular Japanese search terms into your website will boost its rankings on Japanese search engine results pages (SERPs), which drives more targeted and organic traffic .

Enhanced brand image

Adapting your website to respect and reflect your target audience’s local culture and language demonstrates a commitment to understanding their unique needs and preferences. This level of personalization shows cultural sensitivity and fosters trust and loyalty among your audience, helping create stronger, more meaningful connections with existing and potential customers. Consider how a website that reflects local holidays and traditions in its content and design can significantly improve the audience’s perception of the brand as empathetic and considerate.

For example, an ecommerce platform might adapt its color scheme and imagery to appeal to Japanese cultural preferences. It could introduce red to symbolize excitement and energy and white to create a sense of space and simplicity, aligning the site’s aesthetic with Japanese cultural values.

Expanded audience reach

Each new localized site version opens doors to a new demographic, complete with its own market dynamics and consumer preferences. By breaking down linguistic and cultural barriers, website localization enables you to connect with consumers who might otherwise be inaccessible or not interact with a non-localized website. This enhances your market penetration and brand reach.

Increased customer engagement

When users can navigate your site in their native language and effortlessly comprehend its contents, they’re more likely to interact with your offerings. This increased familiarity leads to longer browsing sessions, more satisfying user experiences, and higher conversion rates.

For example, the ecommerce store localizing for a Japanese audience might showcase products in settings familiar to Japanese customers, using local living contexts and backgrounds in its product images. Doing so enhances product relatability and integrates products into the Japanese lifestyle narrative, making them more appealing to Japanese consumers. Additionally, the brand can reconfigure the website’s layout and visual hierarchy to support right-to-left reading patterns to meet the standard Japanese navigation expectations.

Alignment with local buying habits

Tailoring your website to regional preferences and buying habits includes customizing payment methods, shipping options, product page layouts, and even promotional activities like seasonal discounts. This customization ensures that your website aligns with the local market’s shopping behavior, making it more user-friendly and increasing the likelihood of conversions.

With the example of an ecommerce store localizing for a Japanese market, the platform might update its pricing to include Japanese currency symbols and adopt local pricing conventions for quick comprehension. 

A competitive edge in global markets

By presenting a website that speaks directly to local audiences, your brand distinguishes itself from competitors who have yet to make similar efforts. This strategic approach positions your brand as more accessible and relatable because it resonates with each region’s cultural and practical preferences. Such positioning not only enhances brand loyalty but also helps attract new customers who appreciate the tailored experience.

Such targeted localization efforts help transform a company’s website design into a culturally relevant, user-friendly destination for international customers. It overcomes language barriers and cultural differences to offer an easy-to-navigate, engaging experience that enhances brand loyalty and helps attract new customers who appreciate the tailored experience.

Learn how Webflow Localization can help you customize your site for a global audience and drive business growth in this free webinar.

How to implement website localization in 9 steps

Planning your website is as important as the execution. Here are nine website localization best practices to consider so you can create a practical road map to follow.

1. Plan strategically

Effective localization strategy hinges on choosing a target language or location and effectively understanding its local compliance requirements, including specific laws governing online content, data protection, and privacy. By adhering to these regulations, you help prevent future legal complications and foster trust among the local audience.

After identifying these requirements, draft a comprehensive plan that outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and timeline. This plan should cover aspects of content adaptation and technical adjustments, including both back-end and front-end development, as well as an in-depth analysis of the local market.

For example, a German localization plan would start with translating text into German, using culturally relevant expressions and idioms, and adjusting the tone and style to resonate with German speakers. Regarding technical adjustments, you might need to integrate popular German payment options, such as SEPA Direct Debit, and ensure your site complies with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for data protection and privacy.

2. Conduct thorough market research

Comprehensive market research helps you understand the specific trends, needs, and preferences of your target region and provides you with valuable insights to tailor your website to the local audience effectively.

Additionally, thorough competitor analysis is integral to this research. By examining competitors’ strategies in your target market, you identify what works well and where gaps or opportunities may exist. This analysis helps you pinpoint unique selling points that you can leverage in your marketing strategies to enable better website and brand differentiation in the new market.

For example, suppose you’re localizing your website for the Brazilian market. Your research might reveal that local competitors focus heavily on social media integration and mobile-friendly designs due to high mobile device and social media platform usage. With this insight, you can develop your website to prominently feature these elements, aligning it with local user habits and preferences to deliver a more resonant experience.

3. Build a capable team

Assemble a team of professional translators, developers, UI/UX designers , project managers, and cultural experts. This specialized team ensures accurate human translation, culturally relevant design, and technical adaptability. Effective collaboration among these experts accelerates the localization process and helps you enter new markets faster and more efficiently.

4. Perform keyword research

Keyword research is essential for optimizing your site for local search engines. By identifying and leveraging the terms and phrases that your target audience commonly uses in online searches, you can dramatically increase the traffic your site receives.

To facilitate this research process, engage your localization team of linguists, translators, and cultural experts. Their expertise is invaluable in understanding the nuances of popular search terms, including their context and usage within the local language and culture. This in-depth understanding ensures your selected keywords are accurate and resonate with regional audiences.

After identifying these keywords, optimize your website’s content, metadata , and links to include them. This optimization should be holistic and encompass website elements such as page titles, descriptions, blog posts, and product listings. By strategically embedding these keywords throughout your site, you enhance its relevance and visibility in local SERPs.

For example, consider a travel agency aiming to expand into Spanish-speaking markets. Through keyword research, the agency identifies popular travel-related search terms specific to this audience, including “vacaciones económicas” (affordable vacations) or “destinos populares en España” (popular destinations in Spain). The agency then integrates these keywords into its website — from the homepage all the way down to specific travel package descriptions. Doing so improves the site’s SERP ranking in Spanish-speaking regions and attracts local travelers searching for relevant travel options, ultimately increasing site traffic.

5. Automate the website localization process

Automating the localization process is key to reducing manual errors and efficiently managing multilingual content. Automation ensures consistent and seamless user experiences across different site language versions.

To streamline the localization process, consider investing in a robust content management system ( CMS ) like Webflow. Such systems let you integrate plugins and automated tools to handle tasks like machine translation, content localization, and format adjustments, speeding up the process while ensuring uniformity and accuracy across all localized website versions.

6. Incorporate website internationalization

Internationalization makes adding new localized versions of your website simpler, easing the expansion process. To support future localization efforts, ensure your website is flexible enough to accommodate diverse content, date formats, and other area-specific elements.

Consider an ecommerce site that plans to expand to different countries. By internationalizing its code, the site can support multiple languages and currencies to allow for a smooth transition as it expands into new markets. Here, internationalization involves implementing a flexible template system and database structure that dynamically changes according to the user’s location to ensure the site automatically displays the appropriate language, currency, and cultural references.

7. Localize the user experience and user interface

After establishing a flexible coding structure, focus on localizing the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) to make the site intuitive and culturally relevant for each specific audience. This includes customizing visuals, colors, icons, fonts, and layouts to match regional design preferences. You should also adjust navigation elements like menus and button placements to reflect regional user interactions.

For example, while some cultures prefer more visual menus, others opt for text-heavy, straightforward navigation. If you’re localizing for a Middle Eastern audience, you might consider a right-to-left layout to accommodate languages like Arabic and Hebrew, which read differently from the left-to-right orientation of many Western languages. A localized UX/UI contributes to good website design and creates a familiar and user-friendly interface, which drives increased engagement and user satisfaction.

8. Test and launch your website

Before going live, test your localized website to identify and resolve any issues. Check that all features function correctly, including language accuracy and design elements. You can also perform A/B testing by creating two website versions and seeing which performs better with your target audience.

Test your site on different devices and browsers to ensure compatibility, and ask native speakers, linguists, translators, and cultural experts for feedback. Modify your website based on their insights and suggestions to offer your target market a smooth user experience.

9. Market your localized website

Develop an international marketing strategy to make sure your localized website attracts visitors and your target audience is aware of your online presence. To market your localized website, launch advertising campaigns on platforms popular in the local market, collaborate with regional influencers, and use social media channels and search engines for outreach.

For instance, if you’re targeting the Japanese market, consider using local social media platforms like LINE for promotions because it boasts a significant Japanese user base. These targeted marketing efforts help communicate your website’s value to the local audience.

Add localization to your Webflow site

Website localization is the gateway to new markets and audiences — and Webflow’s native localization features ensure you cover all your bases. Whether it’s changing your site structure or tweaking content for regional relevance, Webflow’s user-friendly design tools and CMS make it effortless.

If you’re ready to scale globally, discover how Webflow Localization can help you build a more engaging and inclusive digital presence today.

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Website Localization - The Complete Guide

Do you need a marketing expert, a translator, or a techie to localize your website? If you’re just starting out on your website localization journey, there’s plenty to think about. Don’t worry though, we’ll run through everything you need to know below. Let’s start with the basics.

What Is Website Localization?

Website localization is the process of adapting a website to suit a specific audience. That audience may speak a different language to that used for the original site and use a different script for writing that language. They may also hold different cultural values to your website’s original audience. This means that localizing a website can be a complex process, incorporating translation, technical elements, and much more.

Difference Between Website Localization and Translation

Translation is the process of converting text (or video or audio) from one language to another. This means it is part of the localization process. However, localization goes much further than language alone. It considers the overall user experience and how the audience will interact with and respond to the finished website. In terms of language, this means ensuring the translation takes account of local cultural sensitivities and doesn’t contain popular culture references that won’t mean anything to the target audience. The language used on the localized site must also have the right tone and not use idioms or phrases that the new audience won’t understand. Localization also requires plenty of technical input. This ranges from ensuring that the code the site uses can handle alphabets with different characters and symbols, to making sure that its payment processing system can handle transactions in the required territory and currency. Affiliate schemes also require careful attention to detail. Website localization also means thinking about everything from colors to images. Different colors are considered unlucky in different countries. If your infographics, site design, logo and other elements use such colors, it may not position you well for success with the target audience. Images can also be tricky. For example, do your images feature individuals showing their hair or skin in a way that could be offensive to your intended readership? You need to put every element of your website under the microscope when undertaking localization work. For example, if you use explainer videos, you will need subtitles in the new language and potentially new recordings of the audio for them, meaning transcription and voiceover artist services may also come into play. Suffice it to say, there’s plenty to think about when it comes to preparing your website for success in new countries and regions.

Website Internationalization Vs Localization

Website internationalization and website localization are both used to prepare sites for consumption by foreign audiences. However, the two approaches are fundamentally different. As discussed above, localization services focus on molding a product – in this case, a website – around the expectations and requirements of a particular audience. Internationalization, on the other hand, is about creating a more culturally neutral site. The idea of internationalization is that your website should be as adaptable as possible, so that diverse audiences can view, use, and enjoy it, no matter where in the world they may be. Internationalization can be a highly complicated process from a technical and marketing perspective. From data encoding to imagery, it can be tough to create a single site that is both usable and appealing to a global audience. That said, internationalization can have a useful role to play in the website localization process. Internationalizing a website provides those working on it with a neutral template that they can then adapt to local audiences

Why Is Website Localization Important? 

Website localization is important because it will help you connect with your target audiences who speak other languages. It maximizes your chances of success when launching in new territories, and provides an excellent experience to your customers. This is not just a “nice to have.” According to Nimdzi, nine out of ten international users will ignore your product if it’s not in their native language. This is one reason why the share of websites that use English is diminishing. According to W3Techs, just 56.1% of websites use English as at March 2023, compared to 60% back in 2020.  Figures from the European Commission, meanwhile, show that just 18% of European internet users buy products in foreign languages. In short, if you’re not serving customers in their native tongue, you’re missing out on potential revenue. 

Importance of Website Content Localization

Of course, the importance of website content localization doesn’t just come down to money. Some firms localize website content in order to share research or other information. Others do it to raise awareness of issues. Regardless of the reason for the localization, at its core is a drive to make content available to a wider audience – and language accessibility is just the right thing to do!

The benefits of website localization are:

Increased international traffic, helping you to grow your brand in new locations.

Better conversion rates, as your site resonates better with local audiences.

Enhanced customer experience and satisfaction, as your website is tailored to their particular expectations and needs.

Increased engagement and loyalty, driven by a superior website experience.

Avoidance of reputational damage, fines, and other penalties due to non-compliance with local regulations (see below for more on this).

Things to Consider Before You Localize a Website

It can feel like you have a mountain in front of you when you first start thinking about localizing a website. However, you can break them down into chunks to make it manageable. The first step is to undertake a feasibility study.

You can use a localization feasibility study to identify key issues, such as culture-specific challenges, technological capability of the target market, local regulations, and more. Let’s take a look at some of these.

Local regulations

Data protection and data privacy regulations can have a major impact on your site if you process or collect personal information. Pay careful attention to ensure that you comply with all relevant obligations.

Anti-money laundering regulations may impact your website if you use it to onboard customers.

Accessibility requirements may oblige you to provide your website in a range of formats to make it accessible to as many people as possible, including those with impaired vision, motor difficulties, cognitive impairments or learning disabilities, and other disabilities, impairments, and long-term illnesses.

Content restrictions may govern what you can and cannot say on your site, with some countries having strict requirements in place around this.

Competition

Understanding the marketing strategy of your local competitors can help you see what works in terms of engaging with local audiences successfully.

Likewise, understanding the website localization strategy of your international competitors can help to shape your own approach to localization.

Marketing channels

If you use pay-per-click advertising and/or multilingual search engine optimization to grow your web traffic on Google, Bing, and other channels, you will need to factor this into your localization feasibility study and strategy.

With social media platforms playing such a big role in marketing these days, you’ll also need to think about which platforms your target audience is using and their preferred methods of engagement, to ensure you maximize how much traffic you funnel to your website.

Technological capability and habits

Check the internet penetration rate for your target country or area as part of your website localization considerations.

Think about device preference as well, to ensure your localization plans will best meet your target users’ habits.

Other culture-specific adjustments and restrictions

Map out what is and isn’t acceptable in the cultures you are targeting, from images to written content. Failing to do this could result in a major localization fail if your website ends up offending those you want to connect with.

It’s also worth researching cultural, sporting, and socio-political events that you could use to your advantage when localizing your website.

Research into symbols and colors is also important, to ensure that your brand appeals to your target audience and doesn’t inadvertently offend.

How to Localize a Website

The website localization process has several distinct stages. Once you’ve completed your feasibility study and decided to proceed, it’s time to implement the following.

1. Content Extraction

Content extraction involves undertaking a detailed content inventory and process mapping, including creating a glossary or lexicon of text strings and data points to be translated. Automated methods with human oversight tend to provide the most efficient approach and can accommodate everything from language direction to functionality. Examples of content to be extracted can include whole web pages, PDFs, infographics, and more.

2. Project Management 

Managing your project successfully means mapping out timelines, required outcomes, resources, ang budget. You can work with a localization company to help achieve this, as well as to undertake the localization work itself. As an example, most localization companies will offer a start-to-finish service that includes managing the project as well as undertaking the translation and localization work.

3. Localization Pre-Engineering

Pre-engineering means getting the website ready for localization. You do this by marking the parts you need to translate, along with any that should not be translated, making clear anything that should be protected or preserved during localization, and preparing a translation glossary. For example, you may wish for certain elements, such as your logo or strapline, to remain in the original language.

4. Translation

This is the part of the localization process that involves the conversion of your website from one language to another. Translation should always be undertaken by suitable qualified and experienced professionals who are native speakers of your target language. If, for example, you are launching your website in Latin America, you should use a Latin American Spanish translator, rather than a translator who speaks Castilian Spanish (as spoken in Spain).

5. Localization Post-Engineering

Post-engineering is essentially the reverse of pre-engineering. You need to ensure the localized site contains all the elements it should, including all elements that you preserved from the original site, and that it displays correctly.  An example is infographics that didn’t require translation but that need to display correctly once you apply a different script to your site.

6. Translation Implementation

This involves dropping the translated copy and other elements into your website. You import the translated text strings and data points, then manually check them. For example, by working with your localization company to automatically implement the translated copy on the site, then reviewing it using human oversight.

7. Source Validation 

Source validation is when you check that the website behaves as you expect it to. You can use automation for this aspect too, but again with human review. You can undertake automated testing, for example, but also use the localized website yourself to experience it as your target audience would.

8. LQA and Testing

Language quality assurance (LQA) and testing refers to the final checks that you undertake to ensure your localization has been successful. You do this by reviewing the linguistic quality of the translated content and flagging up any errors or discrepancies. For example, you could produce a report detailing any final snags to be addressed.

Best Practices

The wealth of website localization technology currently available means that you can automate many parts of the process. Indeed, doing so is best practice in terms of efficiency and budgetary control – provided you are using industry-leading website localization tools and services that will deliver the localization properly. Undertaking a feasibility study and mapping out your website localization workflow at the beginning of the project is also best practice. Doing so means you will have a clear plan, with timescales and resource allocation that ensure you complete your project in line with your operational needs. Finally, never skip the final quality assurance and testing stage of your web page localization. It might be tempting to do so, in your eagerness to push the site live, but these final checks are crucial to ensuring the success of your localized site launch.

Examples of Localized Websites

There are plenty of website localization examples out there to inspire you for your own project. Many major international brands have put plenty of time into perfecting their localization strategies. Their work covers not just the client-facing elements, but backend functions such as image descriptions and currency availability, all focused on using localization to deliver an outstanding user experience. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples.

Coca-Cola sells its drinks in more than 200 countries, localizing everything from its packaging to the colors of its branding. The company makes fairly major changes when localizing its site, including layout, imagery, menu color scheme, and more, all focused around local expectations in terms of user experience.  

Airbnb changes everything from its layout to its visuals and color scheme when adapting its website to different audiences around the world. The company also localizes its user-generated content so that audiences can read reviews and recommendations in their own language.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s has a massive global presence, with over 37,000 outlets, in around 120 countries. The firm offers a menu that caters to local tastes and preferences in each country, with a website that does the same, from currency values to the way it promotes Happy Meal toys and different menu items. Despite this, the look and feel of the site remain largely the same the world over.

Website localization projects may seem daunting at first. However, by taking the approach described above, you should be able to undertake your website localization project efficiently and successfully.

By Ofer Tirosh

Ofer Tirosh is the founder and CEO of Tomedes, a language technology and translation company that supports business growth through a range of innovative localization strategies. He has been helping companies reach their global goals since 2007.

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Localization strategy

Website Localization: 10 Key Steps to Take Your Website Global

Website localization is the process of adapting a website to the culture and language of users in a target market. People around the world are far more likely to buy from a website that speaks to them in their mother tongue. In fact, 65% of consumers prefer information in their own language, even if it’s poor quality.

Still, rolling out a multilingual website isn’t only about replicating your original content verbatim in another language. It involves taking into account cultural differences, legal requirements, purchasing habits, and payment methods—just to name a few aspects of a process as complex as website localization.

If you’re buckling under the weight of the task ahead, fear not: Website localization doesn’t have to be a headache. If you’re looking for the best way to localize a website, these 10 website localization steps will help you avoid common localization mistakes , launch your multilingual website quickly, and ensure an impeccable user experience (UX) for international users.

1. Strategic planning and preparing for website localization

More than 5B people use the internet every day. Most of them are from Asia, America, and Europe. While that doesn’t guarantee that all of them will be candidates for what your business is selling, it highlights the great potential—and the fact that if you’re only selling in one market, you’re missing out on huge potential profits. So, considering the potential of international sales from the start is a must for any business looking to expand globally.

If you’re just setting out to design your website or update an existing one, factoring in website localization from the get-go can save you a lot of time and money down the line. Think big and think global: Even if your initial market is local or small, that doesn’t mean it always will be. Whether you sell productivity software or clothing for premature babies, global tendencies are merging—a successful product at home has the potential to become a worldwide sensation as well.

A localization strategy devised from the start will give you clarity of purpose, an actionable plan for expansion, and a real business advantage. Some aspects you’ll need to consider as part of your website localization strategy are:

• Your product or service: Can it be easily transferred to another culture or market, or will it need significant adaptation?
• Your company’s localization vision: If you were to expand, what would that look like?
• Pricing: Will you need to change your pricing model for different regions?
• Ideal target markets: What languages, cultures, and demographics are a good match for your product?
• Localization timeline: How soon would you ideally like to expand and be up and running in new markets?
• Localization budget: How much are you willing to spend on translation , layout changes, and other necessary adjustments? Can you manage a full-scale localization project in-house, or do you need to outsource?
• People: What staff do you currently have in-house that could support the localization process?
• Technology : What tools and methods will best fit your business goals, resources, and timeline?

Note the difference between the website layouts of McDonald’s in Japan and the US

2. Market research

As we’ve seen, a global website is one of the most powerful tools for attracting new customers and generating leads from around the world. Part of a well-planned localization strategy is making sure you have a deep understanding of the markets your website needs to target. You might not need to embark on a full-scale localization project into over 1K languages if your core customer base is in one or two countries—identifying your target market and where you think your product will be more successful is critical.

Start with those areas first and remember that new markets may open up in the future. Analyze the countries carefully that are more likely to bring in a greater localization ROI (return on investment). Even huge global players, like McDonald’s, had to close down stores in some countries —or were unable to find sufficient market demand (or comply with legislation).

Once you’ve decided on your target markets, it’s time to do some in-depth research to understand what customers really want in each one. Using generic data about an entire continent is not good enough. The French, for example, are different from the Spanish. The Spanish don’t share the same culture as the Germans. More importantly, they don’t share the same language.

Try to identify your international buyer personas by conducting specific market research in each geographic region you want to approach [or using a persona tool like HubSpot. ]. You’ll need to analyze and assess the demand, for example. If your product is partially popular in one region, you can start out there. For each market, try asking a few simple, but essential questions:

• Is there an interest in your product in this specific market?
• What is the market’s growth rate?
• How much competition is there?
• Can local buyers afford your products?
• What are their buying preferences?
• How much will transportation and customer support cost you?
• How high is the cost of website localization compared with the potential of the market?

It’s important to reach the highest number of potential customers without spending more than your company can afford. However, it’s a good idea to consider all marketing and financial indicators when deciding what markets to approach. For example, China clearly has huge potential if you look at the number of internet users —but these numbers become irrelevant if you don’t have a chance of selling your product due to strict censorship laws.

3. Putting together a dedicated team for website localization

Website localization has many stakeholders. In fact, one of the reasons that localization can be challenging is because of all the different groups involved—from managers and developers to designers and linguists, passing through marketers, content writers, and QA engineers… the list goes on.

A well-organized localization team ensures that the project is completed on time and to a high standard while avoiding conflict between different stakeholders. The size of your team may be bound by your budget, but a successful website localization project requires people on board who understand what makes your target-market customers tick.

In other words, you’ll need people who can help you bridge the cultural and linguistic differences between your domestic customers and your international ones. Here are some key groups that you’ll likely benefit from having on your team:

• A localization manager or a translation project manager who can assign tasks and keep everyone on track
• One or more developers who can support your internationalization (more on this below) and localization efforts from the technical side
• One or more designers who can adjust visuals or designs to suit different audiences
• A stellar team of native translators who can accurately translate your content and make the copy sound natural in the target language
• QA engineers who can check how everything works after localization and ensure that there are no bugs or glitches in the website
• A local support team for each market that will answer customer questions, manage online reviews, and deal with any  other customer service issues

The importance of hiring professional translators and proofreaders can’t be overstated. First-class translators will be able to translate and localize your message in a way that makes local people identify with it right away. You need to deliver the same amount of wit, wisdom, and charisma that your original message contains.

Above all, your team will need to be able to work well together and collaborate with each other . If you also support their work with the right technology (more on that next), you’ll set them up for success.

4. Keyword research

Right after you’ve decided on your target markets and before you start the actual localization work, it’s a good idea to do some keyword research for your localized website . This will help you understand which terms people in your target market are using to search for products or services like yours—and how those terms differ from the ones used by people in your home market.

By locating the best terms and key phrases to use on your localized website, you can make sure that your content shows up in relevant searches. This and other multilingual SEO (search engine optimization) techniques will help you reach more people and improve your search engine rankings, leading to higher traffic levels, and reducing your costs over time (because you won’t be paying for ads to reach your target audience).

The main thing to remember when doing keyword research is that you shouldn’t just translate your home market keywords. You need to find out how people in the target market actually talk about your products or services. Just like British and American English often use different words to describe the same thing—”vacations in Orlando” vs “holidays in Orlando”—so, too, do other languages depending on the region. Even the best content is doomed to fail if the target audience can’t find it in the first place.

That’s where multilingual keyword research enters the picture. Either marketers that speak your target language can conduct this research for you, or you can appoint a team of translators specialized in SEO to help you with it. Whoever does it, with the right combination of market knowledge, SEO expertise, purpose-built tools, and language skills, they should be able to unearth the best local terms to attract more visitors and generate more leads.

5. Automating the website localization process

If you’re thinking about managing your website localization project manually,  you might want to think again. You wouldn’t punch out your thesis on a typewriter, or add up complex equations without a calculator—relying on a series of email chains, text documents, and spreadsheets, which especially don’t work for localization , to manage your website localization project is similarly outdated and inefficient.

There’s significant room for error when localizing your website manually. You have global teams working in isolation, translators guessing at what’s coming next, and developers unsure how to break up right-to-left (RTL) or vertical languages. It takes forever, you go back and forth, and you’ll end up spending way too much on your project.

Enter localization technology . In much the same way that other technologies automate other processes in your business, so too can localization software reduce the time and costs of doing website localization. In a fast-paced development workflow within an agile framework, you need technology that can help your localization efforts keep up .

The main types of software that can streamline your website localization process include:

• Translation management systems (TMS): These platforms allow you to build a centralized database of all your translations, which can then be accessed and worked on by any member of the team. By integrating with other platforms within your business such as your content management system (CMS) or your customer relationship management (CRM) system, a translation management system can automate various localization tasks.
• Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools: CAT tools help translators work more efficiently by allowing them to store and reuse previously translated content (which is called a “translation memory”). This not only saves time but also helps ensure that your brand messaging remains consistent across all your content. Most modern TMS include built-in CAT tools, or you can use standalone options.
• Machine translation (MT): This technology can be used to automatically translate content, which can then be edited by a human translator depending on the quality required. MT is constantly improving, with the latest versions able to understand grammar, context, and natural language better than ever before.
• Linguistic quality assurance (QA) tools:  These tools help you check your translated content for errors before it goes live on your site. QA tools can be used to automatically identify issues such as missing translations, incorrect numbers, and unbalanced text flow, among other things. These tools are often built within TMS solutions, but just like CAT tools, you can also use them as standalone products.
• Terminology management tools: These are platforms where you can store all your approved brand terms and glossaries. This ensures that everyone working on your localization project is using the same terminology, which helps to keep your brand messaging consistent across all your content.

6. Using the right translation management system

No amount of technology can help you if you’re using the wrong tools for the job, and equally, many localization challenges can be avoided by simply choosing the right technological solutions.

A crucial consideration when building your toolbox for website localization is what TMS you’ll use. If you want to make your website localization project as efficient and cost-effective as possible, you’ll have to carefully consider your specific needs and choose the best translation management system to support them.

Without the right TMS in place, your workflow suffers—wasting time, money, and effort in the process. Long email back-and-forths, transcription errors due to manually copying content into spreadsheets, developers wasting precious time tracking down app strings and feeding them to translators,  and siloed data that’s difficult to report on and monitor for quality… These are just some of the problems you can face if you don’t have the right technology in place.

A solid translation management system will offer the following key features:

• An application programming interface (API) —to make automation possible. Developers can use it to automate uploading and downloading files for localization, extracting translation keys, generating screenshots, workflow management, performance monitoring, and more.
• Collaboration functions —to make sure that your project runs smoothly. You need to be able to communicate effectively with all team members. Leave feedback, notes, comments, screenshots, and tags all in one place.
• In-context translation directly on the page —so your translators can work on your site in real time. This saves time (especially that of developers), thus speeding up the whole workflow, and it allows you to see how your translated content will look on your site before it goes live.
• Translation memory —to speed up your projects and record any frequently used terms. Your translation memory will also save all changes and let you look up older versions with ease. Cut down repetitive manual tasks for all.
• Built-in glossaries or term bases —to guide localization work and ensure consistency across all your content.
• Automatic quality checks —to help you catch any potential issues before your content goes live.
• Support for dozens of file formats —to ensure that you can work with any content source.
• Integration with other software —to seamlessly connect with popular platforms and services—content management systems, project management solutions, etc.—with no need for middleware.

Your TMS will act as a project manager and coordinator at once. When you have all your team members working in harmony, you’re far more likely to get your website localized faster and at a lower cost.

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7. Website internationalization

Internationalization is a process that aims to make your website “ready” for localization. More specifically, it ensures that the code is designed in a way that allows for the website content to be easily translated into other languages without any technical issues.

When you internationalize your website, one of the key steps is to decouple your “translatable” content from the source code. This means that all the language-specific information is stored in separate files, making it possible to change the site’s language without changing the code—and it doesn’t stop here…

Website internationalization includes the following best practices:

• Encoding your website content in Unicode (UTF-8)—to support the special characters used in all world languages
• Designing and developing in a way that removes barriers to localization or international deployment (e.g., by ensuring that text can be resized without affecting the overall design)
• Providing support for features that may not be used until the site is deployed in another country (e.g., supporting bidirectional text)
• Incorporating predefined localization data and features in your code (e.g., date, time, and number formats, currency symbols)
• Ensuring that images in the UI don’t require separate asset files for each local version of the app—instead, loading images dynamically where possible
• Using internationalization testing tools to test your site with real-world  scenarios (e.g., verifying that the automatic language detection feature is working as expected)

The goal of internationalization is to make it possible for you to deploy your website in any market without having to rebuild it from scratch. A good analogy is designing a car to be driven on any type of terrain—if you want to be able to drive just as easily on a mountain road as on a sandy beach, your vehicle needs to include features that enable it to perform well in both environments.

8. Localizing the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI)

Great UX is half of your product’s success: It impacts customer satisfaction, conversion rates, and sales. That’s why, when you’re planning your website localization project, it’s important to take into account how your localization efforts may affect the UX.

Take the design of your UI elements, for example. Prior internationalization will have ensured that there’s enough space to accommodate longer text strings in other languages. However, if the overall design of your UI doesn’t work well for users in other countries, you’ll still need to adapt it.

For example, you might need to rearrange some elements on the page, use different color schemes to avoid triggering unwanted cultural associations, replace certain images with others that are more representative of the target culture, or even redesign the UI completely for certain markets.

It’s also important to think about how your target audience uses the internet, and what the internet speed is like in their country. If you’re targeting users in a market, with slower internet connections and lower-end devices, you should consider simplifying your UI design—for example, by using fewer images—to make it load faster and run more smoothly.

In a nutshell, localizing your UX and your UI means making sure that your users find your website easy, enjoyable to use, and tailored to their specific needs and preferences.

9. Testing before launching

Once you’ve localized your website, it’s important to test it thoroughly to ensure that all words are correctly translated, that the UI looks and works as it should, and that there are no technical issues. Localization testing is about checking functional as well as linguistic accuracy.

Functional website localization testing focuses on:

• Encryption algorithms
• Hardware compatibility
• Names, time, date, weights, measurements, etc.
• Entry fields
• Image appropriateness
• Broken strings/design
• Form functionality
• Shopping cart
• Payment processing
• Loading time

Linguistic website localization testing deals with:

• Spelling and grammar errors
• Punctuation errors
• Cultural appropriateness
• Misuse of keywords
• Readability and appeal of a message
• Untranslated strings

An expert native speaker for the specific market with strong professional skills and localization knowledge should be part of the testing process. You can then devise a test plan, gather all the relevant testing materials, set up the testing environment, and get started.

10. Marketing your localized website

Once your localized website is up and running, you need to let your target users know that it exists—and that it’s the perfect solution for their needs. That’s where marketing localization comes in. In order to successfully market your localized website, you need to consider how purchasing habits, consumer behavior, and cultural norms vary from one market to another.

How can you expect to increase demand for your product in a foreign market if your promotional assets look and feel like they’re aimed at people in your home market? How could engagement possibly increase if your social media posts fail to reflect the local culture and context? Why would leads take the time to fill out a form on your website if they can’t even understand the call to action?

To truly succeed in a foreign market, you need to speak your target audience’s language —literally and figuratively. You need to be aware of what makes them tick, what their pain points are, and how they like to be communicated with.

In other words, you need to localize your marketing efforts by considering the impact of culture, context, and language on your promotional strategy:

• The popularity of marketing channels such as social media, email, and search engines varies from one country to another.
• Your content marketing might elicit different reactions in different markets—what’s considered useful and informative in one culture might be seen as too promotional in another.
• Calls to action, slogans, and other text that appears on your website and in your marketing materials need to be carefully adapted to the local language and culture.
• Paid search keywords that work in one market might not work in another—we’ve seen how users in different markets search for the same thing using different terms.

All of these factors—and more—need to weigh into your local marketing strategy. Whether you’re looking to increase app downloads , boost website traffic, or improve dwell time rates, it’s all about crafting a local customer experience that resonates with your target audience.

Localizing your copy, getting local reviews and testimonials, leveraging local communities, partnering with local influencers—these are all great ways to start, provided you’ve taken the time to understand how your target market is different from your home market. By following the outlined tips on how to localize a website and making sure to keep your target market top of mind, you’ll be well on your way to global success.

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Last updated on November 8, 2023.

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Game Localization from Multiple Perspectives: The Roles of Industry, Press, and Players

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2024 Theses Doctoral

Deep Learning Artifact Identification and Correction Methods for Accessible MRI

Manso Jimeno, Marina

Despite its potential, 66% of the world's population lacks access to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The main factors contributing to the uneven distribution of this imaging modality worldwide are the elevated cost and intricate nature of MRI systems coupled with the high level of knowledge and expertise required for its operation and maintenance. To improve its worldwide accessibility, MRI technology and techniques must undergo modifications to deliver a more cost-effective system that is easier to site and use without compromising on the diagnostic quality of the images. This thesis presents two deep learning methods, ArtifactID and GDCNet, developed for artifact detection and correction and tailored for their integration into accessible MRI systems. ArtifactID is targeted to resource-constrained settings where skilled personnel are scarce. It automates part of the quality assessment step, critical during image acquisition to ensure data quality and the success of downstream analysis or interpretation. This study utilized two types of T1-weighted neuroimaging datasets: publicly available and prospective. Combining the two, ArtifactID successfully identified wrap-around and rigid head motion in multi-field strength and multi-vendor data. We leveraged the public datasets for artifact simulation, model training, and testing. In contrast, prospective datasets were reserved for validation and testing and to assess the models’ performance in data representative of clinical and deployment settings. We trained individual convolutional neural networks for each artifact. The wrap-around models perform binary classification, while the multi-class motion classification model allows distinction between moderate and severe motion artifacts. Our models demonstrated strong agreement with ground truth labels and motion metrics and proved potential for generalization to various data distributions. Furthermore, Grad-CAM heatmaps allowed early identification of failure modes, artifact localization within the image, and fine-tuning the pre-processing steps. GDCNet correction applies to imaging techniques highly susceptible to local B0 deviations and systems whose design entails high B0 inhomogeneity. The method estimates a geometric distortion map by non-linear registration to a reference image. The self-supervised model, consisting of a U-Net and a spatial transform function unit, learned the correction by optimizing the similarity between the distorted and the reference images. We initially developed the tool for distortion correction of echo-planar imaging functional MRI images at 3 T. This method allows dynamic correction of the functional data as a distortion map is estimated for each temporal frame. For this model, we leveraged T1-weighted anatomical images as target images. We trained the model on publicly available datasets and tested it on in-distribution and out-of-distribution datasets consisting of other public datasets unseen during training and a prospectively acquired dataset. Comparing GDCNet to state-of-the-art EPI geometric distortion methods, our technique demonstrated statistically significant improvements in normalized mutual information between the corrected and reference images and 14 times faster processing times without requiring the acquisition of additional sequences for field map estimation. We adapted the GDCNet method for distortion correction of low-bandwidth images acquired in a 47 mT permanent magnet system. These systems are characterized by large B0 spatial inhomogeneity and low signal sensitivity. In this case, the model used high-field images or images acquired with higher acquisition bandwidths as reference. The goal was to exploit the signal-to-noise ratio improvements that low bandwidth acquisition offers while limiting geometric distortion artifacts in the images. We investigated two versions of the model using different similarity loss functions. Both models were trained and tested on an in vitro dataset of image-quality phantoms. Additionally, we evaluated the models’ generalization ability to an in vivo dataset. The models successfully reduced distortions to levels comparable to those of the high bandwidth images in vitro and improved geometric accuracy in vivo. Furthermore, the method indicated robust performance on reference images with large levels of noise. Incorporating the methods presented in this thesis into the software of a clinical MRI system will alleviate some of the barriers currently restricting the democratization of MR technology. First, automating the time-consuming process of artifact identification during image quality assessment will improve scan efficiency and augment expertise on-site by assisting non-skilled personnel. Second, efficient off-resonance correction during image reconstruction will ease the tight B0 homogeneity requirements of magnet design, allowing more compact and lightweight systems that are easier to refrigerate and site.

• Artificial intelligence
• Deep learning (Machine learning)
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Nervous system--Imaging

This item is currently under embargo. It will be available starting 2025-05-28.

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