9 Steps To Get Your Website Localization Started

9 Steps To Get Your 

Website Localization Started 

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Table of Content 

1. Plan For Website Localization From The Start 4 

2. Identify Your Target Market 5 

3. Put Your Team Together 6 

4. Get Your Keywords Prepared 6 

5. Don’t Even Think About Localizing Your Website Manually 7 

6. Use The Right Translation Management Software 8 

7. Internationalize Your Website 9 

8. Localization Testing 9 

9. Keep Calm And Carry On Localizing 10 



Localizing your site into different languages is a huge task - but a very rewarding one. Check out 

how to get your website localization started with these 9 steps! 

If you’re in the throes of rolling out your website to a global audience, you probably know a 

little (or a lot) about website localization. And if you’re tasked with the job of making your site 

more appealing to customers around the world, lucky you! Yours is job that requires skill, 

determination and coordination. Resisting ALL temptation to bang your head against the wall 

as often as possible. 

Why? Because website localization is a complex, yet rewarding task, if done properly. But the 

right website localization doesn’t just involve adding a plugin to your site. Sorry if that bursts 

your bubble. But if you want to communicate a valuable message that resonates with your 

customers, machine translation won’t suffice. People don’t like being spoken to by robots, or as 

if they were robots. Not at home, and not in overseas countries either. 

The list of website localization failures and international marketing blunders is long, very long. 

So, if you don’t want to join the thousands of companies who have goofed internationally, 

you’ll need to get it right, first time. But if you’re stopping before you start or buckling under the 

weight of the awesome task ahead, fear not. Localization doesn’t have to be a headache. 

There are ways that you can roll out the localization of your website hassle-free. As with many 

areas of your business, success lies in careful planning, research and strategy. Check out these 

9 steps to get your website localization started. 



1. Plan For Website Localization From The Start 

Statistics show that more than three billion people use the Internet every day. Most of them are 

from Asia (48.4%), America (21.8%) and Europe (19%). While that doesn’t guarantee that all of 

them will be candidates for what your business is selling, it highlights the great potential. And 

the fact that if you’re only selling in one market, you’re missing out on huge potential profits. 

So, you should always consider the potential of international sales from the start. 

If you’re just setting out to design your website or updating an existing one, factoring in website 

localization will be easier for you. Think big and think global. Even if your initial market is local 

or small, that doesn’t mean it always will be. Having access to the Internet gives you a window 

on the world, and the world a window on your business. 

Whether you sell productivity software or clothing for premature babies, global tendencies are 

merging. So, if you have a successful product at home, it’s just as likely to be an overseas hit as 

well. But you’ll need to be able to communicate to your French-speaking customers in French. 

To your Spanish-speaking customers in Spanish, and so on. Not only communicate either, but 

craft an attractive message in their local language. Use their everyday vocab that they can 

understand and identify with. 

If you’re thinking that most of the world speaks English these days, you need to get with the 

program. While many foreign language speakers understand English, or even speak it well, that 

doesn’t mean they’ll buy from an English language website. 

Common Sense Advisory Statistics Don’t Lie: 

● 72.1% of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their own language 

● 72.4% of consumers said they would be more likely to buy a product with information in 

their own language 

But how do you keep one eye on your international future as you set out to design your site? The 

simplest way of factoring in localization from the start is by leaving a lot of space in your design. 

Why? Because all languages are different and they don’t take up the same amount of room. If 

you’re bound by the constraints of your cluttered design or hard-coded CTAs, you’re going to 



run into problems. Like broken design, collapsing strings, site speed, and a lot of going back and 

forth. 

Space will make your website breathe anyway and good designers are already aware about its 

purpose. Remember that Internet speeds are not the same globally. The fewer images and 

videos you include, the faster your website will run. You’ll also have less images to replace and 

tailor to your local markets and fewer assets to translate. When it comes to website localization, 

less is more. 

2. Identify Your Target Market 

The cost of localization rises with the number of languages you want to work with and countries 

you want to target. I made a compelling argument for localizing your website. But, you don’t 

need to embark on a full-scale localization project into over 1,000 languages if your core 

customer base is in one or two countries. Identify your target market and where you think your 

product will be more successful. Start with those areas first and remember that new markets 

may open up in the future. 

Analyze the countries carefully that are more likely to bring in a greater ROI for your website 

localization project. Even huge global players, like McDonald’s, had to close down stores in 

some countries. Or were unable to find sufficient market demand (or comply with legislation.) 

Going global without proper research is cavalier and unadvisable. Companies like McDonald’s 

can absorb the cost of localization blunders, but can yours? 

Try to identify your international buyer personas by conducting specific research in each 

geographic region you want to approach. Using generic data about an entire continent is not 

good enough. The French, for example, are different from the Spanish. The Spanish don’t share 

the same culture as the Germans. More importantly, they don’t share the same language. So, 

you’ll need to analyze and assess the demand. If your product is partiality popular in one region, 

start out there. Building a one-size-fits-all plan for Europe won’t be of any use to anyone. 



3. Put Your Team Together 

Website localization has many stakeholders. In fact, one of the reasons that localization is so 

dang hard is because there are a lot of people involved. The size of your team may be bound by 

your budget, but that doesn’t mean the efficiency or the quality has to drop. 

You may decide to carry out your market research first hand by visiting the countries in 

question. If you’re lucky enough to have the time and resources for this. Most likely, you’ll work 

with a local consultant. At the very least, check out Google Analytics. However you choose 

approach it, you’ll need people on board who understand what makes your target market 

customers tick. 

This will be in addition to a stellar team of native translators in your target market countries. 

First-class translators will be able to translate and localize your message. But they may not be 

qualified to predict product adoption or market trends. They may also not be aware of the 

important keywords you need to use for the product or service you offer. 

You’ll also need a reliable team of developers who understand how to work with different 

software and languages (both programming and human.) They’ll need to understand how 

translators work and the context needed to translate a full text. Above all, your team will need 

to be able to work well together and collaborate with each other. Especially considering they 

will likely be separated over different time zones and geographical regions. 

4. Get Your Keywords Prepared 

Once you’ve chosen your key markets and languages, you’ll need to get your lists of keywords 

prepared. This is important, as getting your international SEO right is essential for your SERP. 

You know how you optimize your website for search engines at home? Well, you’re going to 

have to do that for search engines abroad as well. 

Not everyone in the world’s go-to search engine is Google. In China, they’re fans of Baidu. In 

Russia, they mainly use Yandex. Not only do you need to know the terms your customers are 

searching for, but you’ll need to know the search engines they’re using as well. 



Just as your content is optimized at home, your translators should make use of key search 

terms in all languages, on-page and off-page. That includes meta data, keyword density in your 

site and external link anchors you use to point to your company. There are often many ways of 

translating the same text, so it’s essential that you provide your translators a list of essential 

keywords. 

Optimizing your content doesn’t just include markets that speak different languages. 

Remember that British and Americans speak don’t sound the same. Mexicans and Argentinians 

don’t use all the same vocabulary. If you’re optimizing your website for “vacations in Orlando” 

for a UK audience, you’re off to a bad start. Brits go on “holiday,” not “vacation,” and your lack 

of research will be reflected in your SERP. 

5. Don’t Even Think About Localizing Your Website 

Manually 

If you’re thinking about managing this project manually, I suggest you reconsider. There’s a 

reason that technology exists and that’s because (in most cases) it makes our lives easier. You 

wouldn’t punch out your thesis on a typewriter, or add up complex equations without a 

calculator. So, if you’re thinking of using spreadsheets, emails, and Word documents for website 

localization — stop before you start. Spreadsheets suck for localization and I’m pretty sure I 

heard someone say that too much manual work can kill you! 

There’s way too much room for error when localizing your website manually. You have global 

teams working in isolation. Translators guessing at what’s coming next, and programmers 

unsure how to break up RTL or vertical languages. It takes forever, you go back and forth and 

you’ll end up spending way too much on your project. And tearing your hair out at the same 

time! If you like your hair and want to maximize your ROI, use translation management 

software. Which takes me to my next point. 



6. Use The Right Translation Management Software 

Using the right translation management software will take the headache out of your website 

localization project. Your translation management software should have several key features, 

including: 

● An API – to make automation possible. Your programmers can then integrate all projects 

with ease, import locale files and interact with the data. An API is essential for 

streamlining your workflow. 

● Collaboration Functions – to make sure that your project runs smoothly. You need to be 

able to communicate effectively with all team members. Leave feedback, notes, 

comments, screenshots and tags, all in one place. 

● Direct Website Translation – just as it sounds, this will speed up your website localization 

project. If your translation management software doesn’t allow your translators to type 

directly onto your website, you’re slowing down your workflow. Remember the point 

about lengthy emails and piles of spreadsheets? Just think how awesome it would be if 

all that work could go right onto the site! Your translators and programmers could 

collaborate over one software! 

● Translation Memory – to speed up your projects and record any frequently used terms. 

Your translation memory will also save all changes and let you look up older versions with 

ease. Cut down repetitive manual tasks for all. 

Your translation management software will act as a project manager and coordinator at once. 

When you have all your team members working in harmony, you’re far more likely to get your 

website localized faster and with lower cost. 



7. Internationalize Your Website 

Internationalizing your website for other languages will make adjusting for new markets much 

easier. Your programmers will know all about internationalization and Unicode (if they don’t, 

you might need to look for new ones!) Applying this is a lot easier when you plan for website 

localization from the beginning, but the main things to consider are: 

● Making sure your programmers use Unicode (UTF-8). This is the industry standard when it 

comes to encoding systems. It supports all languages, from Greek, to Russian, and even 

Chinese. Unicode provides a unique symbol for each of the hundreds of thousands of 

characters found in languages. 

● Having your programmers ready to work with your translators. They’ll need to divide the 

source codes and separate the translatable strings to adapt all your data to the new 

language. 

● Separating the content from the code and storing it. This way, the next time you need to 

translate into a new language, you won’t have to break the strings again. 

● Enabling codes for local preferences. This includes specific forms of addresses, data and 

time formats, number formats, or local calendars. Currency and shipping address formats 

are also important. People are more willing to buy when they don’t have to do the math 

with currency rates. 

8. Localization Testing 

Always plan for localization and linguistic testing of your website. Linguistic testing is to ensure 

that all words are correctly translated, accurate and understood. Localization testing is about 

making sure your different language site versions are functioning right. When you work on a 

mirror-image, offline version of your site, you have the perfect environment to test before 

launch. But that doesn’t make it failsafe. 

Split your testers out over regions. Make sure that you check all site forms functionality and look 

for broken design. Ensure your site is optimized for speed and, if not, make sure that you 

address the issue. If you heeded my advice from the first point, your site will be as light and 

nimble as a South Korean gymnast. But, if it’s laden down with images and videos, your site 



speed may be slower than you’d like. 40% of online browsers will X out of your site if it takes 

more than three seconds to load. 

For those who stick around, they aren’t going to be impressed as they wait for your images to 

load or your videos to crank into life. Your programmers should have already minified your 

HTML, removed any unnecessary CSS and optimized your JavaScript. But if your site’s still 

loading slowly in your target country, think about investing in a Content Deliver Network (CDN). 

This will use local servers to speed up load time around the world. 

Ensure that all weights and measurements, dates and currency are correctly localized and that 

all images are appropriate. Check everything on mobile devices as well and with different 

browsers. Ensure that you deliver an optimal user experience around the world and that all your 

hard work with your website localization pays off. Test everything once, twice, three times and 

more. If you don’t find the issue, you can bet your customer will, and that could result in a lost 

sale. 

9. Keep Calm And Carry On Localizing 

If it seems like a lot of hard work and you keep putting it off, remember to keep calm and carry 

on localizing. Think about the success stories and the 3.5 billion Internet users worldwide. 

Remember the potential goldmine your business is sitting on and that any technical issues can 

be fixed. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be ready to launch your products in a new 

country! So, don’t wait too long to make the right decision. 

Every great journey begins with a single step. Yours will begin with designing your website with 

localization in mind. Researching your target market and assembling the right team. With a 

planned strategy, the right people and translation management software, you’ll pull it off to 

perfection. So, stop deliberating and get your web localization started today! 



phraseapp.com 

sales@phraseapp.com 

+49-40-357-187-76 

Große Theaterstraße 39 

Hamburg, Germany

9 Steps To Get Your Website Localization Started

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