Numerous studies have proved that users tend to stay on websites for longer if they are available in their own language. Similarly, they and are much more likely to buy a company’s product if the webpage and advertisement use their mother tongue. Localisation makes sure that every user visiting your webpage is able to navigate it and absorb the entirety of the information available.

There is more to the positive effects. Visitors are much more likely to share the link to the page with their peers, which in turn translates into more individual visits and a subsequent authority and popularity boost — not to mention a higher position among search engine results, thus bolstering your online presence.

On the other hand, an unpolished translation can lower brand credibility and negatively impact reputation, as well as SEO — no localisation is often better than bad localisation.

Behind a well-localised website is a team of professionals who have crafted the text to sound completely natural. An impeccable web translation takes time and great effort, but its results can be incredible.

Localising means adapting all the content of a website to the target language and culture, by adding, changing or deleting elements as appropriate. Websites consist of several digital assets: pictures, multimedia files (audio and video), blocks of text that are frequently modified and updated, menus, forms, buttons, sliders, banners, dynamic pages… Adapting all these elements in various ways is mandatory for localisation to be effective.

• The website will not feel natural if it is not culturally relevant to the target culture. For instance, some audiences are accustomed to distance and formality, so might find a more relaxed style less attractive, even unprofessional at times; on the other hand, another culture might prefer a warmer approach to business, regarding a more formal tone as being too cold or stiff. A deep understanding of specific cultural nuances and references is required for the content to retain its effectiveness even after being translated.
• Web localisation can also include voiceovers, subtitles, even SEO adaptation: the website’s optimisation has to be in line with its audience’s keywords in order to be easily accessible. In addition, the wording must be appropriate for search engine indexing. While Google might be the main focus in the original website’s culture, some countries tend to use other search engines which can be very different — adapting a website takes that into consideration as well.
• Moreover, layouts and formatting must also be adapted when localising a website, as text does not take up the same amount of space in different languages. Sometimes the layout needs to be changed so that the user’s attention is focused elsewhere on the page. Plus, some alphabets cannot be italicised, so other highlighting techniques must be used.
• And then there’s the issue of measurement units, currencies, calendars, colours, gestures, address formats…

The result will be a website version that is clear, respectful and relatable.

Most websites available in multiple languages rely on specific content management systems (CMS) that allow for a smooth localisation process. CMS are applications that allow for easy management of web pages, through which permissions can be granted to multiple contributors to create, edit and publish content; they also function as storages, and each of them has many different features.

Even if creators are not familiar with HTML or CSS, the editors and interfaces are intuitive and the greatest part of the programming job is done behind the scenes, automatically, based on the settings established by the website’s engineers.

One might reasonably assume that the best CMS is the one that provides the most functions natively, but that isn’t always true. What usually differentiates a good CMS and a great one are third-party collaborations and integrations: WordPress, one of the most widely used CMS in the world-wide web, has an ever-growing list of feature integrations with services such as Twitter, Amazon, Youtube, Dropbox and Slideshare.

The more options a CMS offers for integrations and plugins, the more customisable a page and its contents become, both for the user and for the customer: social icons, SEO evaluations, easy access to Google Analytics, detailed scheduling calendars for content publications… These and other features enhance the user experience and simplify the work of the content creator and the website localisation team.

They do. WordPress specifically can be equipped with a very advanced plugin, WPML (the “WordPress Multilingual Plugin”), which allows for much more streamlined creation and management processes of multilingual websites.

It has a broad list of compatibility with other third-party implementations, and it includes the possibility of optimising pages for different SEO. One of the most useful functions, however, is that of exporting contents in XLIFF files, a standard exchange format for translation and localisation projects. XLIFF files can be emailed directly to project managers or translators to localise their content using language technology applications, with the help of translation memories, terminology databases, spellcheckers and quality assurance, instead of translating directly in the website editor.

There is also a plugin that integrates Memsource functions into WordPress editor pages: it provides a quick and efficient way of retrieving large quantities of text and format them in ways that are compatible with the most commonly used CAT tools, thus achieving an overall smoother localisation experience.

Thus, making a webpage look trustworthy and reliable to customers from different countries, with different cultural sensitivities, is crucial. This seemingly simple goal can only be achieved through high-quality, professional localisation. Localisation boosts engagement, and businesses must aim for the best digital presence achievable.

For users, seeing that a website has an official alternative version in their own language makes them subconsciously feel as if they’re already being catered to. The business cares about their experience enough to make an effort to guarantee it is as smooth and pleasant as possible, tailoring its services accordingly. The website itself has been customised to meet their needs, and that can have a huge impact on the opinion they will be formulating about it: if the company is willing to talk to them in their native language, it will be willing to take care of them in every other way as well.

By trusting textinnova to manage your web translation, you are leaving your website in the hands of skilled and proficient translators, who will make sure every customer feels as if your website was designed specifically for them.