Content localisation: why we do not translate word for word, and what we do instead

Translation carries words. Localisation carries meaning, tone and examples so that a customer in another country reads the text as if it had been written for them. The difference is visible from the first sentence and decides whether the company sounds credible or like a foreign supplier that is "doing its best".

How does localisation differ from translation?

A translated text is correct. A localised text is convincing. Customers pay for the latter.

A good translation conveys the meaning of a sentence. Localisation goes further and asks whether that sentence should be there at all. Whether an example from a Polish company means anything to a customer in the Netherlands. Whether a joke or a form of address sounds foreign. Whether units, currencies, dates and names are in the form the market uses. Whether the argument that comes first at home should come third there. Localisation is translation plus all those decisions.

How do we localise content?

1. We tidy up the master version. The source text has to be clear and well structured, because every ambiguity is multiplied by the number of languages.
2. We prepare the first version. With AI and the company's glossary, a working version in the market's language is created quickly and with consistent terminology.
3. A person localises. Someone who knows the language and the market reworks the working version: changes examples, tone and order, removes what makes no sense, adds what is missing.
4. We check it in context. We look at the text where it will be used: on the website, in a proposal, in a graphic. We fix lengths, line breaks and everything that only shows up in the layout.

What do you get?

• content in the markets' languages that sounds as if it had been written locally,
• a company glossary for each language, so that future texts are consistent,
• versions checked in the target layout, not just in a document,
• a process in which further content is localised faster.

When is it worth localising rather than translating?

• for the website, proposal and sales materials for a new market,
• for campaigns and social media, where tone decides the reaction,
• when translated materials bring no enquiries or raise questions about where the company comes from,
• when the company operates in many markets and wants to sound equally credible everywhere.

Frequently asked questions