Website Localization Services
Grow. Exponentially.
Website localization isn’t just a nice-to-have feature, it’s a must-have strategy for any business that wants to succeed in the global market. The benefits of website localization are clear: it helps you reach new customers, increases your brand awareness, and boosts your sales. 🚀
Successful companies partner with ABC Translations to localize their websites, making big waves and achieving phenomenal market value results in record time. Are you ready to do the same in your market?
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Achieve Remarkable Growth and Market Value!
Do you want to grow your business globally and reach millions of potential customers? If so, you need to localize your website and make it accessible and appealing to speakers of different languages with different cultural backgrounds. It follows that website localization is not just a matter of translating words on a page, it’s a matter of understanding your target audience and their preferences. Good website localization can help you increase your conversion rates (visitors becoming customers), reduce your bounce rates (a negative signal to search engines), and improve your customer loyalty. Don’t believe us? Here are a handful of companies that have localized their websites and achieved remarkable growth in their market value over time:
- Ikea started to localize its content in the 1970s and 1980s when it expanded to different countries and regions. IKEA catalogs became available online between 2010 to 2019 in English, Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. It used a mix of standardization and localization strategies to adapt its products and marketing to local cultures and preferences. During this time its, according to Statista, IKEA’s brand value grew from $11.9 billion USD in 2010 to $17.4 billion USD in 2022, an increase of 46%.
- Nike started to localize its content in the 1990s when it entered the Chinese market. It used localization strategies such as partnering with local athletes, creating deep customer relationships, and adapting its website according to regions. With a concerted rollout of localized web and printed content, Nike’s market value grew by $171.63 billion USD or 1138% from $15.07 billion USD in 1990 to $186.7 billion USD in early 2023.
- Netflix started to localize its content in 2007 when it introduced streaming services. It used localization strategies such as hiring local professionals, producing original local language content, partnering with regional brands, and using pseudo-localization for its user interface. According to Macrotrends, Netflix’s market value grew from $1.3 billion USD in 2007, when it began its streaming service, to $135.2 billion USD in early March 2023, an increase of 10,323%. Netflix’s localization strategy helped it gain more subscribers and revenue from international markets. In 2021, 67% of Netflix subscribers were outside the U.S. and Canada. In 2022, 63% of Netflix revenue came from international streaming.
- Apple started to localize its content in the 1980s when it expanded to different countries and regions. It used localization strategies such as structuring its app’s code and UI for localization, using Foundation APIs to express user-visible values across different locales, and allowing users to select their preferred language for its app independent of their device language. These strategies helped Apple reach more customers and increase its brand value across the world. Apple’s market value grew from $1.8 billion USD in 1980, when it made its stock market debut, to $3 trillion USD in 2022, becoming the first firm to hit this milestone. According to Statista, around 67% of Apple’s revenue was generated outside of the United States in 2021, suggesting that localization had a significant impact on Apple’s growth.
Why Your Small Business Needs a Multilingual Website (Hint: It’s Not Just About Being Nice)
Imagine you’re a small business owner who sells handmade jewelry online. You have a beautiful website that showcases your products, tells your story, and invites customers to buy. You’re proud of your website and you think it does a great job of representing your brand.
But there’s one problem: Your website is only in English.
That might not seem like a big deal to you. After all, English is the most widely spoken language in the world, right? Well, not exactly. According to a web search result, only 25.9% of internet users speak English as their first language. That means you’re ignoring more than 70% of potential customers who speak other languages.
And that’s not good for business.
How a Multilingual Website Can Help You Grow Your Small Business
Having a website in multiple languages is not just a nice gesture to your non-English speaking customers. It’s also a smart strategy to grow your small business in the global market. Here are three reasons why:
- A multilingual website can increase your trust and loyalty. Customers are more likely to buy from a website that speaks their language and respects their culture. According to a web search result, 75% of consumers prefer to buy products in their native language, and 60% rarely or never buy from English-only websites. By offering content in multiple languages, you can show your customers that you care about them and their needs.
- A multilingual website can boost your sales and conversions. Customers are more likely to buy from a website that they can understand and navigate easily. According to a web search result, localized websites can increase conversion rates by up to 70%. By providing content in multiple languages, you can make it easier for your customers to find what they want and buy what they need.
- A multilingual website can give you a competitive edge. Customers are more likely to choose a website that offers content in their language over one that doesn’t. According to a web search result, the website localization service market size is projected to reach multimillion USD by 2028, in comparison to 2023, at unexpected CAGR during the forecast period 2023-2028. This means that more and more businesses are realizing the benefits of having a multilingual website and are investing in it. By adopting it early, you can gain an advantage over your competitors who are still stuck with English-only content.
Global Trends in Internet Usage and Why They Matter for Your Business
The internet is a powerful tool for connecting with customers around the world. But how exactly do people use the internet, and what does that mean for your business? Let’s take a look at some key statistics and facts about global internet usage in 2023 and beyond.
According to a web search result, there are 7.97 billion people in the world, and 5.16 billion of them are active internet users. That’s 64.4 percent of the global population. Of this total, 4.76 billion, or 59.4 percent of the world’s population, are social media users. By 2028, the number of internet users worldwide is expected to reach 6.1 billion.
But not all internet users speak the same language. According to a web search result, only 25.2 percent of internet users speak English as their first language, while 20.1 percent speak Chinese, 7.9 percent speak Spanish, 5.3 percent speak Arabic, and 4.3 percent speak Portuguese. Moreover, over half of all Google searches are in a language other than English. This means that if your website is only in English, you’re missing out on more than 70 percent of the online population who may prefer or need to communicate in other languages.
And that can hurt your business.
The Website Localization Process
Website localization is not just translating your website content into another language. It is also adapting it to the culture, preferences, and expectations of your target audience. Website localization can help you reach new markets, increase conversions, and boost customer loyalty. But how do you go about localizing your website? Here are the main phases of a website localization process.
Phase 1: Project Preparation
Website localization requires meticulous planning. After defining your business needs and target languages, your language service provider (LSP) will work with you to create a detailed plan and workflow that takes your specifications and expectations into account. Typical steps in the project preparation phase involve:
- Identification of goals and KPIs, including SEO analysis. You need to know what you want to achieve with your localized website, how you will measure its success, and how you will optimize it for search engines in different regions.
- Setting up connectors or APIs that bring localization capabilities directly into your CMS. You need to integrate your website with a localization platform that can automate and streamline the translation process. For example, you can use a connector that automatically detects new or updated content on your website and sends it for translation with a single click.
- Estimation of word counts, costs, and turnaround times. You need to know how much content you have to translate, how much it will cost, and how long it will take.
- Term glossary and style guide development. You need to establish consistent terminology and tone for your brand across languages and cultures.
- Creation of a company-specific translation memory (TM) to store all translated content. You need to leverage previous translations to save time, money, and ensure quality.
Phase 2: Project Execution
The actual translation stage of a website localization project begins once proper guidelines have been established. In the execution phase, the content is distributed to a group of native speaker translators who are briefed on the particularities of the project. These fully-qualified professional linguists will translate your content according to your instructions and guidelines. Language service providers can help you simplify this process, using connectors that bring translation capabilities directly into your CMS and APIs that allow you to send content for translation with a single click.
But translation is not enough for website localization. You also need to adapt other elements of your website, such as images, colors, layout, fonts, symbols, date formats, currencies, etc., to suit the preferences and expectations of your target audience. For example, you may need to change an image of a handshake to a bow if you are targeting Japan, or use different colors for buttons depending on the cultural associations of each color. You may also need to adjust the length of text or the direction of writing depending on the language.
Phase 3: Post-Localization Quality Assurance
A second group of reviewers will edit all translated text to ensure that it is contextually and culturally appropriate for its intended audience. Once all translated content has been approved, files should be reviewed and tested. It’s essential to conduct linguistic and functional quality assurance prior to launch.
Linguistic quality assurance involves checking the accuracy, consistency, fluency, readability, and style of the translated content. Functional quality assurance involves testing the functionality, usability, compatibility, performance, and security of the localized website1. You need to make sure that everything works as expected on different devices, browsers, operating systems, etc., and that there are no broken links or missing images.
Once you have completed these steps, you are ready to launch your localized website and reach new customers around the world!
Your Web Localization Partner
ABC Translations’ website localization services offer a robust and streamlined solution for businesses eager to broaden their online horizons and captivate global audiences. By skillfully tailoring website content, design, and functionality to accommodate diverse markets and cultures, we guarantee a flawless and immersive experience for customers who speak any language and live in any culture.
With an emphasis on simplicity and affordability, we combine highly skilled native-speaking translators and a groundbreaking translation platform. This pioneering localization platform harnesses state-of-the-art AI technology to automate workflows and uphold quality, empowering businesses to conquer international markets rapidly and expansively.
To further elevate our website localization process, ABC Translations deploys a sophisticated technology suite that completely eliminates numerous manual, time-wasting tasks, thereby slashing costs and accelerating time to market. Our experienced web solutions team in ready to assist you in designing, developing, and maintaining an online presence that’s meticulously optimized for global audiences and local search engines.
Addressing the challenges of operational complexity and cost, we guarantees unrivaled content quality across all languages and devices. Our trailblazing technology intelligently leverages the code and content of your original website, facilitating smooth translation, deployment, and ongoing operation of multilingual versions of websites for any market.
