Building a high-performing multilingual website unlocks numerous opportunities. A site audit helps map out a robust localization strategy that cuts costs and publishes content faster. We’ve compiled best practices to get your site to do more for less.
Audit your current website
A website audit is instrumental in starting your localization strategy. It gives a clear idea of what’s missing, where to allocate your resources and the various services needed as your multilingual website evolves.
By discussing your business, values and objectives, Attached can help you identify what works and what to improve so your international website delivers results. What’s more, Attached’s specialists can evaluate your messaging, website structure and multimedia to make recommendations on your overall marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and other best practices.
Identify risks and gaps
Your language strategy must leave no stone unturned. This is where a site audit especially comes in handy
- An audit flags hard-coded strings and ambiguous placeholders that can slow down the localization process and increase costs.
- On the content side, it highlights where you’ll need to close cross-cultural gaps to truly speak to the right audiences.
Incorporate tools and technology
Tools play a vital part in increasing productivity. Computer-assisted translation (CAT) and quality assurance (QA) tools help deliver more efficient and accurate translations. An application programming interface (API) solution instantly pushes updates for translation, saving time and preventing errors from manual processes. Your teams can therefore focus on what they do best.
A seamless workflow with a good balance of tools and translation technologies significantly reduces website translation costs and turnaround times.
Evaluate your reference materials
When you’re working with several languages, it’s essential to prepare materials for a consistent tone of voice and style. Sharing any glossaries, translation memories and style guides as part of your site audit is helpful to confirm whether they’re up to date and effective when localizing your website. Alternatively, a local marketing specialist can extract key terms and help establish brand guidelines and other necessary tools to save time and prevent easily avoidable mistakes.
Start small when implementing your localization strategy
Getting started with your multilingual website doesn’t mean that all content should be translated into all languages at once. It’s also effective to prioritize key parts of your website (e.g., product/service information and landing pages) for a few markets and scale your efforts later. If you decide to take a gradual approach, you can find further room for improvement and expand to new audiences faster.
Partner with language experts early on
An international website needs time and care to build and maintain. Leveraging a localization partner’s expertise will make the process smoother and more cost-effective.
Attached can help at any stage with an audit of your current site. If you’re starting from scratch, our language consultants can anticipate challenges and lay the groundwork before taking bigger steps, including selecting the right content management system (CMS).
Invest in your website with tailored support
Taking the time to assemble your website’s content and discuss your goals with localization professionals is essential to shape a resourceful language strategy. Attached’s site audit meticulously assesses your website and uncovers gaps to resolve, so you’ll know how to enter new markets efficiently.
View more multilingual website tips, or speak to us today for an audit of your existing site and consultation session.