7 Website Localization Best Practices

Going global is all about making it feel natural for international users. And just a simple translation is not a go-to option here. What you need is localization that turns your website into something native and intuitive, right down to the language and currency, date formats, and even cultural references. Done correctly, it doesn’t just remove barriers, it forms a connection.

With localization, you can scale, having a single site but providing localized personalized experiences that resonate locally. Let’s see how to do it, following Expert Soft’s practical advice.

Quick Tips for Busy People

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick rundown of essential website localization techniques.

• Adapt for language specifics: build RTL support, handle complex scripts, and create flexible layouts.
• Leverage internationalization tools: use ICU for regionalized dates, numbers, and plurals.
• Use Translation Management Systems: manage multilingual collaboration and translations efficiently.
• Implement lazy loading: improve speed by loading content on demand.
• Establish fallback mechanisms: use backup languages to prevent broken experiences.
• Store strings externally: separate content from code for easy maintenance.
• Use numeric tokens: ensure regional adaptability for numbers and quantities.

Now that we’ve covered the basic tips on website localization, let’s talk about how it can make a difference for your business.

Who Needs Localization?

By June 2024, a total of 75% of global Internet users favor data localization, whereas Weglot’s analysis says that 74% of the customers translate a website into one language, 8.56% into two languages, and 7.8% into more than two languages. Most importantly, 40% of the shoppers don’t buy products in any language other than their local one.

The data demonstrates that localization is an essential strategy for companies wishing to grow their worldwide footprint without maintaining several websites for different markets. It helps global companies stay true to their brand while connecting with local markets and enables SaaS platforms to deliver a smooth experience for users everywhere, making ecommerce feel familiar with local currencies and payment options.

For example, Coca-Cola localizes its marketing campaigns without altering its brand identity. Their Christmas truck tours, spanning 80+ countries, include region-specific events, such as local charity visits and digital holiday cards, balancing tradition with personalization.

And Netflix goes beyond translation with transcreation, adapting cultural references to be locally resonant. Hit shows like Sacred Games and La Casa de Papel illustrate the power of local storytelling, with region-specific marketing driving engagement.

Let’s now see how to carry out localization effectively.

Localization Best Practices

Effective localization requires technical precision and thoughtful design from the very beginning to deliver seamless experiences globally. The website localization best practices we included in the section help your site feel local to everyone.

Adapt website for language specifics

Translating content into another language may seem simple, but language nuances can easily disrupt website layout and readability if not handled properly. Various languages present issues, such as text direction, character complexity, and variable word lengths. These need to be tackled with careful design considerations and proven CSS practices.

Support RTL (right-to-left) languages

Some languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, are read from right to left (RTL), requiring a mirrored interface layout. This is accomplished by changing text alignment and reversing interface elements.

To handle both LTR (left-to-right) and RTL layouts efficiently, you can use CSS Logical Properties, using start/end instead of left/right, which automatically adjust based on the dir attribute in the HTML:

margin-inline-start: 10px;
text-align: start;

These replace traditional left/right attributes, providing flexible layouts with no code redundancy for languages.

Handle complex character sets (CJK languages)

Such languages as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) require adaptation as well. To ensure correct display and readability, use Unicode (UTF-8) encoding to support a wide range of characters.

These languages require special handling due to the absence of spaces between words and unique character wrapping rules.. This can be handled with proper word wrapping with CSS:

word-break: break-word;
overflow-wrap: break-word;

This way, you can be sure that lengthy words or character blocks are broken correctly, maintaining a clean layout on all screen sizes.

Format numbers and dates for regional standards

Since different regions use different number and date formats, localizing them properly makes your content feel natural and easy to understand. To handle these differences efficiently, use libraries like ICU (International Components for Unicode) for region-specific formatting, e.g.:

const number = 1000.50;
console.log(new Intl.NumberFormat('fr-FR').format(number)); // "1 000,50"

Manage specific constructions

When saying the same phrases, some languages take up more space than others because of specific grammar constructions and compound words. For example, English-to-German translations can expand by up to 30%.

To deal with compound words without distorting the interface, use flexible containers with automatic wrapping. The varying text length can be handled with adaptive layouts, using Flexbox and CSS grid to set the size of elements dynamically.

display: flex;
flex-wrap: wrap;
min-width: 150px;

One more thing to consider here is avoiding fixed-width buttons and containers to allow the interface to expand based on content length.

The takeaway

With the tips for website localization mentioned above, you’ll secure your website from hidden specifics of different languages. In this way, regardless of the language used, users will smoothly and naturally engage with your content, as if it was created specifically for them.

Leverage internationalization tools

Internationalization tools take the burden off your shoulders in terms of formatting dates, numbers, and currencies in local formats. Doing that automatically, such tools ensure your site presents information properly in various locales with little human effort.

A key assistant here is the ICU (International Components for Unicode). It offers solutions for handling regional differences, such as dates, numbers, and currencies according to local standards without manual adjustments.

To process complex text patterns like pluralization, gender forms, and case variations, ICU provides ICU MessageFormat. Here’s an example of how it handles pluralization:

{
"cart_items": "{count, plural, one {# item} other {# items}}"
}

ICU-based libraries, such as intl-messageformat, process numbers, gender forms, and pluralization rules, making it even easier to handle complicated linguistic patterns without needing to implement custom logic for every language.

Use translation management systems (TMS)

Translation Management Systems (TMS) is one of those website localization tools that helps organize and simplify the translation process, making it easier to manage multilingual content without losing track of updates or consistency.

A TMS acts as a central workspace where translators and developers can collaborate efficiently. It tracks every change so that updates are recorded and nothing slips through the cracks. If product copy or interface text is changed, the TMS marks the update and allows translators to revise it immediately.

One of the greatest things about a TMS is that it remembers and reapplies sentences that have been previously translated. If you’ve translated “Add to Cart” once, the system will automatically apply the same translation wherever it appears again. Not only does this save you time, but it also helps to keep your tone and style consistent throughout your website.

For developers, a TMS embeds directly into their tools so that there’s no more need to copy and paste translations into code. Translations now get updated automatically, minimizing errors and accelerating deployment.

Implement lazy loading for localized content

Lazy loading for translations is a smart way to optimize your site performance, particularly if you’re using several languages. When a user selects the language for a specific page, instead of replacing the whole content at once and keeping the user waiting longer, the website fetches content step-by-step, loading only that which is explored. This reduces page load times, cuts down on resource usage, and keeps your site running smoothly.

Implemented together with the headless setup, lazy loading delivers even greater flexibility in delivering localized content. With headless ecommerce development services, the front-end and back-end operate independently, loading only the necessary language resources per user session.

Lazy loading also simplifies maintenance. When you update translations, users have the new version without reloading the whole website. It’s a solid solution for keeping your site efficient, fast, and responsive no matter how many languages you support.

Establish fallback mechanisms

What happens when a part of the content in a chosen language is missing? Do users see the blank spaces or phrases from the major language? In such situations, you can use fallback mechanisms. When a translation isn’t available, the system shows a backup language.

At Expert Soft, we tackled this problem for an international ecommerce website that sells medical equipment in regions such as the USA, Canada, Europe, and South Korea. The client faced a specific challenge with users in Canada, where the website had to be both French and English. Missing translations in French caused product listings to break, disrupting the user experience.

We solved this by examining the client’s system and incorporating a custom Solr indexing provider. Now, if any portion of the French translation (word, sentence, or whole section) is missing, the platform automatically reverts to English, ensuring a smooth user journey. Leveraging our expertise in SAP commerce development, we were able to accomplish this with minimal redesign of the data model, delivering a cost-saving and efficient implementation.

Store strings in an external resource

Storing localized strings in external resource files, rather than hardcoding them into the site, makes your website more flexible and easier to maintain. Instead of embedding translations directly in the code, each language is stored in its own file. Then the system chooses the appropriate version depending on a user’s language settings.

This method makes updates easier: when you need to update translations, you just update language files without altering the codebase. It also enables translators to alter language files without interfering with the website’s functionality.

Use tokens for numeric variables

The same as with the previous practice, hardcoding numbers directly into text isn’t a go-to option. It’s inflexible and makes translations harder to manage. Use tokens instead — placeholders that will automatically be adjusted for different languages and regional formats.

Tokens are also useful for changing number formats, such as decimal points or currency positions, which vary between locales. For instance, “1,000.50” in the United States is translated to “1 000,50” in France without rewriting the text.

With tokens, your translations are cleaner and less prone to errors, and your website can scale, without having to rewrite each sentence when something as trivial as a number requires changing.

These localization methods are typically employed to complement headless ecommerce development services, ensuring your site is truly global and adaptable to diverse markets.

To Sum Up

Following website localization best practices from this article, you can craft experiences that are native and meaningful. By adapting layouts that handle varying text sizes, leveraging fallback mechanisms, and using internationalization tools, you make sure nothing breaks the user experience regardless of the language used.

Expert Soft’s expertise demonstrates how smart solutions solve real challenges and keep platforms running seamlessly across regions. And if you’re exploring how to approach localization for your business or want to discuss what strategies would fit your needs, we’re always open to a conversation. Let’s talk through your challenges and see how you can make your website truly global without losing the local touch.