Translation Service V/S Localisation Service. How Do They Differ?

When your website attracts viewers from all over the world, you need to start giving your public more to grow your retention rate.

To reach a growing global market, you need not only to translate your content into a foreign language, but also localize it, which involves a more comprehensive cultural adaptation to reach your target audience better.

So, what’s the difference between localization and translation anyway? Let us clear it out.

Localization Goes Beyond Translation

Translation means converting your content from the source language into the target language by taking into consideration the grammar rules and syntax.

You need translation to rewrite user manuals, medical documents, technical publications, manuals, scientific journals, and many such relevant documents. Translators must produce accurate work to make sure the message in the target language keeps the original meaning of the source text intact.

Localization, on the other hand, has more to do with rewriting the text into a different language. It adapts your message to local audiences. Localization is widely used for websites, mobile apps, software, multimedia content, video games, and voiceovers.

Localization means you’ll need to provide different content for Mexico and Spain, even though these countries have Spanish as their official language. Just as English varies from the US to Australia and Canada, most languages have local dialects that are to be taken into consideration while building the marketing strategy.

Regular translation will not be enough for your business to be successful in local markets. You need to localize your content to win the trust of the local people. Localization is of utmost importance in such scenarios.

KitKat Example:

KitKat not only translated its famous slogan into Japanese when it launched the product in Japan but also changed ‘Have a break, have a KitKat’ with ‘Kitto Katsu,’ which means ‘surely win.’ This strategy made the KitKat Japanese campaign a localization success.

Localization and Translation Are Different

Translation alone may not help you reach your target market in today’s globalized world. You’ll need to localize to fit in with local beliefs and traditions.

To increase engagement, you need to tailor your marketing strategy to meet local expectations. In this way, you’ll make the most of your investment and see an increase in your product sales and growth of business all around the world. Shakti Enterprise is the most sought after name in the translation industry, providing translation and localization services of high quality with an accuracy guarantee.