Website Localization, is it Necessary?

Nearly 65% of all Internet users speak a different language than English therefore a website only in English is potentially losing thousands of visitors a day. Depending on the website's focus, this may or may not be of importance. However, If the site is a commercial one, it's probably very important and necessary. This same concept actually applies to all websites in a single language, targeted to a single culture. Sites in English are often chosen as examples to illustrate the necessity of website localization because it's a powerful reminder that not even the English language as dominant as it is can escape taking second place sometimes on the Internet. How can a business tap into international markets? Basically, the two things that are essential are an e-commerce enabled site and website localization/globalization which is a multifaceted process involving so much more than just translation.

Costly Errors

Possibly, translation mishaps can hurt a site more than be of benefice. Once the automotive giant, American Motors, decided to commercialize the Matador, a quite costly mishap was perpetrated. They were aiming at giving the automobile an image of strength and courage. But, in Puerto Rico, 'Matador' conveys the idea of 'killer'. Considering the dangerous road conditions of the island, a 'killer' car would not prove to be anything that would be welcomed. True website localization protects against such expensive and disappointing failures.

Eliminating The Barriers

Just how important it is to be very acquainted with the culture of an Internet site targeted audience cannot be overemphasized . What dialect do they speak? What age ranges are represented? What is their dominant religion? What is their educational level? You won't need to answer to all of the questions. However, if the business is a vendor of books on all subjects, the targeted population will be diverse for a Western culture. Most nations in the West have a relatively good literacy rate. Thus, considering the case of website localization for an online bookstore, the choice of dialect believably doesn't need to be given much attention. The most standardized form of the language should be selected. In the case of non-profit-making organizations that frequently target particular cultures, dialect becomes a concern.

Astonishingly, even inappropriate choice of symbols, images and colors, can break a website localization efforts. How? Let's say that a clothing store would like to promote their apparel in the Arabian world. Now imagine that they're running a special on bikinis and display photographic pictures of female persons in two-pieces bathing suit on their web site. Their pages could be perfectly rendered, from a linguistic aspect, but it would be offensive to the large majority of the targeted public. Most Arabs, whether Muslim or Christian, scowl at the lack of reserve in garment seen in the West among both women and men.

True website localization will also deal with the scripting issues of translation. For example: whenever a site is to be adapted to a audience in Japan, its presentation and layout will most likely have to be altered. Japanese language, like Chinese, is written from top to bottom.

Those are just a few of the ones that must be taken into account for effective website localization undertakings.

About the Author:

Armando Riquier is a freelance writer and expert translator who has been working with Tectrad for many years. Tectrad provides high quality website localizations and translations for French, Italian, German, Spanish and most of any other European audiences.