Breaking Barriers to Translation

Introduction

If you’re considering localization, you’re probably familiar with the benefits. Localizing helps brands boost conversions, increase revenue and reach new customers internationally.

Even with all the benefits of going global, there are a few barriers to localization that may create hesitation. Those barriers usually come down to cost, complexity and development resources.

So, how do you convince your company to invest in a new localization project?

In this post, we’ll show you how to overcome common barriers and win support for localization. Then, we’ll share tips for showing colleagues how your next localization project can achieve an impressive ROI.

Overcoming Localization Barriers in Your Organization

Before you launch your next localization project, you’ll have to get buy-in from key stakeholders, executives and colleagues.

In turbulent economic times, it can be challenging to justify new costs like professional translators and localization software. That’s why we recommend making a compelling business case for localization.

Here’s what you can do to convince your team that localization is well worth the investment.

1. Show How Localization Can Boost ROI

If your colleagues think localization is too pricey, here’s how you can change their minds.

English-only brand content isn’t enough.

When people can’t read your company’s site in their native language, they can’t interact with it or buy anything. Offering multilingual content can expand your online presence and help new international customers find your brand and purchase from you.

Here are some intriguing stats:

• The worldwide dominance of English is declining.
  • Research shows that only 25% of people worldwide can speak and read English. What about the other 75%? They speak Chinese, French, Spanish, German, and many other languages.
  • As for worldwide native speakers, English lags in the leaderboard, right behind Mandarin and Spanish:

• Most of the internet is English-only, which excludes millions of consumers and many profitable local markets.
  • According to estimates, over 60% of all sites on the internet are exclusively written in English. As internet connections grow stronger around the globe, there’s a large gap in the market for translated websites.
  • It’s a savvy business strategy to reach these new markets before your competitors do. If you don’t go global, could be missing out on big growth opportunities.

Get to know the benefits of localization.

Beyond making the web more accessible for everyone, localization has a few lucrative business benefits.

Here are the top advantages of localization:

• Localization boosts your revenue.
  In a survey of Fortune 500 companies, researchers found that businesses that increased their funding of localization reported higher revenue. Companies that invested in translation showed more profit increases than their peers who did not invest.
• SEO benefits are built into localization.
  SEO is just as relevant for different countries as it is for domestic markets. Performing keyword and competitor research for unique regions and target languages can give you a boost over your competition.
• Multilingual content grows worldwide brand recognition and market share.
  According to global surveys, most online shoppers prefer to interact with content that’s written in their native language. Expanding your site into new languages will expand your brand’s reach into international markets.

Share metrics and return on investment stats from other businesses.

Offering content in a new language is a great way to grow into different target markets. When people can read your site in their native language, they’re more likely to have a pleasant user experience. This gives you a much better shot at winning their business.

Here are some real-world examples of impressive revenue wins from companies that tried localization:

• Verbling:
  This language learning platform recently localized its website and web application in 7 new languages. After localization, they experienced a 5x increase in paying customers.
• Ahrefs:
  This marketing software company increased its international traffic by 65% after translating its website and web app. Their localization efforts dramatically increased brand exposure to potential customers.

2. Use Data to Reinforce Your Audience Targeting Decisions

If your team doesn’t know where to expand beyond the home market, you’ll need to demonstrate why there’s a need for more localized content from your brand.

Data is the best way to prove your point. Take the guesswork out of localization by using data to inform your decisions, like which foreign markets and languages to target.

Here are some data best practices to help you rally colleagues to support your localization goals.

Back up decisions with reliable external data.

Data-backed decisions can help build a pro-localization culture in your company. Here’s how to get started:

• Do your research.
  When planning a global strategy, research is key. Use market research to find potential new audiences around the world. Also, be sure to research competitors to see where they’ve expanded, and if there are any gaps in the market.
• Become an expert in your target countries
  Start your internationalization efforts where you have a likely chance of success. To find viable markets, examine key data points. For example, you can look at:
  • language proficiency
  • GDP
  • eCommerce stats
  • internet usage
  • ease of doing business

Don’t forget about internal analytics.

When you lobby internal colleagues for localization, you can also use audience demographics. The data may help you tell a compelling story and demonstrate a proven need for localization.

To help build a solid, data-driven localization strategy, use site analytics to answer the following questions about your current audience:

• Where is your traffic coming from? Are visitors from other countries?
• Are international visitors spending time on your site or exiting quickly? Can they read your content?
• How many international visitors are signing up or adding things to their cart? Are they able to make purchases?
• How many of your company’s customer support inquiries were from international customers? Which languages did they use? Is there a need for more content in other languages?

3. Simplify Translation and Localization Challenges Ahead of Time

If your team thinks localization is too hard, you’ll have to change their mind. Thanks to modern technology and dependable language service providers, translating a site is easier than ever. But there are still some challenges you’ll need to contend with.

Maintaining translations and keeping them up to date is a significant obstacle for a lot of businesses. Poor localization maintenance practices and complex workflows can burn through budgets fast. That’s why you’ve got to start your project with a plan.

Here are our tips for keeping localization simple, efficient and impactful.

Prioritize what you want to localize.

As you prepare your content localization strategy, here are some prioritization tips:

• Start small for big wins.
  Try kicking off localization at your company with a smaller project, like translating your marketing site. For example, Aims College, an accredited college in Colorado, started localizing by offering Spanish translations of their site. This quickly won them tens of thousands of new site visits from prospective Spanish-speaking students.
• Reduce content maintenance complexity with a TMS.
  • For large corporate translation projects, investing in a reliable translation management system (TMS) is crucial. These tools make the localization process more automated, simple and cost-effective.
  • With features like translation memory, built-in machine translation and automatic new content detection, a TMS makes it much easier to manage and maintain your website translations.

Establish the time and cost savings of your TMS

Even if you sell most colleagues on localization, some stakeholders might wonder why investing in translation management software is necessary. They may even ask if your team could build something in-house to manage translations.

Keeping translations up-to-date can be a complex, tedious process. Translation management systems like Localize can simplify content maintenance with easy, automated workflows—reducing time to market by up to 2/3rds. This keeps translation management from crashing your budget and wasting your time and valuable internal resources.

Here are a few reasons why it pays off to build smart translation workflows with a trusted translation management system (TMS):

• Launch new languages faster.
  TMS tools can help you launch new languages in days, not weeks or months. On average, companies who use the Localize TMS launched 66% faster.
• Save money with efficient translation workflows.
  • A TMS will integrate easily with content management systems like WordPress, HubSpot, WooCommerce or Shopify. This makes it easy to update and publish your translations.
  • With integrations from the Localize TMS, Cisco saved over $14,000 on Japanese translation costs. They used automation to scan their sites for updates, send them for translation, and publish them—without lifting a finger.

Conclusion: Demonstrating the Value of Localization

As you plan your localization efforts, think about key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can share with stakeholders. Sharing ROI wins is the best chance for turning detractors into fans of your localization project.

For example, River Island, a popular online clothing retailer, localized its website and saw amazing results in just a few months. “Add to Bag” rates increased by 30.2%, resulting in a higher conversion rate. Plus, visitors’ average time on page increased by 10.7%, while pageviews increased by 18%.

Need a bit of inspiration for setting your own localization KPIs? Check out some pointers on stats you should measure both before and after localization:

• Measure audience engagement.
  • What’s the site traffic for different pages or languages?
  • How are your SEO keywords ranking for international pages and languages?
  • What are the click-through rates for different regions?
  • Has brand engagement increased in new regions?
• Measure ROI and financial impact.
  • Are translated sites bringing in new customers?
  • Has revenue increased after localization?
  • Have conversions increased after localization?
  • Are “Add to Cart” or “Add to Bag” rates increasing? What about international checkouts?
• Measuring cost savings from localization.
  • How many international customer support inquiries have you received? Does offering content in new languages reduce costly support inquiries?
  • Does your TMS tool have a high ROI? How does it add efficiency and cut costs in the translation process?

Localization is an investment, but when it’s done thoughtfully, it’s one of the smartest growth decisions a business can make. With data-backed planning, you can showcase the value of multilingual content and win support for localization projects. And soon, your business will be earning ROI and welcoming new customers from all over the world.

About The Localize Platform

Need hands-on support for your next localization effort? Try Localize.

Localize is a no-code TMS that helps global brands like Microsoft and Tinder translate and publish their international content. Our file-free translation process offers simplified version control and easy collaboration—cutting project turnaround times by up to 66%.

To find out how we can help break localization barriers in your organization, contact us today.