Mirela
Localization is a must if you want to bring your business into new, foreign markets, but this process can be complex, costly, and time-consuming if not optimized. Fortunately, there are quite a few practical strategies to streamline workflows, improve translation quality, and reduce turnaround times. Read on as we explore various approaches you can use to optimize your localization.
1. Use translation management systems (TMS)
A TMS is one of the best tools to use to optimize the localization process. It streamlines workflows by offering a place where you can centralize translation resources, manage translation memories, and automate repetitive tasks (such as text extraction or integration). This is a single platform where all translators can collaborate and track progress, which helps keep your content consistent across different languages. You can integrate a TMS with content management systems or code hosting platforms for smooth updates and better version control. This makes it easier to handle continuous localization tasks for ongoing projects.
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Discover an easy to use and affordable localization app.2. Leverage translation memory (TM)
To put it simply, TM stores previously translated segments to be reused in future translations. This approach not only reduces the need for repetitive translations but also ensures consistency throughout the localization process. By using TM, translators can save time by working from existing resources rather than starting from scratch, and translation costs are lowered since fewer words need to be translated from the ground up. In addition to this, TM helps maintain the quality and uniformity of terms and phrases across multiple projects.
Read more: How to use the Translation Memory
3. Create a style guide and glossary
A style guide is a set of standards that provides translators with clear instructions on the tone, voice, and grammatical conventions to use. It’s used to ensure that translations reflect the brand’s identity accurately. The glossary serves as a reference for key terms, product names, and industry-specific jargon, so that these terms are translated consistently across different content types. Make sure to share these two resources with your translators and localization teams at the very beginning of the project.
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4. Automate repetitive tasks
By automating repetitive tasks in localization, you save time and reduce manual errors. Automation tools can handle many different activities like converting file formats, extracting text for translation, or reintegrating localized content into the final product. You can set up scripts or software that integrate with the TMS to perform these tasks. When manual work is minimized, your localization team can focus more on quality assurance and the more creative aspects of translation, rather than routine administrative tasks.
Read more: Localization automation: How to streamline global content
5. Design for localization from the start
Designing content and products with localization in mind, often referred to as internationalization (i18n), is key to avoiding complications later in the localization process. When you’re not hardcoding text strings and instead use external resource files, you can make content more accessible for translation. During the design phase, consider things like language expansion and layout adjustments for right-to-left scripts like Arabic. This kind of forward-thinking design helps prevent expensive rework and ensures that the product can be easily adapted to different markets.
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6. Incorporate machine translation with post-editing
The quality of human translation is unbeatable at the moment, but you can speed up localization using machine translation paired with human post-editing. The first step is to have machine translation tools handle large volumes of content quickly, and then bring in professional translators to review and improve the translated output through post-editing. This hybrid approach leverages the speed of automation while still benefiting from the human touch. Plus, it’s a great way to cut costs and time.
Read more: Machine translation post-editing: What you need to know
7. Localize in parallel with development
In software and app development, localizing content in parallel with development is another effective localization optimization strategy. By starting localization early and conducting it concurrently with development, you can avoid bottlenecks where localization is left until the final stages. Continuous localization, where content is localized as it is updated or created, aids translations stay current with the latest product iterations. This allows for simultaneous release of the localized versions alongside the source language version.
Read more: What is continuous localization?
8. Optimize content for localization
Optimize content for localization to simplify the translation process. What this means is writing source content in clear, straightforward language. Doing so helps translators avoid ambiguities and reduces errors. Modular content design, where pieces of content are structured in discrete, reusable units, also makes it easier to manage and translate updates across various projects. The benefits? Simplifying the source material can lead to better quality translations and quicker turnaround times.
Read more: Writing for localization: How to reach global audiences
9. Use in-country reviewers
Native speakers who are familiar with local customs, idioms, and cultural nuances are best at providing valuable insights during the review process, identifying potential issues that may not be obvious to translators. When doing localization, you need to remember that translations should not only be linguistically accurate but also culturally appropriate.
Read more: Cultural sensitivity in localization: How to achieve it
10. Manage and monitor Quality Assurance (QA)
Managing and monitoring quality assurance involves implementing checks such as linguistic testing to ensure translation accuracy, functional testing to verify that localized content performs correctly, and visual testing to confirm proper layout and display. Automated QA tools can detect issues like formatting errors, punctuation problems, or untranslated text segments, so that you get an extra layer of quality control. Regular QA processes help maintain the standard of translations and prevent potential issues from impacting end-users.
Read more:
- What is translation quality assurance (TQA)?
- What is localization testing? How-to and checklist
- QA Checks
11. Invest in localization training
If you want your translators to have a deep understanding of the brand, the product, and any industry-specific terminology, you need to train them. Localization training also involves educating content creators on writing with localization in mind, so they produce material that’s easier to translate. When translators and content creators are well-trained, they are better able to deliver high-quality localized content that meets the expectations of the target audience, and you can reduce the need for extensive revisions.
12. Analyze localization data and feedback
Another way to refine your localization process optimization is by analyzing localization data and customer feedback. Tracking translation errors, analyzing customer complaints related to localized content, and monitoring turnaround times for translations provide insights which you can then use to improve your workflow, style guides, and translation memory management.
Read more: How to collect customer feedback on localization
13. Integrate localization with Agile development
Too keep your localization on track with rapid development cycles, consider integrating localization with agile development methodologies. Align localization tasks with development sprints, so that your content can be translated and tested in smaller, manageable increments. This approach enables the simultaneous release of localized versions with the source language. It’s a way to maintain a consistent product launch schedule across different regions without delays due to localization.
Read more: Localization in various software development methodologies
14. Budget for localization upfront
Prevent last-minute rushes (that may compromise quality) by budgeting for localization upfront. Allocate resources for localization from the beginning and plan it as part of the overall product development roadmap so that there are no surprises when it comes to costs or timelines. This way, you avoid cutting corners and ensure the necessary resources are available for thorough translation, review, and testing phases.
Read more: Factors that influence localization cost
Optimize your localization with POEditor
As a cloud-based localization management system, POEditor can improve translation workflows and project efficiency. It gives you the tools necessary for managing translation projects, streamlining collaboration among translators, and automating repetitive tasks.
A key feature of POEditor is its translation memory, which stores previously translated segments for reuse in future translations. This helps reduce repetitive translation work, ensures consistency across different projects, and lowers costs. Additionally, the platform’s glossary feature allows users to create and manage a list of terms and phrases that must be translated consistently.
POEditor also supports automation through its API, enabling continuous localization. By connecting the platform with your content management system or code repository, you can automate the import and export of strings, keeping translations up to date as new content is added or existing content is modified.
By leveraging these features—along with many others, you can significantly optimize your localization processes, resulting in faster time-to-market for global products and services. And it doesn’t hurt that our pricing plans are accessible to businesses of all size.