How Important is Localization for Your Website and Ad Content?

Ecommerce experts have been obsessed with creating personalized experiences ever since online shopping became a thing. As a result, these experiences have become a vital part of the digital economy, creating online experiences to suit consumers' specific needs.

These days, businesses have access to an incredible amount of data about their current and prospective clientele. This includes information on their location, languages, past purchases, interests, and more. For marketers, having access to this data makes it easier than ever to create localized online experiences to benefit both brands and their customers.

Localization: It’s data-driven

The growing reliance on this data has led businesses to optimize their digital presence and deliver quality services and information. For example, they can create localized websites that are meticulously designed with local images to delight and inform visitors, guiding them to specific products, services, and information in their own language.

This act of building a website or creating ads and marketing campaigns that target a specific audience is known as localization. The process requires businesses to create content and design pages to appeal to people from a certain geographical location.

Let's explore this phenomenon in greater detail.

What is localization?

Localization is the process of designing websites and ads to target a specific group of people. This process involves planning imagery, tone, colors, preferred unit of measurement, language, and cultural or regional nuances.

Essentially, the more variation in the language you add to the website, the better your reach.

For example, statistics show that:

  • Twenty-five percent of all internet users understand English
  • Nineteen percent communicate in Chinese
  • Eight percent converse in Spanish
  • Five percent speak Arabic

Therefore, localizing your evolved content marketing strategy using these languages can drive more conversions if you target these communities.

Localized websites and ads get results because they are user-friendly and therefore favored by search engines. By taking this initiative, you can optimize the brand experience for your target demographic, increasing your conversions.

The primary reason to create localized content is to find better opportunities to sell and enhance your reach.

For instance, if you sell Mexican goods, creating a website in English and Spanish languages can help you find and cater to customers who'd be willing to buy from you. This also helps your prospective customers understand the nature of your product and services better.

How important is content localization for your website and online ad content?

The following are just some reasons why you should invest in localized content for your website and digital ads.

Put your customers at ease instantly

Customers prefer brands that understand their needs. Creating localized content enables businesses to provide their customers with a better, more fulfilling experience.

Essentially, localized websites understand the cultural sensitivity and nuances that can help you win the hearts of your customers. In fact, CSA research has revealed that more than 65 percent of internet users choose websites written in their native language.

This is because when your customers feel more respected and comfortable with your brand, they’ll be more likely to make a purchase.

Localization removes communication barriers and reduces confusion

Let's say you have an eCommerce store that sells sporting goods and gym equipment across the globe. If you feature the weights and measurements using the imperial system, your audience in the US will understand the product descriptions.

In contrast, the audience in other countries might have trouble gauging the actual measurements of the product. Similarly, if you use the metric system to define your products, your US audience would struggle.

If your audience has to access a conversion calculator on their own, this introduces unnecessary friction into the buying process, which can harm your conversion rates.

Lack of context and AI

Additionally, most businesses make the mistake of believing that the browser's auto-translation feature can bridge the language barrier. But you can’t really count on AI to get the context of the content.

You don’t want a translation that merely imitates the original text and fails to capture the language nuances and contextual clues that can change the entire meaning and message of the content.

So, whether you are creating website content, videos, media files, or audio text, creating separate copies in each language can prove more beneficial for your business.

Therefore, creating a localized website tailored for each target audience can be beneficial. This will help you expand your reach and provide your customers with a simple and effortless online shopping experience.

Conversions increase when customers understand what you sell

By taking this initiative, you can appeal to the emotions of the target demographic. However, when creating localized ad copy, make sure to build a story or add conceptual details that make the content even more appealing.

Localizing your ads using a strong marketing message can also appeal to your target audience. When this happens, you can benefit from an increase in brand loyalty. Additionally, your sales are bound to rise when you get more loyal customers. Customer loyalty can also lead to word-of-mouth and recommendations, which can drive more traffic and conversions to your page.

Localized content and copy bridges cultural gaps

Website localization also plays a role in overcoming the cultural gaps that you may encounter with an international audience. This is why just localizing the content is not enough. You also need to create an effective website design that reflects your customer's culture and living standards.

For instance, you can choose a colorful story preferred by your target demographic. You can also add images of people from that culture and symbols and creative copy.

It is essential to know about the cultural taboos and dislikes of your target audience. This knowledge can help you avoid features that your customers might find offensive.

How to make the most of website localization

There are a few hurdles to cross when creating an effective website localization strategy. However, with proper planning and a designated team of professionals at your side, you can overcome these common challenges encountered during the localization process.

When you're creating a localized website, take the time to consider the following issues.

Format your content for success

One of the major issues with website localization is formatting. Typically, the website's interface is designed to feature text from the right side of the page. However, if you target an eastern audience, such as Arabic or Urdu speakers, the text is written from the left side of the page. Therefore, it is imperative to think about the website design and layout beforehand.

Optimize your content for search engines too

Another common challenge that businesses struggle with is optimising SEO and content for each version of the website. Additionally, when you target different customers, you will have to conduct further keyword research for every audience category you are presenting your services to.

Since SEO and content marketing work together, your content will be framed around keyword research. This means your teams will be required to put in additional effort to create personalized content for each targeted audience demographic.

Additionally, search engine preferences are another factor you need to consider. Customers in different countries prefer other search engines.

For instance, customers in Russia make search queries using Yandex. So, you will need to optimize the pages in accordance with the search engine requirements to increase your digital visibility and rankings in local markets.

Watch out for these common technological barriers

Technological limitations can also influence the website localization process. When you are undergoing this process, it’s vital to stay informed on the country's regulations or advancements in technology.

For instance, if you create a website that includes large images, the customers residing in areas with a slow internet connection will struggle to visit or access the content on your website. This, in turn, can hurt your bounce rates.

Additionally, an image-heavy website will also affect the page loading speed.

Considering this, you can leverage different tools, such as Accelerated Mobile Pages and Progressive Web Apps, to increase the page loading speed. You can also optimize your website by removing or adding elements to meet the local audience's needs.

Be sure to localize your video content

If your website features video content, infographics, or other forms of media, it’d be a good idea to translate them or add subtitles to meet the audience's local language needs. You can overcome this hurdle by featuring a voiceover in the customer's native language in any video or audio content featured on the website.

Calculating the ROI from localization

If you have localized your website, you’ll see many changes in traffic, sales, and conversions.

Let's look at some metrics that can help you calculate the ROI following localization:

  • Calculate the difference between the total cost of localization and the revenue generated following the process
  • Analyze the number of customers acquired from marketing campaigns
  • Evaluate the rate of organic traffic and conversions
  • Gather customer feedback and assess customer satisfaction rate

The right time for website localization

The decision to localize your website depends on the nature of your business and its objectives.

However, localization is especially useful in the following cases:

  • You expand your eCommerce business for international customers
  • When you need to abide by a change in legal or compliance requirements
  • Your business needs to stay ahead of its main competitors
  • You experience changes in logistics, supply chain, and manufacturing arrangements

Wrapping up

Localization is an excellent digital marketing technique that can help you tailor your services to a specific audience. Essentially, localization fills the gap in language and cultural differences and enables you to build stronger relationships with your customers. This increases customer loyalty and drives more people to your online store.

If you're looking for assistance with your localization strategy, feel free to get in touch with our team. We can guide you on eCommerce store marketing, content creation, SEO, and more for your specific customer demographic.