If you have any international business, the resounding answer is yes.

It’s nearly impossible to get recognised as a business today without an online presence, so it would be neglectful not to have one as part of a marketing strategy. So when do you start to consider website translation? And more importantly, what about website localization?

What is website localization?

Localization is the process of having your website be international but sound local. It means adapting your website so that your brand is approachable in a target language. That means not just translating the words from one language to another but also considering the cultural context of the target language you’re translating to and the currency. A plain translation will not be sufficient enough to win over your new audience, as what’s said in one language may not translate so well to another. That’s where localization steps in. 

Related: Words that altered history – translation blunders in international relations

International translation companies specialise in website localization and translation management for businesses to ensure that a company and their brand are understood and received well in a new target language and area. 

When do you need website localization?

Website translation or any localization and translation is often seen as a burden, and its necessity is sometimes questioned. Why not just leave the website in English? If you have any international customers, you not only owe these customers the diligence of having the content properly translated into their native language, but you are missing out on revenue by not doing so. 

It’s no longer acceptable to have a monolingual website when you have an international base of customers. English may still be dominant, but this landscape is quickly changing. Estimates find that English makes up for around 60% of the content on the internet, yet native English speakers only make up around 5% of the global population.

Still not sure if you’re ready? Ask yourself the following.

• Are you already selling or shipping out to international locations?
• Are you receiving inquiries from other countries or in other languages different from your website?
• What countries show in Google Analytics from your audience data? 

What about if you have customers that are bilingual or non-native speakers of other languages? Well, a study performed by the European Commission in 2014 surveyed internet users across the EU, of which English is generally well used and received, found that,

• Just 53% of users were willing to accept an English version of a website if there were no options in their native language. 
• 44% of users worried that they would miss out on key information on a website if it were not available in their language. This number was over 50% in countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Greece.  

The takeaway? If you are getting traction internationally and you’ve not localized your website, it’s time to. 

Related: How languages rise and fall & why English’s dominance is waning

Why do you need website localization?

It’s currently estimated that 66% of users are using a machine translation when making a purchase online. Why is this acceptable when consumers could have a more efficient experience in their native language? Machine translation isn’t enough to guarantee purchase and can still confuse customers since machine translations without human editing often contain errors. If you truly want to be an international company or are thinking of becoming international, then you need a professional website translation service.

Related: Why Google Translate Isn’t Effective Enough for Business

An updated 2020 study by the Common Sense Advisory produced some eye-opening statistics. The study took samples from 29 different countries and asked users about making a purchase online and found the following remarkable results,

• 40% of users will not purchase on a website in another language.
• 73% of users want reviews of products in their native language.
• 65% of users prefer content in their native language.

What’s more, in the last study performed in 2014, the following results were also found.

• 30% of respondents stated that they never buy from English-language websites.
• 56% of users boycott or avoid English-language websites to spend more time on sites in their native language. 

As international demand increases, especially with the ongoing pandemic, this need will only continue to increase. 

What will website localization help you with?

Localizing a website will only benefit your company and open new opportunities that wouldn’t have been present otherwise. Here is what localization and translation can do for you.

• Increase your ROI – As more research is performed on localization, the financial returns of the companies doing it are becoming obvious. The Localization Industry Standards Association wrote in 2007 that they estimated an ROI of $25 for every dollar spent on localization. Imagine how those numbers would stack up today. For example, in one case study, an Israeli retailer localized their website for the German market and saw their conversion double from 1 to 2%. They found nearly the same when localizing for the French market, as conversion rose from 0.67% to 1% after they launched the localized site.  
• Enhancing Your Marketing Strategy – When you localize your website, you have another opportunity to improve your SEO and marketing language, as localization gives unique opportunities specific to a language and a region. It also gives your brand a boost as it can reach more people, which will expand your brand. 

Conclusion? Website localization is the way forward for a global-minded website and business.

How to make the most of your website localization with marketing translation services

The only way to ensure a quality translation and localization of your website is to hire and partner with a marketing translation agency. It’s important to find a translation partner that knows your business and the areas that you’re aiming to localize. International translation companies have certified translators at their fingertips and know the ins and outs of translation management no matter what the project. Business translation and localization won’t have to feel overwhelming when you have professionals on your team to get it right. 

At Into23, we specialise in high-quality translation services in all languages with an impeccable turnaround so that your business can get global as fast as possible. From website localization services, eCommerce website translation, translation project management and more, Into23 has all of your translation solutions.

What types of marketing translation trends are becoming prominent in 2022? Here’s what to expect for the remainder of the year.

Content translation services have seen a massive increase in demand, with much of this growth being linked to the internet, the pandemic, our global expansion and uses of technology. The market worth of this industry has grown and is looking to grow further in 2022 as the pandemic has slowly stabilised and more people and places of business took their work and education online and have kept it there. 

What has driven growth in the translation industry in 2022?

The biggest driver behind the growth of the translation industry has been the increased need for people to access information in different languages and cultures, coinciding with the growth of technology and our reliance on it. Technology has made it possible for people to communicate in meaningful ways across the globe in various formats and languages, which became increasingly important during the pandemic. Language translation technology has also come a long way, making it faster and more accessible for people and businesses to get what they need.

While translation solutions come in many forms, depending on your business or need, these areas are some of the most noticeable upward trends of 2022. They are relevant aspects to consider if you’re looking to expand globally. 

Multilingual customer support

If you have a platform that has been localized for customers, you’ll also need multilingual customer service support. As more people use their phones for everyday tasks, from emails to banking, these services must be provided and serviced in the customer’s language. The same goes for customer support. Today, 67% of consumers expect to be able to message or chat with a business when they need support. As this number is likely to increase, businesses that want to continue to reach their customers globally must consider multilingual customer support in their localization strategies. A marketing translation agency can provide support and resources in multiple languages to help fortify an existing localization strategy or start a new one. 

Increased use of machine translation post-editing

Machine translation has become an essential part of the translation industry and is a trend that has continued upward for several years. 

What is machine translation post-editing?

Machine translation is when you enter content into an automated software translation tool, and the machine converts it into the target language. Google translate is the most well-known machine translator that most of us use in our daily lives. However, the results of these machine translations alone vary drastically in terms of accuracy and are not sufficient enough to be used in business for a variety of reasons.

Related: Why Google translate isn’t effective enough for business

The post-editing portion comes after the machine translation. A professional translator will go over the machine translation and compare it to the original text to get the most accurate translation. Machine translation post-editing is desirable for businesses and marketing translation as it offers a quick turnaround at a lower cost.  

The machine translation market has been steadily increasing and is anticipated to reach 230.67 million USD by 2026. 

Increase usage of eLearning platforms

The pandemic may have kept us at home the last few years, but eLearning platforms kept us learning and connected. Forbes estimates that by 2025, the eLearning sector could be worth as much as USD 355 billion dollars. As the business and education sectors looked towards online learning tools and software to maintain a global reach, the videos, courses and quizzes also needed to be updated and translated for global audiences. This newfound flexibility offers benefits to businesses, educators and students as people can work and learn on their own time from the comfort of a home or café. eLearning and eLearning translation shows no signs of slowing and will continue to increase in demand as more and more people and businesses maintain a work/study from home approach. 

Businesses using media localization

Two different types of media are trending right now, podcasts and videos. Podcasts are now being used for business, pleasure, and education and have seen a large rise in listeners, especially considering they’ve only been around for two decades. It is estimated that there will be around 424.2 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2022 and that podcasts will be a USD 94.88 billion industry by 2028.

Videos are also an essential part of today’s media market. In 2019 alone, the average person’s video consumption was 84 minutes daily. Enter the pandemic, and by 2021 that average was nearly 100 minutes per day. Now we’re in the beginning part of 2022, and video streaming and downloads are anticipated to account for 82% of the global internet traffic. A study done by Wyzowl found that 81% of businesses now create at least some video content. Point of fact, if you’re not using videos in your business marketing materials, you should be. 

With the impressive rise of both video and podcast consumption, the need for localization, such as audio transcription services, multilingual voice-over services, or subtitling services, becomes necessary for going global and is a trend that will continue well past 2022. 

Subtitles have become a must

As previously mentioned, videos are currently making up the majority of consumer internet traffic. To make business ads, videos, and video courses more accessible for everyone, subtitles have become essential. 

Even outside of any language or subtitle translation, many of the videos people consume on social media are often viewed on mute, meaning that if a video doesn’t have subtitles, it’s more likely to be skipped and scrolled past. Subtitles have become a required feature for views and impressions, even when the language hasn’t been changed.  

Further, if you do require language translation for a video to reach new audiences, subtitling is generally more affordable than dubbing and is just as effective in reaching your target audiences. 

Multilingual SEO strategies 

By now, it’s obvious that the biggest trend is the translation and localization of businesses in general. This is an upward trend that was growing even before the pandemic. Going global means having an online presence and reaching and connecting to audiences in new and meaningful ways with technology. While website localization is becoming more common, it is often an afterthought. Businesses are now opting to create a multilingual SEO strategy from the get-go so that their business content and practices are aligned with their global goals from the start.

What is a multilingual SEO strategy?

It is the practice of optimizing your SEO in more than one language. This includes everything from websites, eCommerce platforms, video content, social media, customer support and more. The best way to develop a multilingual SEO strategy is to work with a translation project management company that offers multilingual translation services and marketing translations. This ensures an effective strategy that is aimed at a specific target audience and ensures effective use of your business’s resources along with a quality translation that showcases the values and goals of your business. 

Into23 offers quality translation solutions for all major global languages to help your business enter any global market. Bring your business into 2022 and beyond with our transparent and quality language solutions. Contact us today for a free quote to start your global journey.

The German eCommerce market was worth 99 billion euros in 2021.

German has more than 130 million native speakers and is the most spoken native language within the European Union. As German is so widely spoken, it has become a prominent language for businesses to localize with. So why should you localize in German and what should you consider in your localization strategy?

Why localize in German?

German is the 7th most used language on the internet and is massive within the mobile and app market. Germany takes the lead in Europe in terms of app store purchases and brought in around 1.8 billion dollars in 2021 alone. Further, there are more than 82 million high-income earners in Germany who like to shop online and expect content to be delivered to them in German, even if they understand English, meaning localizing in this language is very important if you want to reach the European or German market.  

Where is German spoken?

German is the official language of four counties in Europe: Germany, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg as well as Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Even outside of these countries, it is also spoken as a minority language in 42 countries across the world.

• In the US, 1.4 million people speak German as their mother tongue. 
• Over 60% of the population in Switzerland speak German.
• Russia holds around 800,000 German speakers dating back to the time of the Romanovs.
• Even Africa holds Native German speakers, with around 20,000 living in Namibia who are descendants from the time of German colonisation. 

History of the German language

The German language, like English, belongs to the Indo-European language family. German began to take shape when the Romans came to the area in the 1st century BCE. As Christianity began to spread, under the influence of Latin and Greek, the first written Germanic language was created in the 4th century by Bishop Ulfilas.  

Around 600 CE, there is a shift between different dialects in the Germanic languages. This is called the Second Germanic Consonant Shift and it was what we now call Old High German. This shift was an important one for the German language as it changed its pronunciation, which, still exists today. For example, Deutsch, meaning German, appeared for the first time during this shift.

Around 1250-1550 CE there were a variety of cultural changes, such as Martin Luther’s translation of the bible, which added a variety of new words to the German vocabulary. It was this translation that also set the tone for what would become a unified German language. From the 16th to 18th centuries various dialects from the southern and central part of German formed the New High German version, which is what is generally spoken today.  

In 1880 Konrad Duden wrote and published the first edition of the Complete Orthographic Dictionary of the German Language. This book remained in place until the spelling reform of 1996. 

While German still exists in many dialects, such as High German or Low German, High German is the official written language. 

High, Low, and Standard German

What is the difference between these dialects? The connotations of these dialects have nothing to do with social class but rather where they are spoken geographically in Germany. It’s somewhat similar to American English vs. British English and the Germans call these dialectal differences Hochdeutsch. Not sure which dialect to choose for your website localization?  You can find translation solutions with international translation companies that specialise in the German language.  

High German: Spoken in the mountainous and high-altitude regions of Germany that underwent a consonant shift. Spoken in southern Germany and partially in Central Germany. 

Low German: Spoken in the lowlands of Germany. This dialect did not go under the same sound changes as its higher counterpart and has a similar sound to Dutch. 

Standard German: An effort started by the Holy Roman Empire to create a lingua franca. German dialects at the time were spread apart and made communication difficult. The consolidation was an attempt to make the bible that could be understood by all Germans. As a result of Martin Luther’s translation and efforts, the bible became a base for the Standard German language. Standard German has many High German features and is a variant of High German. 

With German, dialects differ depending on how much the High German consonant shift affected them. The main consonants affected by this shift were p, t, and k.  For example, p became a pf sound, ik became ich, or t became s or ts. The Low German areas of the country don’t use these pronunciations as they were unaffected by this shift. 

Main Differences between German vs. Swiss German

Thinking of localising in Switzerland with German? Swiss German is distinctly different from its Standard German counterpart and is referred to as Helvetisms. Helvetisms are vocabulary, pronunciations, and syntax that are specific and unique to Switzerland. You might not think there would be that much variation, but the distinctions are significant, to the point where those in Germany will need subtitling services to understand a TV show or video that is in Swiss German. Here are some relevant points to consider if you are going to localize here:

• Ch sound in Swiss German is often used where a k sound is used. 
  • Kalt (cold) becomes chalt
• Swiss German doesn’t use diphthongs. The double vowel sound will be treated as if they were on their own with the emphasis placed on the first sound. If there are two of the same vowels the sound is longer and drawn out. 
• Swiss German only uses two verb tenses, the past perfect and the present.
• The eszett (ß) which is used in Standard German, is not used in Swiss-German. It is written as a double “ss”. In both instances, there are used to indicate the word has a long or hard s sound. 

Things to consider when creating a localization strategy for German

1. Know your audience and location: Are you localising within Germany? What dialect are you choosing to localize in? Or are you looking to localize for the German market in Switzerland or Africa? Each of these decisions will impact your localization strategy.
2. Pay attention to tone and be factual: If you’re localizing for Germany, studies have shown that German consumers generally prefer and respond to a formal tone in marketing. Germans also desire direct and informative language so make your content concise. Statistics and such will work in your favour with most German audiences so make sure you back up your claims with facts and reliable sources.
3. Be respectful and be mindful of traditions: Germans tend to be sensible and straightforward people who value tradition and respect. For example, Walmart attempted to expand into the German market, however, most Germans didn’t like that Walmart was putting smaller shops out of business. This led to the German people shunning the chain resulting in Walmart eventually pulling out of the German market completely. Be mindful and respectful of your competitors as Germans are notoriously loyal.
4. Be mindful of text expansion: Text expansion with the German language is substantial. Whether it’s a website localization, legal translation, or eLearning translation be prepared to need 35% or more space for text when translating. 

Having a successful localization strategy comes with having proper business translation services that know the German market and can offer translation solutions that suit your business needs. Translation management can be the difference between a successfully localized platform and one that goes bust. Ensure you get the best possible quality translation by using a marketing translation agency like Into23.

Into23 is a group of translation and marketing professionals that can help you create a localization strategy in German or in any other language you require. Make Into23 your localization partner today and contact us for a free quote.