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Keys to Effective Web Localization
Tips to Follow and Potential Problems to Avoid

Why Localize Your Web Site?
Are you planning a localization project soon for your company’s Web site? Your team has probably done some research and found that more and more people are going online globally. In fact, analyst groups like IDC predict that by the end of this year, one billion people will have access to the Web, and more than 70 percent of them will speak a language other than English! Businesses are using the Internet not just as a marketing tool, but also as an efficient way to directly provide services to an intended market. Considering the potential for Web sites to be seen and used by international audiences, remaining a monolingual Web presence can be a serious handicap. When a company’s Web site can be used by speakers of other languages or residents of other countries in their own languages, they instantly feel more comfortable and become more willing to do business with that company. This is one of the reasons businesses like yours are deciding to localize their Web sites for a global market.

Making Your Web Site Work Harder
Localization (sometimes seen as the abbreviation L10N), is when an organization adapts a product or Web site to the requirements of a target locale. The Web site’s user interface, including icons, buttons, description of the product and packaging, is translated into the language of the intended market. However, just translating written material is not enough. Excellent localization involves considering the audience’s perspective so that content is tailored to fit their cultural values. A properly localized Web site will avoid unintentionally offending the audience and will show a true understanding of what is important to the target market.

When a company knows which international markets are important to them, they can concentrate their localization on a few core languages and cultures. Whether that means focusing on European growth economies like Germany, France or Sweden, or on Asia’s growing economies in Taiwan or China, organizations should be ready to localize for the audiences that will help them sustain continued growth.

Companies who have international staff and divisions outside the United States should consider localizing in order to improve their information flow. Even though executive management and directors might conduct business in English, employees in factories and plants most likely communicate in the local language. Essential communication tools like e-mail, human resources and data portals should be available in the language most employees feel comfortable using.

Watch That First Step
So you’ve decided to localize your Web site, whether it’s to expand your customer base internationally, better serve your overseas staff or reach specific segments of the immigrant population. But where to start? What is the best way to go about translating and localizing your site? What kinds of technical issues will you have to consider and how can translation agencies help with the process?

A good first step is to make sure that your source files (for example .html, .asp or .xml) are well-organized and clearly labeled so that the translator knows which ones to translate. Specify which files should be translated and what parts should be translated. Be sure to decide which figures and graphs should be translated and how. If your document contains many financial graphs and charts, be sure to tell your translator if they need to be converted into the target audience’s currency. Keep in mind that navigational buttons and instructions should be localized into the target language. Where you have versions of a page or a site in a different language, provide a way for the user to view the material in the language they prefer. Also, when providing links to pages in other languages, don’t forget to include the names of the languages or countries in the native language. For example, you would use “Deutsch” instead of German or “Español” instead of Spanish.

Tip: Include Tags and Style Contents According to Language
There can also be issues with certain languages to keep in mind. For example, some languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic are bidirectional, meaning they read from right-to-left. Be sure to include a piece of script in your internet coding that makes the text run the correct way. You can set the default alignment and ordering of page content to right to left by simply including dir="rtl" in the html tag. It’s a small change that can mean a lot to your credibility!

For Web sites in non-Western languages such as Japanese or Russian, choose Unicode or UTF-8 when encoding your page. In fact, even for Western languages, it’s safest to encode with Unicode because Unicode is a universal character set. It standardizes and defines all the characters needed for writing the majority of living languages in use on computers.

Tip: Style Content and Forms While Keeping Culture in Mind
When working with other languages on your site, be careful of the way the content is styled. Not all languages look the same when bolded or italicized, as they would in English. For example, Japanese characters are complex and therefore it may be better to show emphasis on Japanese Web pages in other ways than bolding or italicizing.

Be careful when setting forms and fill-in boxes or fields on your Web site. Don’t assume that the target country or language sets addresses and names as we do in the U.S. In some cultures, there are no street names and in others, the house number follows the street name. Sometimes more than one line is needed for the part of the address that is before the city name. When building your site, be careful of how you label forms showing numeric dates because most cultures set the day, month and year in a different order.

Tip: Keep Web Content Clear and Concise
As for the content of your Web site, simple, concise and clear text is easier to translate and easier for people to read if that language is not their first language. The most important thing to remember is to keep code separate from content when translating. It’s also wise to avoid fixing the positions of variables in text such as “Page 1 of 10”, because some languages may require the numbers to be reversed to be understandable.

For a worry-free localization of your Web site, talk to a professional translation and localization agency, where professional linguists and software engineers can anticipate problems with language or coding before they arise. Internet users in any country will appreciate the care you took to make sure they get the most out of your Web site.


	viaLanguage Translation Articles Keys to Effective Web Localization Tips to Follow and Potential Problems to Avoid Why Localize Your Web Site? Are you planning a localization project soon for your company’s Web site? Your team has probably done some research and found that more and more people are going online globally. In fact, analyst groups like IDC predict that by the end of this year, one billion people will have access to the Web, and more than 70 percent of them will speak a language other than English! Businesses are using the Internet not just as a marketing tool, but also as an efficient way to directly provide services to an intended market. Considering the potential for Web sites to be seen and used by international audiences, remaining a monolingual Web presence can be a serious handicap. When a company’s Web site can be used by speakers of other languages or residents of other countries in their own languages, they instantly feel more comfortable and become more willing to do business with that company. This is one of the reasons businesses like yours are deciding to localize their Web sites for a global market. Making Your Web Site Work Harder Localization (sometimes seen as the abbreviation L10N), is when an organization adapts a product or Web site to the requirements of a target locale. The Web site’s user interface, including icons, buttons, description of the product and packaging, is translated into the language of the intended market. However, just translating written material is not enough. Excellent localization involves considering the audience’s perspective so that content is tailored to fit their cultural values. A properly localized Web site will avoid unintentionally offending the audience and will show a true understanding of what is important to the target market. When a company knows which international markets are important to them, they can concentrate their localization on a few core languages and cultures. Whether that means focusing on European growth economies like Germany, France or Sweden, or on Asia’s growing economies in Taiwan or China, organizations should be ready to localize for the audiences that will help them sustain continued growth. Companies who have international staff and divisions outside the United States should consider localizing in order to improve their information flow. Even though executive management and directors might conduct business in English, employees in factories and plants most likely communicate in the local language. Essential communication tools like e-mail, human resources and data portals should be available in the language most employees feel comfortable using. Watch That First Step So you’ve decided to localize your Web site, whether it’s to expand your customer base internationally, better serve your overseas staff or reach specific segments of the immigrant population. But where to start? What is the best way to go about translating and localizing your site? What kinds of technical issues will you have to consider and how can translation agencies help with the process? A good first step is to make sure that your source files (for example .html, .asp or .xml) are well-organized and clearly labeled so that the translator knows which ones to translate. Specify which files should be translated and what parts should be translated. Be sure to decide which figures and graphs should be translated and how. If your document contains many financial graphs and charts, be sure to tell your translator if they need to be converted into the target audience’s currency. Keep in mind that navigational buttons and instructions should be localized into the target language. Where you have versions of a page or a site in a different language, provide a way for the user to view the material in the language they prefer. Also, when providing links to pages in other languages, don’t forget to include the names of the languages or countries in the native language. For example, you would use “Deutsch” instead of German or “Español” instead of Spanish. Tip: Include Tags and Style Contents According to Language There can also be issues with certain languages to keep in mind. For example, some languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic are bidirectional, meaning they read from right-to-left. Be sure to include a piece of script in your internet coding that makes the text run the correct way. You can set the default alignment and ordering of page content to right to left by simply including dir="rtl" in the html tag. It’s a small change that can mean a lot to your credibility! For Web sites in non-Western languages such as Japanese or Russian, choose Unicode or UTF-8 when encoding your page. In fact, even for Western languages, it’s safest to encode with Unicode because Unicode is a universal character set. It standardizes and defines all the characters needed for writing the majority of living languages in use on computers. Tip: Style Content and Forms While Keeping Culture in Mind When working with other languages on your site, be careful of the way the content is styled. Not all languages look the same when bolded or italicized, as they would in English. For example, Japanese characters are complex and therefore it may be better to show emphasis on Japanese Web pages in other ways than bolding or italicizing. Be careful when setting forms and fill-in boxes or fields on your Web site. Don’t assume that the target country or language sets addresses and names as we do in the U.S. In some cultures, there are no street names and in others, the house number follows the street name. Sometimes more than one line is needed for the part of the address that is before the city name. When building your site, be careful of how you label forms showing numeric dates because most cultures set the day, month and year in a different order. Tip: Keep Web Content Clear and Concise As for the content of your Web site, simple, concise and clear text is easier to translate and easier for people to read if that language is not their first language. The most important thing to remember is to keep code separate from content when translating. It’s also wise to avoid fixing the positions of variables in text such as “Page 1 of 10”, because some languages may require the numbers to be reversed to be understandable. For a worry-free localization of your Web site, talk to a professional translation and localization agency, where professional linguists and software engineers can anticipate problems with language or coding before they arise. Internet users in any country will appreciate the care you took to make sure they get the most out of your Web site.