10 Reasons Why You Need to Localize

Your website is your “face” across borders, the first point of contact between your clients and your brand. In addition to attractive imagery, your website must be populated with engaging and concise content in several languages. In other words, whether you own an eCommerce software, or fashion brand, you should deliver a meaningful experience to your international audience. Done correctly, Done correctly, website localization can boost your brand tremendously, bringing it in front of the masses. Localizing your website can be challenging, but it is also essential for a lucrative digital marketing strategy. Nowadays, many companies invest in localization because they’ve seen the long-term benefits it has.

In his book Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It, Economist and cultural historian David Fleming wrote, “Localisation stands, at best, at the limits of practical possibility, but it has the decisive argument in its favour that there will be no alternative.” So, let’s dig in and discover the 10 reasons why you need to localize your brand.

To stand out in an overcrowded market (let alone the webspace) and win the game, you need to gain the attention and trust of users across markets. For example, targeting non-English speaking markets like Japan, China, India, or Saudi Arabia, presenting an English-only website to these audiences can make your brand invisible, no matter how good your product or service is. Adapting your website copy and imagery to each specific locale will give you an impeccable standing in front of your local users.

Thanks to the Internet, access to information is not limited to one area or region only. A report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveals that at the end of 2020, 85% of the world population was connected by 4G technology. More than 3 billion Internet users do not speak English. Hence, they’re more likely to search for information in their native language. To deliver on the “unique experience” promise, marketers use content translation services to effectively communicate with the target audience. It is the only way to reach out to global users.

55% of the content available online is in English, but the demand for non-English or multilingual content is rising. As a marketer and a business owner, you cannot develop a plan based on the assumption that “Everyone speaks English”; you need to be prepared for any challenges that may arise along the way.

Very often, language barriers prevent users from converting or completing a purchase. In 2011, 44% of Internet surfers confessed to be missing information because it is not available in a language they can understand. If you don’t want to miss out on a great portion of your market share, it might be time to start working on your multilingual approach. Marketing content adaptation and transcreation services can help you appeal to local users like a local brand.

It’s almost a rule of thumb that consumers will visit websites that meet their search criteria (Multilingual SEO plays a vital role in this, we will speak about it later on). If your competitors have an English-only website, while you offer users multilingual search options, they will crowd at your portal (pun intended) instead of your competitors. Still doubting the magic powers of localization? Read on.

Although many people nowadays learn two, three, even five foreign languages. Some even become true polyglots. Yet, Statista shows that more than 76.9% of web surfers tend to spend more time on a website available in their native language (especially Chinese). Therefore, culturalising your website is and should be the cornerstone of your global marketing strategy.

Getting down to the how-to, let us dwell a little bit on tailoring your website to meet your audience’s linguistic and cultural expectations overseas. This process is commonly known as culturalisation, and it goes beyond the adaptation of copy or text script. Genuinely, culturalisation takes into consideration every aspect of your marketing delivery: personas, website content, imagery, branding, colours and everything in between.

Whether you own an online casino website, an eCommerce platform, or an investment platform, when going local, you need to consider the regulations applicable to your industry in that specific jurisdiction. Translating any Terms & Conditions regarding your products or services, including special offers, discounts, and bonuses, is crucial.

Before jumping on to translate and localize your whole website into Chinese or Spanish, be sure to check your site’s analytics first. If specific pages attract more Chinese or Spanish-speaking visitors, then start translating those pages first. This will help you increase your conversion rates in those regions and save resources.

Search engine algorithms propel websites if they meet users’ search requirements. Therefore, having a clear multilingual SEO strategy in place right from the get-go is vital. Using professional content translation and transcreation services like Pangea Global’s can kickstart your global SEO, pushing your brand higher in search results.

Speak to many, not to the very few. At Pangea Global, we think not only global but emotional. Since branding is all about emotional perception, connection, and impact, our localizers, translators, and SEO experts can help you stand out from the local crowd. Let’s talk.