The internet is the glue that binds the entire world, allowing disparate cultures to use the same services and experience the same things.
At this point, there’s something faintly odd about a company — at least, one that doesn’t have an explicitly local identity — failing to consider overseas prospects. If you’re selling products, there’s interest worldwide, and you have access to flexible shipping services, why is there not to expand your scope?
Those who desire to target other markets will understandably start conducting online research, which may lead them to a couple of terms. One they can easily interpret (“website translation”) and another that seems mildly confusing (“website localization”). Are they ultimately the same thing but in different words? Or is there some other explanation?
You need to know this if you adapt your website for new audiences. To that end, let’s understand the difference between website translation and website localization.
Translation concentrates on embracing new languages
Website translation is simple in principle, involving precisely what you’d expect. Suppose your content is currently only available in English. In that case, you’re missing out: millions of people either don’t speak any English or talk enough to understand it when needed but would much rather read content in their native tongues. No matter how many languages you learn, using the one you grew up with will always be easiest.
Note that translation isn’t inherently about location (which is just one part of the difference here). Many countries (indeed, many areas) are home to many people who have immigrated or come from immigrant communities and consequently speak other languages. A business with no aspirations to sell overseas can still see substantial value in translating its website.
Additionally, the translation process naturally caters to the nature of the required languages rather than that of other countries. Think about how a foreign site translated into generic English would read as grammatically correct but be somewhat stilted and absent cultural references (including slang terms) that might make it more natural.
Localization involves generally adapting to a new region
Website localization, on the other hand, is about adjusting a website to function well in a new regional market. When you aim to sell in another region, particularly another country, you need to consider many things. Language is the first and typically the biggest, so the translation is essential — but the quality of the translation needs to be extremely high, going beyond adequacy to reach a native-language standard for each target area.
That task alone can sound exhausting, understandably. Those willing to accept generic translation can easily lean on services like Google Translate, yet that isn’t a realistic option when you’re trying to impress. It’s still perfectly possible to take advantage of modern translation automation, of course (Weglot is a localization solution that starts with automation and refines the output through manual effort). Still, you need to pay close attention to the final product.
Then, there’s the subsequent process of updating the site design to suit the new audience. Consider that people who primarily speak traditionally formatted right-to-left languages might respond better to centralized website designs than left-leaning ones. And what about your color palette? A given color will mean different things in different areas.
You don’t want to alienate someone because you picked the wrong decorative element. And yes, it’s essential to stick to your general branding (if you’re not already operating from a comprehensive brand style guide, you’re missing a trick). Still, there’s a reason why big brands have numerous viable palettes they can swap between. It isn’t just for the sake of variety. It’s also to help their content work in many scenarios.
In the end, though, this is all worth doing. Creating a foreign website version that genuinely caters to the intended audience — getting the language right, nailing the design, using appropriate images, correctly placing in search rankings, and playing to cultural preferences — can be highly lucrative for an ecommerce business with the systems in place to ship internationally.
If you want to succeed, you can’t stop at translation
Only some people who want to go multilingual with their business need to invest in localization. After all, it can be a costly process, and you might not be that committed. Regardless, you can’t simply stop at translation. A vital aspect of the localization process is SEO: using elements like hreflang tags to ensure that web page variants don’t compete for traffic, instead battling for ranking places in the relevant foreign-language Google SERPs.
If you translate your website and stop there, allowing visitors to select their required languages, you’ll improve your website metrics, but you might not make any progress in organic search. In short, whatever you’re looking to achieve, simply translating all the content on your website won’t be enough. You need to go beyond that to achieve your overarching goals.
