How to avoid the top-six localization mistakes?

A lot of dangers exists in localization, but there are some common ways to avoid these pitfalls when creating content for a new market.

But, what are some of the most important pitfalls to avoid?

1. Don't assume everyone needs the same content

One size doesn’t fit all. Consider factors like the customer’s language or where they are in their own growth process when making decisions about introducing your product/service to a new market. Different markets have different needs. To provide a smooth experience to all customers, it is important to use language-specific webpages and be aware of the culture in each market you enter.

2. Don't localize all at once

Prioritize what you want to translate and which elements of your customer experience should be localized first. You need to avoid wasting time and resources on parts of the translation process that are not necessary. Companies often neglect localization, as they are too busy with other things. Be strategic about what you change based on the target markets’ culture.

3. Respect your source content

Use localization to make sure your content will scale in foreign languages. Strong companies need to have content that is modularized and categorized so it can be easy translated into other languages. To be sustainable, it’s important to use tools with APIs that allow easy transfer between systems. Finally, manual steps need to be removed from the process if the content needs to be scaled. It’s crucial to use localization techniques as an early warning system for companies so that you can deal with issues before they become too big to handle. Otherwise, scaling up to multiple languages might just not happen.

4. Buy tools that scales with your need

Don’t buy tools that can’t be scaled across languages. Growth mode companies don’t have time to rip and replace software every time they realize the tools they have aren't localization-friendly, but often, they reach a tipping point where they are torn between either spending time and money migrating to a new tool, or accepting an inferior customer experience in other languages or features. Buying the wrong tools can have a major impact on your company's ability to offer a high-quality localized experience.

5. Believe it - human translators are always needed

Be careful with assigning tasks to the machines. Machine translations are a great option but be careful to avoid over-using them. You don’t want the first impression of your brand to be one that was missed by humans. Make sure you supply human translators where it makes sense so that any customer has a positive experience with your company and your brand in any language they speak.

6. Do not ignore the internationalization part

Often localization and internationalization are assigned to completely different teams. Translators are responsible for the localization and developers for the internationalization part. Try to approach these 2 teams by leveraging a tool that bridges the gap between translation and development, the whole localization process will benefit from such a translation management system.