In this article Ofer Tirosh, founder and CEO of Tomedes talks about every company with a website, app, game, or software of any kind needs to think seriously about localization. If you’re not reaching foreign audiences effectively, you’re leaving cash on the table.
If you’re not doing a professional job of translating your documentation and screens, you’re neglecting visitors and customers who don’t speak your language. Fortunately, localization has become a highly efficient specialization with plenty of tools and SaaS solutions out there to help you localize efficiently and cost-effectively. We’ll look at best practices and resources for the project manager and programmers who recognize the need to go global as a strategic imperative.
Coming to Terms: Translation and Localization Services, Internationalization and Globalization
For starters, there are 4 concepts that we need to distinguish. First, there are professional language translation services, familiar to us all as the conversion of one language to another. Each language pair goes in two directions, of course. There’s French to English translation and English to French Translation.
What is localization? This term includes translation but also adapting numerical and date formatting, currencies and measurement formats. You can translate from Spanish to English, but should it be American English or British English? That choice will affect many things in your web or app page. It also includes the more subtle adaptations to cultural norms, including social preferences.
In addition, there is internationalization. That is the preparation of code — whether for a web, mobile app, or other software — rendering all string as indexed variables ready to be localized. Essentially you are creating a matrix of terms, each with a row of its own, and then adding columns for each language or, more correctly, each locale. And there is translation management software and other tools to make the globalization process easier and more automated. More on that later.
Learn More: Empower the Responsible Management of Open Source SoftwareOpens a new window
Getting Help: Why Work with a Professional Translation Company or Localization Agency
Many a translation company now positions itself as a “localization†company to tap into the active market for adapting websites, apps, and other software to additional foreign markets. They specialize in software translation services, providing localization of software across multiple foreign locations, including the translation and other adaptations. App localization services are an especially active niche for these companies.
So if your development team and your webmaster are occupied with other things, like developing original software, it makes sense to entrust the translation, localization, and globalization process to a professional agency. They can provide a one-stop-shop for going global.
Choosing: How to Pick a Professional Translation Services or Localization Agency
How do you find the best localization agency? You should be able to get free fast quotes from leading agencies as well as a timetable for your project. Usually you need to just send the URL of your current site and indicate which languages or other changes are of interest. You should be able to get some strategic guidance free of charge.
Compare prices: prices are usually based on the number of words in your document, website, or app. They vary according to the language: some language pairs are more expensive, often because translators for that pair are in relatively short supply. Pick 3 to 5 vendors and see what comes in. Also look for warranties on their work. If mistakes are found, they should be prepared to fix them for free, even after initial delivery, from a month to a year after.
Do It Yourself: Machine Translation, Translation Management, and Localization software
If you want to develop the in-house expertise and toolset in-house, that option is open to you, but it will require the investment of time and money. For simple translation, you can use online services like Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, or high-performing upstart translation app DeepL. Machine translation is better than it used to be, but it’s still far from the quality of senior linguists for most types of content.
And then there’s the challenge of managing your local versions. If you simply want to manage a multilingual website, and your site runs on WordPress, there are plugins like WPML and its competitors which can handle dozens of language versions, including auto-translations. Make sure your theme is also compatible with the languages you need to support, including right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew, and Asia languages.
For more serious localization projects, there are two categories of software tools that you want to check out. There are Translation Management applicationsOpens a new window , and App Localization Software. These are enterprise strength B2B applications which are not cheap, targeting either localization service providers or serious software development houses.
Learn More: Top 6 Analytics Trends To Drive Data-Driven Decision MakingOpens a new window
Working with Freelance Translation Services and App Localizers
Agencies and companies are not the only options out there for translating and localizing your marketing content, websites, social media games, apps and other software. You can also seek out individual freelancers with personal expertise in the languages and technical skills you require. Find them on marketplaces like Upwork, Freelancer.com and Fiverr. You can search by language or by technical terms. Or solicit bids from them for your project.
You can compare freelancer profiles, rates, ratings and reviews. You can reduce to a short-list and then ask questions or negotiate terms. Then you will escrow funds for a milestone and release it only after the work has been delivered to your satisfaction. The pros of working with freelancers include cost-savings relative to agencies – perhaps a half to a third of the average rates – and the ability to work directly with the translator or localizers. The cons are the risks and hassles of working with individuals who get sick, take trips or get busy. And the additional management time they require from you and your team.
One tip we can suggest is either to hire pairs of freelancers per language, one to check the work of the other and to serve as backup if one flakes out. A second tip is to hire one or more freelancers per project or per language to be your “wing person†when dealing with translators of an external agency or to give you technical insights into localization when working with your IT department.
Let us know if you liked this article on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We would love to hear from you!