Why Localize Your WEBSITE Globalization vs Internationalization & Localization vs

As companies look to expand their global audience, they often come across a few terms that may seem synonymous, but in reality have different meanings. Before starting your website localization project, we’d like to define for you the meaning of these terms, which should help you better understand the scope of this content.

Globalization (G11N) Globalization is the process of interaction and integration that takes place among nations, cultures, people, governments, and companies. This process occurs through international trade and in recent years has been expedited by advancements in information technology.

On the business level, globalization occurs when businesses decide to move their prod- uct and service offerings beyond their domes- tic markets and expand into international markets around the globe. When this happens on a wide scale, international trade trade increases and cultural exchange happens on a global scale.

Globalization occurs on a global level, and each nation, culture, government, company, and individual involved in international trade adds to the ongoing movement.

Globalization is abbreviated as G11N, which means “G – eleven letters– N”.

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Internationalization (I18N)

Internationalization involves the process of designing products and services in order to meet the needs of consumers in specific countries and cultures, resulting in a native product or service experience for the end users or consumers.

Internationalization is also known as localization enablement, which occurs during the designing or planning stage of the product / service offering, and is preparatory to localization and translation.

Localization (L10N)

Localization occurs when an effort is made to adapt products, services, and materials, in a way that will specifically appeal to and meet the needs of a particular culture, region or country. The intent of localization is to create a native experience for the target market.

In regards to your website localization project, you will need to keep in mind factors such as images & graphics, design & layout, local formats, and market tastes, in order to create a native experience for your target market.

If you are localizing your website for more than one target market, you will need to keep these factors in mind for each market and provide native experience for each one.

Localization is abbreviated as L10N, which means “L – ten letters– N”.

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Translation

Translation is the most granular of the four In regards to your website localization terms listed and is used in all three of the project, translation will be the majority of above instances. Translation is the literal the work that will need to be done, as all changing of words from the source (native) content will need to be translated from language into a target language, while also your source language to your target keeping the same meaning in the context of language(s). the original language. Translation involves both written and verbal language, though This guide will cover how you can prepare verbal language translation is often referred for the localization of your website in order to as interpretation. to deliver a native brand experience, while also accurately translating your website, in Accurate that offer the order to portray the same meaning in your sammeaning in one language to next is key target languages as that of your native to driving the desired results. Truly under- language. standing the context in which language is used in the source language and understanding how to communicate that same message in the same context in the target language is how to bring about accurate translations.

Page 03 What Is A Multilingual Website Global business growth requires global accessibility and this often begins with a multilingual website. A multilingual website is one which offers content that has been translated in one or more languages to serve the needs of people in different markets. Many top corporations and institutions run multilingual websites as they serve large numbers of people across many different countries and markets.

While multilingual websites are those that offer content in various languages, multi-regional websites serve to target consumers that reside in different countries. These consumers may speak the same language as one another, for example most consumers in the United States speak English while large portions of consumers in Canada do as well, or they may be residents of different countries who also speak entirely different languages.

You may decide to create a multilingual website, hosted on the same domain with different language options, or may choose to create a multiregional website hosted on subdomains of your main domain, or even on separate domains. That will depend largely on your web strategy, which should be linked to your global business strategy.

When To Adopt A Multilingual Website

You might be asking yourself, would your business benefit from building a multilingual website?

The first thing to consider is whether or not your business has customers (or site visitors) who speak languages other than that which is on your site currently. If this is the case, you may not be fully serving them with the content they need to understand your product or service offerings. This makes it difficult for your site visitors to proceed in the buying cycle. If you do have customers who have purchased from you or you see a trend of many site visitors who speak a different language, this might be a good indication that your site is ready to take on some new languages.

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Maybe you don’t have customers who speak another language. If this is the case, you’ll still want to consider the potential benefits of creating a multilingual website. Some of these benefits include:

Extending your reach to new markets and customers.

Improving your image as a company that seeks to serve various market segments.

An increase in customer engagement.

Adding credibility to your global brand and company image.

A boost in international SEO results, which can in turn increase sales and entice more consumers to do business with your organization.

These are a only few of the benefits that you might get from taking on a website localiza- tion project. There are sure to be more depending on the type of website you have and the industry in which you operate. Now that these are on the top of your mind, let’s look at the top languages spoken worldwide (and over the internet) so you can get an idea of the potential audience size you may be able to reach choosing to take your website global.

Page 05 The Most Used Languages On The Internet & What It Means To Your Multilingual Website Top Spoken Languages Worldwide In order to truly understand the potential impact a multilingual website can have on your business, it’s important to start by learning SALUT just how many potential customers are available to you in your target market and how to maximize your reach to your intended audience. HOLA Though English speakers still make up the second largest group Hi! bye among languages spoken the world over, it’s worth noting some of the top languages and how many people speak each. The top spoken languages include: hej HEI

Mandarin

Over 1.2 billion English 850 million

Spanish 500 million

Arabic Over 490 million

Hindi 380 million Russian 260 million Portuguese 220 million

French 220 million

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One Country May Include Multiple Languages

Even if you aren’t looking to expand your business globally in the literal sense, it’s worth noting that most countries have large groups of people who speak a language other than the region’s native language. The United States, for example, has a large Hispanic market which makes up about 15% of the country’s labor force with significant growth expected in the near future. The Hispanic market within the United States holds a purchasing power that exceeds $1.38 trillion dollars and will continue to rise. This particular group represents a huge potential market for business owners who could grow their customer base by leaps and bounds.

Consider the various languages that are spoken within the country or countries you’re looking to target for future growth. By localizing and translating your content into one or more of these languages, you open the door for your business to reach largely untapped markets and move toward greater growth.

Top Languages Used On The World Wide Web

English speakers continue to dominate the internet with 565 million users speaking English as their rst language. However, a close second are Chinese speakers who make up 30% of internet users at 509 million users. Many new businesses often overlook this huge group which may hold thousands, if not millions, of new customers for those who want to take their business global.

Below you will nd the top spoken languages by internet users and the percentage of content you will nd on the internet by language. These numbers give a high level overview for who is on the internet and where potential content gaps currently exist on the world wide web.

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3% 2% 3% 4% English 4% Chinese Spanish 5% Japanese 33% Portuese 6% German Arabic 10% Russian French Korean

30%

% Of Internet Content By Language (2015)

1.7%

2.5% 2% 2.8%

4% English German 4.6% Russian Japanese 5% 55.7% Spanish French 6% Chinese Portuese 6% Italian Polish

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So What Does This Mean For Your Multilingual Site

As seen, English speakers make up the biggest segment of internet users at about 33%. Though this is the biggest segment of users, English content makes up 55% of all content online. This means that English inter- net content is much more saturated than other languages online.

There’s a good chance that new target audiences that speak another language other than English are having a hard time finding the content they seek in their native language. Creating a multilingual website can go a long way to fill this void and put your company in a much better position to meet the needs of these large groups of potential customers.

The data shows that we are still relatively early on in the “world wide web” in regards to global content distribution as content in languages other than English hasn’t saturated the web like it has in English. If companies begin to position themselves in the present, they are likely to increase their online “market share” in the future as global economies continue to adopt the use of internet moving forward.

The Benefits of Website Localization

Though the idea of converting your current business website to a multilingual website may seem both expensive and daunting, it’s worth understanding the many potential benefits available through website localization and how localization can go a long way in growing your business by leaps and bounds. Many of the most notable benefits are as follows:

Increase Your Slice of the “Global Pie”

In the last section, we went into detail on how localizing your website’s content can greatly expand your global reach. Consider again, the example of Chinese speakers who make up about 30% of all internet users at about 509 million users in total yet only 2.8% of all internet content is in Chinese.

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As a savvy business, if any portion of your target market includes Chinese speakers, adding Chinese as a language option on your website will both allow you to better serve that market and help you stand out as a business leader in your industry. Localizing your content will allow you to tap into target markets and make your services more appealing to those who wish to consume your product and service offering.

Build Credibility One of the biggest cases for building a multilingual website is to build credibility within your target markets. By making the effort to speak to your audience in their native language, potential consumers will see that you’re serious about earning and keeping their attention while also catering to their needs as a unique group and culture.

Credibility will be built as your site visitors have a pleasant experience interacting with your brand. The ability for your target audience to have access to content in their native language is fundamental to creating this great experience. Visitors won’t have a good experience if they aren’t able to understand the content at hand. Before spending time on all the bells and whistles of your site, start with the fundamentals and assure that the visitors on your site understand the content that is being served to them.

Increase Customer Engagement As you build credibility and users continue to have positive experiences on your website, they are more likely to further their interactions with your business in the future. The importance of making a good first impression holds true even online, so if a potential customer found what they were seeking during their first visit, they are that much more likely to return and even bring others with them through word of mouth and recommendations.

Consumer Brand Identity Another benefit derived from your website localization efforts will be global brand recognition. If you show an ability to speak the language of your target market through the messaging on your website, they are much more likely to identify with your brand and more apt to rely on your business as a solution to their needs.

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SEO Benefits

The online competition landscape is more competitive than it's ever been and won’t be slowing up anytime soon! The need for SEO relevancy is higher than ever with businesses striving to find the perfect combination of SEO keywords while continuing to drive traffic to their site.

SEO keywords are the most competitive in English, but in languages other than English, there is significantly less competition. This is natural as we’ve seen there is less content SEO created in other languages than English. Therefore, if your site is multilingual, you open the door to rank for some of these less competitive keywords in other languages, helping to drive more traffic to your site.

If you are ranking well for keywords in other languages, you are also likely to see an increase in Domain Authority, which in turn could help you better rank for keyword in your domestic language, thus supporting your SEO efforts even more.

A Cost Effective Alternative For Global Business

Many business assume that the only way to expand globally is to open up shop in an international market. This not only isn’t true, but it’s not the best approach to penetrate global markets. Creating a multilingual website allows businesses to “test the waters” and “dabble” in new markets without fully investing in a new team, allowing them to avoid the initial overhead cost of a physical presence in the international market. As sales grow on your multilingual site, you will be in a better position to gauge whether further investment is worth it or not.

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New Customers and an Increase in Sales The ultimate goals, and hopefully the inevitable results of the above benefits, are more customers and an increase in sales. The key to customer acquisition and increased sales is a good strategy with solid execution. So long as you have a solid website localization strategy and solid execution, you should be able to acquire new customers and increase sales.

Now that you know the potential benefits of website localization, it’s time to gauge whether website localization is right for you.

Is Website Localization Right For You?

As you consider the many benefits of website localization, you may still be wondering if a step toward localizing your own company’s website is right for you. You may have some concerns regarding the overall cost and time investment of such a project or what kind of return, if any, you and your business can reasonably expect. This section is intended to help you decide if website localization is the right move for you and your business at this time.

Start By Identifying Your Motivators

One of the first steps in determining if website localization is the right move for your business is to ask yourself, “What are my main motivators for website localization?” As you identify these motivators, you can determine if moving forward is the right decision. Some common motivators might include:

Planning to enter new global markets as part of the company's growth strategy. Planning to partner up with or merge with a multinational company.

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Looking to add additional products or services that target a specific market segment that speaks another language. Insufficient content for current customers or site visitors. Sales or customer service teams requesting multilingual content.

Generally speaking, if your company is looking to align your website content with your global business strategy, website localization is almost always a good move. If the motivator is simply a hope for increasing revenue (without a clear strategy), getting the return on your website localization project might not pan out as hoped.

Know Your Customers & Potential Customers

Another important question to ask yourself as you consider the benefits that a multilingual website can have on your business is, “Do I have current customers that speak a language different from what is used on our site?” If you do, do you have the necessary assets and materials necessary to help inform and connect those customers to your services and offerings? If not, a multilingual website would be hugely beneficial to them.

As far as potential customers are concerned, if you have people visiting your website from regions where other languages are spoken, or if you have people contacting your business who speak a different language, you may really want to consider providing multilingual content for them and others like them.

Summary

So will a localized website benefit you? First, understand your key motivators, second, ask yourself if these motivators align with your long-term business strategy and ask yourself if you have a significant amount of current customers or potential customers that speak languages that are different from what your website currently presents.

Page 13 Website Translation Considerations Once you’ve determined that website localization is the right move for you, then you need to ask yourself how you will translate your website content. There are multiple options available for translating website content. These include services and human translation services, or a combination of the two. Depending on your budget and the quality of translation you are looking for, will determine which option option is best for you.

Machine Translation or Human Translation

As you consider your translation options, both machine and human translation services, there will be factors to take into consideration Hi! including the time of translation, the overall quality of the output of your translated material, and the cost of translating all of your online content accurately.

The truth remains, machine translation results will greatly differ from human translation results in accuracy and quality. If your company sells products or services and needs to do so in another language, machine translation alone won’t be able to produce the results necessary for success.

Machine translation is done through the help of computer software and can take only seconds to complete. Though the speed of translation may be convenient in some situations, the quality of the translation is greatly affected and accuracy is not guaranteed. Bear in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of words in every language and many of these words can have many meanings based on their context or specific location of use, which makes it a difficult task for machines to understand the context and deliver an accurate translation in all situations.

Machines don’t understand language context which can often result in less than quality translation results. In contrast, a qualified translator, does understand the context of the language being translated and will be able to communicate accurately with your site’s visitors and customers.

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Machine translation solutions are often available in some form or another as a relatively inexpensive solution, some of which are even “free” solutions. Though these tools are certainly helpful for personal research or translation in a pinch, machine translation should not be relied upon to translate important business material, as you risk losing customers, damaging the credibility of your brand, or offending clients or potential partners with poorly translated content.

The Truth About “Free” Website Translation Tools As we just mentioned, there are several free translation tools available online that can be tempting to use because of their fast and affordable results, but because the risks involved with using them as a translation solution, we’d like to emphasis the fact that they won’t deliver the results you are most likely looking for.

Some of these free translation tools include:

Website Translator

Many Other 3rd Party Options

Language Translator

Though the use of some of these plugins or tools may bring fast results, you’re risking the quality of your website translation and your professional image as a brand. Poor quality translations can result in an overall poor user experience, high bounce rates due to improper or inconsistent translations and therefore confusing content. Unless you are looking for a lose credibility (and customers and revenue!) stay far away from these tools as a legitimate solution for your website translation.

Benefits of Human Translation Human translation on the other hand is a longer process compared to machine translation, but for most business related purposes, it’s required in order to get the job done right.

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When customer acquisition and increased revenue is your goal (which should be the case, otherwise why are localizing your website?), human translation is imperative toward achieving an accurate website translation. There are many benefits derived from human translation, some of which include:

Language Creativity Sensitivity to Expertise Fluency of language is an art Culture which comes from thousands For example, an expert linguist of hours of practice and Each and every culture is realizes that there are many exposure. Machines can’t unique and has their own set words with more than one learn this level of creativity. of ethics and values. These meaning, according to the Human translators are able to tend to affect the language of context in which it is used. understand all the varied the culture. Understanding These experts can determine intricacies that make up a the unique practices and the proper context and trans- language and can use this traditions of a certain culture late accordingly. creativity to breathe life into can affect the accuracy of your content to sway potential translations. A qualified customers and engage new human translator has both the audiences. experience and expertise to navigate these sensitive nuances related to the culture of your target audience allowing your company to deliver an accurate and credible message to that audience.

Individual Translator vs. Translation Agency

When working with an individual translator, look for a translator that is certified and has adequate experience and expertise in the type of content being translated (for example, if the content in need of translation is for a software company, the translator should have an understanding of the technical terms and appropriate translations that are specific to the software industry). An individual translator may be a freelancer or contracted by a translation agency.

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Some of the downsides to working with an individual translator over a translation agency include the time required to translate the material when compared to a full team. If you have a lot of content that needs translating and you are working on a schedule, working with one individual translator might cause a time constraint, increasing the likelihood late project completion. Additionally, an individual may not have the expertise or insight into a company’s industry and as a result, the final translations may be of a lower quality.

Working with an experienced translation agency typically overcomes these issues. Some of the benefits of working with a translation agency include:

Quicker turnaround times on A group of skilled and Project collaboration between translations. qualified translators with the client and the linguists to expertise in your industry. A assure the project good translation agency requirements are fully met. contracts hundreds of This is usually done through a translators in order to deliver project manager, who is subject matter experts of the dedicated to ensuring your language and industry. project is completed accurately and on-time.

The Best Translation Agencies Leverage A Quality Translation Management System

The best translation teams utilize a present-day Translation Management System, or TMS, to assist them in their translation projects. A translation management system is a program that supports the complex translation process while making it possible for multi- person teams to work together on different functions together, thus allowing for a stream- lined translation process.

An effective TMS is one which allows for translation memory management and stores a database of frequently used terms, phrases and fragments. Translation Management Systems should allow for the management of many document formats, communication between project collaborators and the publishing of translated content to the content home (your website in this case).

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The Benefits Of A TMS Include:

Decreased amount of content Savings of up to 40% (20% that requires re-translation, average) in translation costs. resulting in faster translations.

Seamless collaboration between More consistent and higher project contributors. quality translations.

Overall streamlined process File Management. from beginning to end.

Multilingual Glossaries For Accurate & Consistent Translations

A multilingual glossary is comparable to a dictionary that linguists can reference while translating content. Many companies tend to have word preferences that are specific to their brand and products. Sometimes this means keeping certain phrases in English. Other times, it may mean using a term consistently throughout a project. An example of this is using the word "sofa" consistently throughout a document instead of "couch."

The benefits of a glossary are first and foremost consistency in the document. There may be multiple linguists working on the document, and a glossary is the only surefire way to keep the terms the same even if the translator on a specific project changes. Lastly, a glossary improves readability. Though "couch" and "sofa" mean the same thing, it can be confusing for a reader to see different terms on the same page. Even if a company doesn't have a glossary from the get-go, we recommend building a glossary as translation work progresses.

A good translation management system will have the capability for the company to insert a multilingual glossary, which linguists will then reference to assure words are being used in a way the company prefers.

Page 18 UNIFY- The Translation Management Cloud inWhatLanguage developed UNIFY as their state-of-the-art Translation Management System. UNIFY is the most advanced translation management system available and is able to bring all of an organization's global content together into one platform, making it easy to manage and localize content into any language.

UNIFY will save your company time and money on your website localization project by streamlining the translation process. UNIFY combines expert human translators with machine learning artificial intelligence engines, and eliminate manual translation processes that occur without the use of a TMS.

The UNIFY platform supports over 50 different file types and offers integrations and APIs into commonly used Content Management Systems (CMS). This makes it easy for you to automatically upload all your website’s content right into UNIFY, whether you want to upload the content through a file or integrate directly with your CMS to automatically extract your web content.

Through its built-in APIs, UNIFY is able to integrate with any Content Management System (CMS).

UNIFY has an easy-to-use interface that puts you in the driver's seat by giving you the data and control you need to monitor the real-time status of:

Projects Project Project Project Project Workflows Collaborators Resources Budgets

This offers complete project transparency and puts the information you care about in one centralized location, delivery streamlined content translation.

UNIFY makes it easy for you to collaborate and communicate with your translation team, including translators, reviewers and project managers. You’ll also find that UNIFY is leveraging multilingual glossaries and in-context review to assure accurate translations through the whole project. inWhatLanguage offers the most effective solution to any company’s translation needs. We hire the very best linguists and translators who are absolute experts in their language and culture and bring them together to work as part of our team to service high profile clients around the world. Paired with our unique translation management system, UNIFY, we can offer the most efficient, accurate results for any . We offer the benefits of machine translation tools and the irreplaceable benefits of human translation for the most professional, thorough results in less time and at less overall cost to the client.

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Are You Ready To Access More Customers In New Markets?

Start and grow your global success story with UNIFY – The Translation Management Cloud. inWhatLanguage has the expertise, strategy and cutting-edge technology to get you on your way to being global and sounding local.

See how we can help you compete in the global marketplace.

Sources: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ http://www.gahcc.org/Hispanic-Market-Its-Buying-Power.hispanicmarketitsbuyingpo.0.html http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm

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