Website Localization: How to Reach Global Audiences

Launching your website in another language is one of the most effective ways to expand into new markets. But website localization involves far more than translating text. It requires adapting your entire digital experience — content, design, functionality, and marketing strategy — for a new audience in a way that feels natural and trustworthy.

Done well, localization can open significant revenue streams. Done poorly, it can alienate the very audience you are trying to reach. This guide walks you through the complete localization process, from planning through execution, so you can make informed decisions at every stage.

If you are looking for professional support with website localization, Ecrivus International’s language services include website and e-commerce translation by native-speaking specialists with digital marketing expertise. For a broader overview of translation services, visit our complete translation services guide.

What Is Website Localization?

Website localization is the process of adapting a website for a specific locale — a combination of language, country, and cultural context. It goes beyond translation to include:

• Language translation: Converting all text content into the target language
• Cultural adaptation: Adjusting images, colors, references, examples, and tone to resonate with the target culture
• Technical adaptation: Handling character encoding, text direction, date formats, currency, address formats, and phone number formats
• Legal compliance: Adapting privacy policies, terms and conditions, and cookie notices to meet local legal requirements
• SEO localization: Researching and implementing keywords that the target audience actually uses when searching
• UX adaptation: Ensuring that the localized site provides the same quality user experience as the original

The goal is to create a version of your website that feels native to users in the target market — not a translated version of a foreign site.

Planning Your Localization Project

Market Assessment

Before committing resources to localization, assess the opportunity:

• Market size: What is the addressable market in the target region?
• Competitive landscape: Are competitors already serving this market in the local language? If so, you are at a disadvantage by not localizing
• Existing traffic: Check your web analytics for traffic from the target country. Are users already finding you, even without localized content?
• Customer demand: Have you received inquiries from the target market? Do you already have customers there?

Prioritizing Content

You do not need to localize your entire website at once. Prioritize content based on business impact:

• Tier 1 (immediate): Homepage, key product/service pages, contact page, checkout flow (for e-commerce)
• Tier 2 (short-term): Product catalog, FAQ, trust signals (testimonials, case studies), legal pages
• Tier 3 (medium-term): Blog content, knowledge base, support documentation
• Tier 4 (ongoing): New content as it is published

This phased approach lets you enter a market quickly and expand coverage over time.

Choosing Your URL Structure

How you structure your localized URLs affects both SEO and user experience. The main options are:

• Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs): example.nl, example.de — strongest geo-targeting signal, but requires separate domain management and link equity
• Subdirectories: example.com/nl/, example.com/de/ — easy to implement, consolidates domain authority, recommended for most businesses
• Subdomains: nl.example.com, de.example.com — some SEO professionals treat these as separate sites, which can dilute authority

For most businesses, subdirectories offer the best balance of SEO benefit and manageability.

The Translation Process

Beyond Word-for-Word Translation

Website content is persuasive content. Product descriptions sell. Service pages convince. Blog posts build trust. A literal translation that is technically accurate but reads like a translation will underperform content written natively for the target market.

For marketing-oriented pages, consider transcreation rather than direct translation. Transcreation adapts the message, tone, and emotional appeal for the target culture while preserving the intent of the original content.

For informational content (help pages, technical specifications, legal text), straightforward professional translation with cultural adaptation is usually appropriate.

What to Translate

Localization involves more content than you might initially think:

• Body text: All visible text on every page
• Navigation and UI elements: Menu items, buttons, form labels, error messages
• Metadata: Page titles, meta descriptions, alt text for images
• Structured data: Schema markup, product data feeds
• Dynamic content: Search results, filters, notifications, chatbot scripts
• Transactional content: Emails, order confirmations, shipping notifications
• Legal content: Privacy policy, terms of service, cookie consent text
• Multimedia: Video subtitles or voiceover, infographic text, downloadable documents

Managing the Translation Workflow

For websites with significant content volumes, manual copy-paste workflows are unsustainable. Professional localization workflows use:

• Content export/import: Extracting translatable text from the CMS in structured formats (XLIFF, JSON, PO files)
• Translation management systems (TMS): Platforms that manage the assignment, tracking, and delivery of translation projects
• Translation memory: Technology that stores approved translations for reuse, ensuring consistency and reducing costs for repetitive content. Read our detailed guide to how translation memory works
• CMS integration: Direct connections between your content management system and translation tools, enabling seamless workflows

Technical Implementation

Hreflang Tags

Hreflang tags tell search engines which language version of a page to show to users in different regions. Implementing hreflang correctly is essential for international SEO:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="nl" href="https://example.com/nl/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/page" />

Common hreflang mistakes to avoid:

• Missing return tags (every hreflang must be reciprocal)
• Using incorrect language or country codes
• Pointing to non-canonical URLs
• Omitting the x-default tag

Character Encoding and Text Direction

Ensure your site uses UTF-8 encoding to support all languages. If you are localizing into Arabic, Hebrew, or other right-to-left (RTL) languages, your CSS and layout must accommodate RTL text direction. This requires CSS adjustments for margins, padding, alignment, and navigation flow.

Date, Number, and Currency Formatting

Formats vary by locale:

• Dates: US uses MM/DD/YYYY, most of Europe uses DD/MM/YYYY, and Japan uses YYYY/MM/DD
• Numbers: The US uses commas for thousands and periods for decimals (1,234.56), while many European countries reverse this (1.234,56)
• Currency: Display prices in the local currency where possible, and always clarify which currency is shown

Performance Optimization

Localized sites should load quickly for users in the target region. Consider:

• Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Serve assets from servers geographically close to your target users
• Image optimization: Localized images (different sizes, text overlays) should be optimized for web delivery
• Lazy loading: For content-heavy pages, load visible content first

SEO for Localized Websites

International Keyword Research

Keywords do not translate directly. The terms your English-speaking customers use to find your products may have no direct equivalent in another language, or the equivalent term may have different search volume or intent.

For each target market:

• Research keywords natively: Use keyword tools configured for the target language and country
• Analyze local search behavior: Search habits, query patterns, and popular platforms may differ
• Study local competitors: See what terms successful local competitors are targeting
• Consider cultural context: Product categories, use cases, and purchase motivations may differ by market

On-Page SEO

Localize all on-page SEO elements:

• Page titles and meta descriptions: Translated and optimized for target-language keywords
• Heading structure: Adapted for target-language keyword inclusion
• URL slugs: Translated into the target language (e.g., /nl/diensten/ instead of /nl/services/)
• Image alt text: Translated and keyword-optimized
• Internal linking: Cross-link between localized pages where relevant

Link Building

Each localized version of your site needs its own link-building strategy. Links from local, relevant sources carry more weight for regional rankings. Get expert help with your multilingual SEO and link-building strategy — Ecrivus International has a proven track record with international clients.

E-Commerce Localization

E-commerce websites have additional localization requirements that directly impact conversion rates:

Product Information

• Translate and localize product titles, descriptions, and specifications
• Adapt sizing (clothing, shoes), voltage/power requirements, and compatibility information for the local market
• Localize product reviews or display market-specific reviews

Checkout Flow

The checkout is where localization most directly affects revenue:

• Payment methods: Offer local payment options (iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, Klarna in Scandinavia)
• Shipping information: Display local shipping options, estimated delivery times, and import/duty information
• Address formats: Adapt address fields for local conventions
• Tax display: Show prices with or without VAT according to local norms and regulations

Trust Signals

Trust factors vary by market:

• Display local trust seals and certifications recognized in the target market
• Show a local phone number or contact option
• Display reviews and testimonials in the local language
• Provide customer service in the local language

Quality Assurance

Before launching a localized site, conduct thorough testing:

• Linguistic QA: Have native speakers review all translated content in context on the actual site
• Functional testing: Verify that forms, checkout flows, filters, and interactive elements work correctly with localized content
• Layout testing: Check that translated text fits within design constraints (buttons, menus, cards) across all breakpoints
• SEO verification: Confirm that hreflang tags are correct, metadata is translated, and sitemaps include localized URLs
• Performance testing: Verify that localized pages load within acceptable time limits for the target region

Maintaining Localized Content

Localization is not a one-time project. Ongoing maintenance requirements include:

• Content updates: When you update the original site, corresponding updates must be made to localized versions
• New content: Blog posts, product pages, and marketing campaigns need to be localized on an ongoing basis
• Seasonal content: Adapt campaigns and promotions for local holidays and cultural events
• Performance monitoring: Track analytics for each localized version to identify content gaps and opportunities

Establish clear workflows for triggering and managing translations when content changes, and use translation memory to maintain consistency and control costs over time.

Common Localization Mistakes

• Machine translation without review: Automated translation has improved significantly, but it still produces errors, awkward phrasing, and cultural missteps. Always have professional translators review and post-edit machine translation output
• Ignoring cultural differences: Using images, colors, or references that are inappropriate or ineffective in the target culture
• Incomplete localization: Leaving some elements (error messages, footer text, dynamic content) untranslated
• Neglecting local SEO: Simply translating English keywords instead of conducting native keyword research
• One-size-fits-all approach: Treating all target markets the same instead of adapting strategy for each locale

Getting Started

Website localization is a significant undertaking, but the phased approach outlined above makes it manageable. Start with your highest-value content, invest in professional translation and cultural adaptation, implement the technical foundations correctly, and build from there.

The investment pays for itself when your localized site starts converting visitors in new markets at rates comparable to your domestic site. Explore our guide to choosing a translation agency for help selecting a localization partner, or return to our complete translation services guide for a full overview of professional language solutions. If you are localizing into Dutch, our kennisbank over vertaalbureaus provides Dutch-language insights on translation quality and processes. For official document translations needed during international expansion, see our guide on beëdigde vertalingen in Nederland.