7 Things To Be Done Before Your Website Is Ready for Localization?

You undoubtedly know how big a step localization is for your brand if you have a website. It is most actual, especially if you’re handling an e-commerce platform or providing a service. It’s an indicator that you’re expanding your reach, thus, leading to more opportunities for growth and profitability.

Indeed, website localization services will help you do that, but there is still something you need to do before. Your site has to adhere to a particular set of requirements first before you can expect successful localization.

How can you make sure that your website is ready for localization? What are the things that you should look for to know if you can now undergo localization testing services?  It is what we’ll talk about in this article. Let’s go through a so-called checklist.

1. You’re Already Knowledgeable About What Localization Is

If you already know what localization is, then congratulations! You’re one step closer to having a website ready for localization.

However, note that it’s not enough just to know what the process means. You also need to know what it is for, and that is to widen your site’s reach by making it more understandable across different languages and cultures.

Another thing, you and your team should be knowledgeable about how the whole process will go through. It includes knowing the average timeframe of a localization project, the necessary procedures, the amount of budget required to make the project work, etc.

2. You Have a Clear Idea of Who Your Target Market Is

Localization is a tedious process. Your whole website will be translated so that your target market will be able to understand, even if this means that the group is from various countries.

Thus, you should have a clear idea of who your target market is before everything else. You specifically need to know what countries you want to target, the languages involved in each country, the cultures you have to communicate with, and the audience’s desires. Doing so will let you and your localization agency take the proper steps toward reaching out to your audience.

3. You Have a Set of Goals You Want to Achieve

If you don’t have any idea about your goals yet, even with a fully functioning website, you may have to take a little time to prepare your website for localization.

Remember, a localization service is there for you and your website and not the other way around. Hence, there won’t be a point if you’re not looking at the long-term effects of the process.

There is no right or wrong goal. Just depend on your website, its purpose, and what you want to see from it soon. It would help if you also didn’t restrict yourself when setting goals.

4. Your Website’s Contents Are Complete

If your website already has all its pages and contents, from the text to the visuals, localization is just a few steps away. In the simplest sense, you already have a completed canvas. The only thing left is to provide it to the localization agency and wait for your desired results.

Of course, this means that if you have an incomplete website, your website is not ready to go through localization. It won’t make sense because it’s not functional and, thus, not engaging enough for your audience.

Note that the exact parts that a website should have will depend on what kind it is. For example, a business website should have checkout pages, while a regular blog site needs to focus more on content-related pages rather than transactional ones.

5. Your Website Is Internationalized

As you may already know, localization involves converting the website into another language, layout, currency, etc. It won’t be possible if your website is not internationalized. This term lies more in the website’s specifications and its capability to handle different languages, coding tools, and internal modifications. Remember that localization and internalization are two separate but related terms.

For instance, unlike localization, you don’t necessarily have to avail yourself of a professional service for website internationalization. The only time you’ll need to do this is if you’re not knowledgeable with codes or your CMS platform doesn’t automatically provide the feature.

6. Your Website Already Has a User Base

Before taking this big step, you may first want to pay attention to making your site more engaging. It’s also best to invest in marketing strategies instead of building a user base. When this base gets to a certain size, it’s time that you should consider localization. If your website doesn’t have a user base yet, it’s not localization-friendly.

Note that the said user base does not only need to be present. They also need to be satisfied with the site itself. It is most especially when it comes to user experience and user interface.

7. You Already Looked Into a Credible Localization Agency

Finally, your website is ready for localization if, and only if, you have already looked into a credible localization service. You will invest in it, which evidently makes this part even more significant. The team will do the whole process for you, so it’s just right that you ensure that they can do the job well.

For starters, some qualities that you should look for in a localization agency include affordability of packages, high-quality work, a good reputation in the field, and admirable turnaround time.

Summary

To sum it up, the main factors that will indicate that your website is ready for localization services includes its content, design, and general quality. The site’s visibility and overall reach should also be considered since they will play a part in how effective localization will be in the long run.

Of course, you, as the site master, should also have your own goals. Without this, you won’t be able to communicate what exactly you want to achieve with the localization process.

On the last note, keep in mind that no matter how “Ready” your website is for the process, the results will still largely depend on the localization agency that you’ll work with. Take all the time you need to research various agencies to land on the best one possible.