Website Localization: How to Guide to Conquer the World on the Internet

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When we talk about website localization , we are not just referring to the translation of the content , as this is only one part of the process.

Successful localization requires speaking the same loan database language and using the tone of voice that users are familiar with, and that requires a deep understanding of cultural norms, not just language.

Additionally, you need to know the characteristics of the company's buyer persona . This way, you'll be able to better understand the needs and problems that motivate a prospect to contact your brand, which will lead you to direct your marketing and sales efforts to meet this demand.

Maintaining a speech profile that is in line with the company's characteristics and values ​​is a minimum requirement to arouse the public's sympathy and respect.

So, if your goal is to expand the reach of your content and conquer the world with your domain, continue reading this article.

In it you will find:

What is website localization?
How to localize your website in any country in the world?
How can website localization help your business?
What is website localization?
If you already know about Content Marketing , you should know well that the relevance of the information brought to users at the brand's contact points is essential to captivate the audience, maintain engagement and high rates of visibility and conversions .

However, when making this content available in other languages ​​for other cultures, it is also necessary to assess the quality of the experience, as is done when creating in the native language.

To make the global market local, you need to provide proper website localization. This way, users who enter your website will have a better and more familiar experience.

Let's talk now about the difference between translation and localization. Translating content requires semantic equivalents in the target language.

This means that you need to consider both grammar and vocabulary, as many words, when brought into another language, lose their meaning or simply change their intelligibility.

On the other hand, website localization works with language equivalence and mitigates the difficulties in translating phrases, words and colloquial expressions from a given language.

After structural and meaning translation, it is time to adapt the content to the initial publishing objectives. For example, in marketing, it is necessary to consider cultural differences, how the local market works, and the perceptions of people in that country.

In addition, it is part of the process to take care of the quality of the experience in terms of:

visual content ,
number of redirects,
security ,
page usability
and loading speed , mainly to keep the website search engine friendly so that, consequently, you increase relevance in the SERPs .
How to localize your website in any country in the world?
Below are some tips and best practices to help you localize your website and ensure a good browsing experience in any country around the world!

Research the local market, define goals and establish KPIs
Market research is a crucial part of successful planning. To do so, it is necessary to understand the cultural and social elements of the target market, the consumer behaviors and customs that underpin people's purchasing decisions in that location.

In addition, it is necessary to know the channels for searching for prices and reviews, the main points of interaction and problem resolution.

After a thorough analysis of the market you are about to enter, you must establish relevant, tangible, measurable and timed goals and objectives to begin to act and know, in a given period, if the strategies implemented were successful. Added to this process is the selection of KPIs that support this monitoring.


Evaluate visual resources
Each country and culture has its own language for communicating information or establishing relationships and processes. This language is primarily spoken, but it also spills over into the visual: therefore, the visual content present on your pages must also be translated.

Be especially careful when using interracial imagery or talking about local customs and beliefs.

Never copy and paste images from one website to another: you must carefully select the images that best fit the context, but that continue to convey the message correctly and of course, they must be consistent with the values ​​of your brand and your audience.

Look for tools capable of supporting the process
There are various language and translation resources and technologies that adequately support the process, although they are not sufficient to guarantee the necessary adaptation required for the quality of the experience, when it comes to adapting to customs, speeches and colloquial expressions, for example.

Choose the tools to be used with discretion and care, but do not overlook the importance of an experienced team, with whom you can work and accommodate different demands, related to language and website infrastructure.

Align your SEO strategy
What is the most widely used search engine in this market? There are numerous alternatives to Google, some specialised in a particular market niche, others geolocalised. Baidu, for example, is widely used in China.

So, if you want to keep your content relevant on these and other search engines like Bing and Yahoo, you'll need to do a thorough study of each one's page ranking requirements .

While some determining characteristics for this process are unanimous, such as loading speed, security and usability of the pages, some elements should be valued more than others, depending on the search engine.

This SEO (Search Engine Optimization) adaptation process is known as multilingual SEO (mSEO).

Learn about the following necessary changes:

Keywords
Re-evaluate the translation of keywords from the original language to the target market's language: doing search engine optimization in the native language is always easier, especially considering local SEO best practices.

But the relevance of keywords changes depending on search usage and site trends. So this should be the first point of attention.


Metatags
Just as you should evaluate changes in terminology and word meaning to choose the right keywords, you should also consider more specific elements for rankings, such as meta tags : title tags and metadescriptions , for example.

The meta tag tells search engine algorithms that the landing page has been translated into a specific language and should therefore be prioritized.

For example, if we create a website for the US and another for the UK, this tag allows us to tag pages with the appropriate language attribute, which increases ranking in country-specific search engines and thus, we avoid penalties related to duplicate content, even if it is accessed in different regions and languages.

Website Location
Many businesses use Google Search Console to help monitor the performance of their pages. The tool is also useful for multilingual SEO.

With the tool, it is possible to segment websites by location, that is, choose a target destination for your website, informing search engines that this page is directed to a certain region.

This setting helps Google prioritize website ranking according to the target country: the algorithms recognize and classify gTLDs (generic top-level domain or top-level domain).


It has a domain and URL structure capable of generating traffic
Since it is difficult to determine the geographic target location for each page on a website, you can also use a URL structure to make targeting easier.

A ccTLD domain, for example, is a suffix that associates a website with a geographic area, such as .br or .uk. In a solid website localization strategy, a company would purchase a domain for each country in which it wants to establish connections with the public or start operations.

This is the easiest way to ensure that search engines rank your page in the marketplace and direct it to the right people.

However, search engines are improving their relevance analysis capabilities every day, which extends to understanding the security level and other characteristics of a URL.

Some gTLD domains allow for geotargeting and, consequently, multilingual translation and adaptation to the geographic requirements of the site. They are also easy to set up, select websites and the most suitable server.

Subdirectories with gTDL (site.com/mx/, for example) are easy to set up and update. However, algorithms may classify them as suspicious, which would not be feasible for your SEO strategy.