Connecting with people has never been easier, considering that significant parts of our lives are now happening online. For business owners, it can mean setting up and regularly maintaining a website, which will represent them in the best possible way. However, sometimes having a website alone does not guarantee success, especially if going global is one of business’s main goals. The global markets require content that (almost) anyone can understand, which is why website localization is necessary.

It is a complex and serious task that takes time, resources, practical knowledge and a lot of patience to be performed the right way. Luckily, there are technologies designed to optimize the localization process and integrate it into website development. What makes the whole process less painful are definitely content management systems (CMS). In addition to being user-friendly, they also feature a bunch of plugins and modules enabling the users to set up multilingual website. The plugins can be easily integrated with the computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, which can help speed up the process later on.

CAT integration

Surely, you have heard of WordPress, the most popular and the most powerful CMS of them all, but maybe you still haven’t figured out all of its possibilities. Because it is an open source software, it offers developers endless possibilities for tweaks and expansions. There is one plugin in particular that has been designed for optimization of localization projects and it is called WPML (WordPress Multilingual) Plugin. It enables full integration of cloud-based translation productivity software into the CMS, making the localization process smoother, faster and leaner.

On the other hand, there is Drupal, another widely used content management platform. Just like WordPress, it has numerous modules used for website translation and localization, whether it be content or interface itself. Some of the useful modules would be Localization client module, Localization update and Internationalization (i18n) module. To be completely honest, none of them can stand alone, or at least cannot provide you with satisfying results. The idea is to use them symbiotically in order to launch proud-worthy multilingual website.

The good thing about Drupal is that it gets along with CAT tools, primarily with Memsource. This means there’s a special module that synergizes the two. Thanks to the Memsource Translation Plugin, every piece of content can be sent to Memsource Cloud platform for translation and pulled back into Drupal for review and publishing, preserving the code integrity and optimizing the localization process. It can be imported manually or automatically using the Automated Project Creation feature. It’s important to emphasize that Memsource plugin only supports Drupal 8, which is the current version of the software.

Major benefits of CAT-CMS integration

Website localization is not only cost-effective, but it can also be a time-saver, since processes are optimized and automatized. In addition, it preserves code and layout integrity, which means HTML, CSS and other codes will not get lost in translation. The layouts, fonts, image and video settings will remain intact across the localized versions.

Wasting time and resources on preparation, export and import of textual content for localization becomes a thing of the past. Also, a website can be localized to more languages simultaneously as the completed content is automatically assigned to the linguists working on all required languages.

CRM, CAT and CMS – what’s the catch?

Okay, you know what CMS and CAT are, but what on Earth is CRM now and how are these three things connected?

Well, every business should show consideration for their customers, which is why they’re trying to excel at Customer Relationship Management. However, to build and maintain a good relationship with customers, it’s necessary to get to know them.

Tracking your online traffic and collecting data on your visitors can help you get closer to your audiences, as well as to understand how they use your website. Once you gather all that important information, you can adapt your website accordingly. You can achieve it through localization of the relevant and engaging content or any other way that will show them they’re not just a sales target to you, but rather a valuable partner.

It’s Worth It

It seems that the producers of content management software have recognized the need for creating and maintaining multilingual websites intended for wide use. The main purpose of such websites is to reach the minds and hearts of audiences across the globe. And of course, the biggest benefit here is yours, since expanding your ideas outside the state borders means faster growth of your business.

No one said getting into website localization would be easy, especially not with all these modules and plugins that can leave you utterly confused, but it’s the inevitable step on the business success ladder.

But it will pay off in the end. Literally.

The post Website Localization: Why Is It Important and How to Do It Painlessly appeared first on Ciklopea.

We all have our preferences, but the truth is that half of the global online population use smartphones and tablets for their daily browsing, and this number increases every year. Taking the mobile-first approach is therefore the most reasonable choice that will make your shiny new e-shopping website accessible and fully functional on every device.

For best results, localization needs to be integrated into the web development from day one, which means that you should develop your web architecture and produce your content with localization in mind, meaning, inter alia, that you should plan the support for variable string lengths and different writing systems in advance.

To retain the advanced features of your website across the different locales, you must remember that localization is many things, but simple it is not. Never.

However, there are advanced solutions that will help you optimize the process, cut costs and save great amounts of precious time and energy, and, most importantly, preserve the layout and code integrity across the localized versions through the integration of cloud-based CAT (computer-assisted translation) software and your online content management system.

These solutions are available for WordPress, Drupal and can also be custom-tailored for other CMS platforms.

Read a detailed overview of localization technologies and their benefits for your business in our feature article “How to Cut Localization Costs with Translation Technology”.

Content Adaptation and Culturalization

The purpose of any store, from a mega market to any tiny, friendly neighborhood grocery or thrift store is selling. But the thing is there are no sales if your customers can’t understand what is it that you are selling, and, even more importantly, if they can’t relate to the products and see them as something that adds value to their life and is in line with their lifestyles.

In other words, plain translation of the copies, product titles, categories, catchy phrases and product descriptions that you have so carefully developed for your home market will probably cause underperformance or failure on any foreign market precisely because they have been developed for a specific cultural and linguistic environment.

Every market has its specificities and requires specific approach, so you need to adapt your content not only appropriate, but also native to the target culture. To achieve this, you might want to consider sophisticated language solutions such as transcreation.

Wrap-up

Localization of any website, including the online stores, is a team effort that requires expertise and good coordination of all stakeholders, from website developers and content producers to linguists and editors. There is no such thing as translation of digital marketing content – it has to be localized, adapted, reedited and sometimes even recreated to blend into the environment of the global markets seamlessly.

Therefore, the one thing that you most certainly don’t want to do is approach the localization process as an easy and quick addition to web development because this is precisely the approach that will cost you dearly. L10n is a multi-phase process that is vital to the global success of your business and all its aspects – the technical, the cultural and the linguistic ones – must be taken into account from day one of any global business venture.

The post Localization Guidelines for e-Commerce Websites: Part Two – Content Adaptation and Culturalization appeared first on Ciklopea.

Going multilingual on Drupal

Drupal is an open source software that enables you to create, edit and modify content and design of your web pages. By using a whole bunch of add-ons, modules, themes and packages, you can completely tailor the site according to your needs. Because of its endless possibilities, it is possible to set up a multilingual page, which should be the key factor for your global business.

To do that painlessly, this software offers you several additional modules which can serve as your life-saving boats through the whole process. Localization client module provides you with an easy way to translate your website’s interface, while its buddy Localization update keeps you up with the newer versions of translations. Since your visitors probably care more about the content than the interface, you should give them what they want and localize it, too, with the Internationalization (i18n) module. Even though Drupal already has some built-in multilingual features, i18n module provides you with the full support. Some of its key features include:

• A proper multilingual menu system
• Multilingual blocks
• Multilingual taxonomy

It is divided into few submodules, such as multilingual content, field translation, string translation, synchronized translations and many others. However, it is suggested not to install or use them all at once, but rather to enable them as you need them.

Drupal and CAT integration

What’s more interesting about Drupal is that it gets along with CAT (Computer-assisted translation) tools, mostly with Memsource. This means there’s a special module that synergizes the two. Thanks to the Memsource Translation Plugin, every piece of content can be sent to Memsource Cloud platform for translation and pulled back into Drupal for review and publishing, preserving the code integrity and optimizing the localization process.

It can be imported manually or automatically using the Automated Project Creation feature. It’s important to emphasize that Memsource plugin only supports Drupal 8, which is the current version of the software.

It’s Worth It

It seems that Drupal has recognized the need for creating and maintaining multilingual websites intended for wide use. The main purpose of such websites is to reach the minds and hearts of audiences across the globe. And of course, the biggest benefit here is yours, since expanding your ideas outside the state borders means faster growth of your business.

No one said getting into website localization would be easy, especially not with all these modules and plugins that can leave you utterly confused, but it’s the inevitable step on the business success ladder.

After all, it will pay off in the end. Literally.

The post Website Localization Examples: Drupal L10n appeared first on Ciklopea.