Living in the digital world implies living by digital rules. And one of the most important digital rules commands us to organize our digital content in the most convenient and intuitive way for the user. In terms of business, the main idea of doing business in the digital world, i.e. the internet is to make the user experience as great as possible. This might not seem like an easy task to handle, because you have to potentially please more than half of the world’s population. Yet, there is one basic solution that can more or less universalize the experience of your potential customers and users. And that solution lies in localization.
What’s that about?
Okay, so, localization is a cool thing. But what is localization anyway? Essentially speaking, localization is a translation done in a creative way in order for the user to feel related to the localized content or product. However, in fact, localization is a little bit more complex than that and involves a variety of factors, all or at least most of which must be considered.
Game localization is not simply about translation and appealing to the audience’s cultural perception is more easily said than done. Depending on your content, target country, demographic portrait, and expected consumer behavior pattern, localization can involve anything, from changing a few pixels on your logo to completely repackaging your brand. Another important thing about localization is that you have to address the human professionals to do it, so it might seem like a costly venture. However, if you check out TheWordPoint, one of the top localization providers, you’ll see that that’s not exactly true. In any case, localization will pay off a lot, and here are only some of the factors to state that.
– Greater audience. Obviously, the more people you target, the bigger your potential market share is. As you establish an online presence, you get your one piece of cake, limited by the language you use for your website and by what you do in general. Yet, by translating and localizing your website for more audiences, you get more pieces of cake. Your presence increases, your potential, and actual audience grow, and your revenue follows suit.
– Greater reach. As you adjust your website to more audiences with more than just a translation, you work not only for the quantity but also for the quality. With your content localized, you’ll offer your customers a website that they can not only read but also relate to. One of the easiest examples of proper localization would be adjusting your website to the right-to-left text orientation for Arabic or Jewish users. Not only your audience will be able to read the content of your website with greater ease but they will also intuitively navigate through it, which means that they will stay at your website longer and might possibly buy from you within the same or the next session.
– Trust and respect of your customers. Whether you already have some customers in your target country or have plans to attract potential ones or both, localization will show all of them that you respect them and want them to be closer to you. The response reaction to such an action is usually mutual respect and trust. Just think about, you’d certainly like a salesman of store assistant if he or she would speak to you in your native language. Now, imagine how would you react to the person who would also speak your language the way you got used, like, for instance, they speak in your town or even a family. That’s right, you’d certainly react positively as that’s what you’re used to, which is what you’re searching for subconsciously.
– Placing your user in the real-life real-time context. By localizing your website, you ensure that your customers are not extracted from this reality and, despite hanging out in the digital world, still being in their right place. Localization, aside from translation, includes currency conversion, relevant maps, and cultural immersion. As you sell something, your customers buy it using their currency. As you tell them where they can find you physically, it’s near them. As you take part in some kind of social activity, it’s something they know.
Remember: User Experience Requires a Holistic Approach
There are, of course, many more ways how localization improves the user experience of your website. Yet, one thing is certainly clear, localization is an inalienable part of the positive UX that your potential and actual customers will enjoy. As they’ll feel being in the familiar context, things will just seem right to them, so they’ll see no problem buying from you or spreading a word about you and recommending you to their friends. In the modern business that gets more and more international, hence, localization is a vital aspect that should certainly be considered regardless of what you do or what developmental stage your business is at.