Localization Testing: 4 Big Benefits

Even if you’ve assembled a localization dream team to translate your products and services, human error is inevitable.

As you create your translated website, web application, software, or mobile app, you should do thorough localization testing to make sure everything will look great for your target audience.

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What is Localization Testing?

Localization testing checks your product to make sure it’s fully localized for a new region.

Localization is the practice of adapting a product, app, or software for a new market outside of your home country. This includes translating your content into a new target language, but it doesn’t stop there. The entire user interface must be adapted so it feels authentic and easy to use for your new international audience.

As you might expect, localization can be tricky. Here’s how good localization testing can help you avoid common pitfalls and set your project up for success.

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4 Key Benefits of Localization Testing

Here’s why it’s worth it to test your sites, apps, and interfaces for users in a specific region.

1. Avoiding Embarrassing Mistranslations

   Without an adequate localization testing process, you’re bound to make mistakes. Even big brands can make epic translation blunders. Proper testing catches mistakes early so they can be corrected in time for launch.

2. More Revenue and Conversions

   Consumers won’t buy from you if they can’t read your content. Most people prefer to use software and apps in their native language. Thorough localization testing will give your potential customers the tailored, localized experience that they’re looking for.

3. Growth and Scalability

   When you make localization testing a priority, global scalability is built into your app and software design process. This makes it easy to continue building, testing, and releasing more localized content into new markets.

4. Credibility and Trust in International Markets

   If consumers don’t know you or trust your brand, they probably won’t use your products. Designing for a global market pays off. For example, studies show that localized app store descriptions resulted in 128% more downloads. Effective translation and localization can significantly grow your audience in new places.

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What do Localization Testers Do?

Localization testing should be done early and often in the software engineering process. Throughout the development process, localization QA testers should check your localized websites, apps, and software.

Let’s explore a few key components of a localization test plan.

Functional Testing

This is a type of software testing that assesses the usability of your interface. Functional tests often ask these questions:

• • Does the UI display location-specific formats correctly?
    Here are some examples:
    • International date and time formats
    • phone number formats
    • postal address and ZIP code formatting
    • currency types
    • number formats
  • Do forms and buttons work in the localized version?
  • Are pop-ups and error messages localized?
  • Does the internationalized UI perform well with different operating systems (Android vs iOS)?
  • Is your content compatible with international keyboards?
  • Do your hyperlinks go to the right localized URLs?

Linguistic Testing

This is a type of testing that focuses on how your language sounds to a target audience. Linguistic testers should ask the following questions:

• • Do the translations sound natural for native speakers?
  • Were the translations checked for cultural appropriateness?
  • Are terms in your brand’s localization style guide and glossary used properly?
  • Do certain words or sentences need to be translated differently?
  • Is there any missing content?
  • Do you use consistent terminology in your UI, like “Sign in” instead of “Log in”?

Cosmetic Testing

This type of testing focuses on appearance and layout. Here are some questions your testers should ask:

• • Does the layout of the translated user interface look as good as the English original?
  • Is anything cut off or truncated due to international characters?
  • Is there too much white space anywhere?
  • Does the app support important language-specific conventions like left to right text?
  • Are images, graphics, and screenshots localized properly?
  • Do characters in different languages display correctly?

Other UX Tests

In software localization, there are many different ways to test your content. Here are some additional ideas:

• • Is your user experience (UX) curated for the target location?  If your localized product is a carbon copy of the English original, you might miss an opportunity to appeal to your audience.
  • Have you tested your software or app on a sample of the users in the target region? What did they think? Did they notice any errors?
  • If you’re selling something, do your payment and checkout methods work for people in different regions? Some countries may not have access to certain payment types.

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Test and Publish with Localize

The most successful localization teams continuously test their content. This level of quality assurance testing is easy with a TMS like Localize.

The Localize in-context editor gives you an ideal test environment where you can preview and test localized content before you publish. Our robust glossary and style guide tools also help your translations stay consistent and error-free across multiple languages and platforms—from mobile apps and software to web apps and websites.

Localize helps companies of all sizes transform their localization workflows for long-term success in hundreds of target markets. To learn more about how you can use our automation to make translation easier than ever, contact us today.