How Startups Can Localize Content Within Budget
By Shadab Khan
In order for any startup to reach 90% of the online audience worldwide, it needs to be localized in more than 25 languages. More customers mean more income and a chance to grow faster. The need to localize content; whether it is of a website or an app, is clear in today’s global world, yet many startups don’t have the budget to invest in a large localization project.
Content localization is a good investment and money well spent but there are ways to localize content on a budget; here is how!
Determining the Scope of Content Localization
Like any other expansion, one needs to clearly plan a budget. That can be done by determining the scope of the localization project. One way to do this is to calculate the number of words in your content/text that needs to be translated. Then multiply that number with the number of languages you want the content to be translated in. This will include the content of your website, mobile app, and other platforms. Having this approximate number will help one at understanding and predicting how much the localization is going to cost by translation services Pretoria and ultimately determining the budget that a startup is ready to spend on localization.
Thinking Globally
A common mistake that startups make is not having a conversation about localizing content beforehand. This may cause problems in the long run. Developing content while keeping localization in mind will save time, money, and resources in the future. Keeping a neutral tone in the content, sticking to universal concepts, and not using too many jargons will help in localizing content by translation services Johannesburg more cost-efficiently later on. If a startup has a software, it is important to keep it flexible, with a simple design, and space to add code when it will be localized later on. Remember, any content that is difficult to localize costs more.
Researching the Market
When localizing content on a budget, the startups cannot afford to pick random countries and hire translators based on little research. The startups need to use in-depth analysis of countries where their product could be a winner without much effort. Such data-driven decisions will always result in a successful product launch in international markets. It will set a solid foundation on which content strategy it will base. Money spent on market research ultimately saves the startups from huge losses tomorrow.
Prioritizing Content
Content localization is a complex process that involves multinational teams of linguists, translators, programmers, and engineers. Without a well-defined process or plan, the startups can miss deadlines, incur extra expenses, and in the end, have no result. Therefore, it is important to plan and prioritize content that requires localization.
A very easy way to save money for startups during the localization process is to translate less. Startups may feel that everything is vital and urgent for success but that may not be true. Consider starting the localization process with a few languages and identify parts of texts that need translation by translation services in South Africa. It is also a good idea to perform regular updates to avoid translating the same content twice. Remember, localization is an investment and startups will see the profits coming in sooner. Another way to prioritize content is to split it all into stages which can be followed one by one.
Hiring Professional Translation Services
Startups cannot afford to buy cheap services that will end up costing them more. When it comes to content localization, one needs to ensure that people with poor skills are not hired even if they cost less. Bad translations will cost more and will negatively affect the output of your business and your customer experience.
Such failures on the quality front can put the entire thing at risk and also damage the global reputation. Such a slip can easily result in losing the trust of customers and investors.
Similarly, startups must not rely on machine translations or people without professional experience or background. Only go for professional translation services Cape Town.
Using Automation
All startups would agree that technology can streamline workflows and also kickstart projects. Select translation services South Africa which use software localization tools to help rid of repetitive tasks. This way startups can speed up the process of getting their content localized and increase the quality of work done.
Using automation has another advantage. Startups can track the progress of localization project in real time and spot any mistakes, errors, or identify obstacles that can slow down the process or lead to communication errors.
Conclusion
Making a startup global on a budget is difficult but can be done smartly. One needs an effective team, organization, and prioritization to do so. Defining goals and aligning the overall content strategy will speed up the content localization while making it less prone to error; all of which will save money.
