Top Tips written by Guest Writer Iwona Lebiedowicz, Director at PAB Languages Centre
What is localisation and why is it important?
Our world is more connected than it’s ever been before. And as a business owner myself I’m always conscious of the next opportunity, the newest market, for growth that these wider connections provide me and my team. But time and again, I see organisations that don’t adapt the way they market their products and services to take advantage of these global opportunities.
For instance, your website could have all the elements to be successful, a great design, well-written content, and products that rank well in search engine results, BUT if you’re only communicating in English, anyone who speaks another language won’t be able to find you. You’re missing out on a goldmine of potential customers, not only in Cambridgeshire but overseas as well.
Our customer research has shown the majority of website visitors (87%) won’t buy products from a site they don’t understand. We’ve found that non-English speaking visitors, whether in the UK or overseas, exited websites within seconds when presented with English-only content.
So, if you want to be successful in engaging with and selling to international audiences – you need localisation services. But what is localisation? Well, you could describe it as translation squared!
Localisation involves translation as well as any or all of the following:
- Modifying your content to suit the tastes and habits of local markets
- Addressing economic, historical, and sometimes political references
- Adjusting images, icons, colours to the local tastes and culture
- Changing dates, addresses, phone numbers, etc. to fit a local format
- Converting to local currencies and units of measure
Localisation isn’t just about getting your language, layout and graphics right though, it can also protect you from sticky situations. Without truly understanding the culture of the people who speak the language, it can be easy to unintentionally offend people. Or worse, fall foul of local laws or regulations, meaning any investment has been for nothing.
PAB Languages Centre helps organisations across all industries connect and communicate with their audiences in over 200 languages. Whether you’re looking to translate your advertising copy, create a video in several languages or localise your website PAB’s resolute project management team with global network of expert copywriters, marketing linguists, and certified translators can help. Get in touch today on 07799 772 360 to discuss your project.
