Home / Website Localization
Website and Software Localization
A site that reads as though it was written for the market.
Content, interface, metadata and multilingual SEO — localized with consistent terminology, delivered in the file formats your build already uses, and maintainable as your site changes.
The distinction
Translation is not localization
A translated website reads correctly. A localized website behaves correctly — and the gap between the two is where most multilingual projects quietly fail.
Translation handles the words. Localization handles everything around them: the date format that reads as 03/04 in one market and 04/03 in another, the address form that has no field for a postcode, the currency, the phone validation, the legal notice that is required in one country and meaningless in the next. It also handles length — German runs roughly a third longer than English, and a navigation bar designed around English will break.
The most common failure is not a mistranslation. It is a site where the words are right and everything else signals that this market was an afterthought.
How it works
Our localization process
- 1
Scope and export
We look at what you have, agree the file formats, and identify what is genuinely in scope. Content nobody reads is content nobody should pay to translate.
- 2
Terminology and glossary
Product names, feature names and recurring phrasing are fixed before translation begins, so they stay identical everywhere.
- 3
Translation with context
Linguists see where a string appears and what constrains it. Translating a UI string blind is how you get a button that does not fit.
- 4
Quality review
A second linguist reads the output, checking terminology, register and any length constraints.
- 5
Delivery in your format
Files come back in the structure you sent them, ready for your build.
- 6
Ongoing updates
Translation memory means later changes cost a fraction and stay consistent with what is already live.
What is included
What we localize
Marketing and page content
The words a visitor reads, adapted for the market rather than converted.
Interface strings
Buttons, labels, errors and notifications, within their length constraints.
Metadata and SEO
Titles, descriptions, headings, alt text and URL slugs.
Legal and policy pages
Terms, privacy and disclosures, adapted to local expectations.
Product and catalogue data
Descriptions, specifications and attributes, at volume.
Email and notification templates
Often forgotten, and often the first thing a customer receives.
Help centre and documentation
Support content, guides and FAQs.
Forms and validation messages
Including the address and phone formats a market expects.
Search visibility
Multilingual SEO, done properly
Translating your English keywords is one of the more expensive mistakes in multilingual SEO. The phrase people actually search in Germany is frequently not the literal translation of the phrase they search in the United States — different word, different volume, sometimes a different concept entirely.
- Terminology researched per market, not converted from English.
- Titles, descriptions and headings written for the target market rather than translated into it.
- URL slugs in the target language where your platform supports it.
- Image alt text localized alongside everything else.
- hreflang and canonical guidance so search engines understand which version serves which market.
Working together
Fitting your development cycle
Localization goes wrong when it is treated as a one-off event. Sites change weekly; a translation delivered once is out of date within a month.
- Your file formats. JSON, XLIFF, CSV, PO, spreadsheets or documents — returned in the same structure.
- Only what changed. Translation memory means an update touches the new strings, not the whole site.
- Consistent with what is live. New content matches terminology already published.
- A named coordinator. One person who knows the project, rather than a ticket queue.
Related services
Where to go next
Questions
Website localization, answered
Translation converts the words. Localization adapts everything around them so the result feels native: date and number formats, currencies, addresses and phone formats, units, imagery, legal notices, and the length of text a layout can hold. A translated site reads correctly. A localized site behaves correctly.
We work from whatever export you can produce — JSON, XLIFF, CSV, PO files, spreadsheets or a document set. Tell us the format and how your build consumes it, and we will return files that drop straight back in. If you are not sure what your platform can export, describe it and we will work it out.
Interface strings are the hardest part of any localization, because a button that reads Save in English becomes Sauvegarder in French and may no longer fit. Where a string has a length constraint, tell us and we will work within it. Where context is ambiguous — does Post mean the verb or the noun? — we ask rather than guess.
Yes. Page titles, meta descriptions, headings, image alt text and URL slugs are all part of the work. Keywords rarely translate directly — the term people search in one market is often not the literal translation of the one they search in another — so terminology is researched per market rather than converted.
We advise on hreflang, URL structure and canonical handling for multilingual sites, and we will flag problems we see. Implementation sits with your development team, since it depends on your framework and hosting — but you will not be guessing at what needs doing.
It depends entirely on scope — a twenty-page marketing site is a different project from a product with thousands of interface strings. We scope before quoting so the timeline reflects your actual content, and we will tell you what is realistic rather than what sounds fast.
Yes, and most sites need this. Translation memory means only changed content is retranslated, so an update costs a fraction of the original and stays consistent with everything already published. Send changes as they arise rather than batching them into an annual overhaul.
Yes — the same workflow covers software interfaces, mobile apps, documentation and help content. The constraints differ slightly, but the essentials are identical: context for translators, consistent terminology, and text that fits where it has to go.
Start your localization project
Tell us what you have and a Project Coordinator will scope it properly before quoting. Most requests are reviewed within 30–60 minutes during business hours.
Start Your Project →