Localization

Companies today understand the importance of selling their products overseas. Large companies realize 50% or more of their income from international sales. They know that in order to maximize their international profits, they must translate their websites, sales material, manuals, software into other languages.

Contrary to popular belief, English is not enough to communicate with customers all over the world. People in other countries speak other languages and live in another cultural environment. They can best be reached through media that has been translated into their own language and targeted to their own culture.

Localization is the process of adapting websites or software to a particular geographical region, or locale. It goes beyond pure language translation, taking into account elements such as date and number formats as well as culturally appropriate graphics, colors, and typeface.

Because of the complexity of localization tasks, a project manager is needed to oversee each project, ensure accuracy and guarantee client satisfaction.

*Common Sense Advisory, “How to Benchmark Your Localization Budget,” surveyed 156 global product developers to determine what they were spending on localization. “To understand the value of localization, you only need three words – international revenue enablement,” explains report lead analyst Rebecca Ray. “Most global software developers generate up to 50% of their total corporate revenue by spending a miniscule 1 to 2% of their development budgets on localization.” The report found that the demand for localized versions of all types of software is exploding. The vast majority of software and application developers (84.21%) said that they planned to increase their localization activities over the next 12 months.

*Common Sense Advisory, Inc. is an independent research and analysis firm specializing in the on- and offline operations driving business globalization, internationalization, localization, translation, and interpretation. For more information, visit: www.commonsenseadvisory.com.

Language Translation, Inc. provides website localization and software localization services, helping your company achieve a global presence.