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Our goal is to provide you with in-depth knowledge regarding localization.

Learn how CMS localization can boost your online presence, expand your reach, and optimize for international success with our informative article.

CMSs: industry state and how to localize them best

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Localization Blog

Helmut Juskewycz

Markus Merzinger

Lingohub

The development cycle for startups looking for significant success often includes a global expansion process. From the start of this article, we want to highlight the difference between the "expanding globally" and "international sales" processes, as this is important for a clear understanding of the topic.

So, "global expansion" is a process that includes not only sales but also communication with local audiences and localization of all processes to correspond to local expectations. At the same time, "international sales" is only a part of the global strategy and is responsible only for a small sector of deals. 

To expand globally, startups need to implement a series of actions, including planning, globalization, and localization, which we will overview in detail below. But first, let's review the key benefits of this process and why startup global expansion is profitable. So the main advantages are the following:
Increasing the profit because of the vast market share;
Diversification of revenue and protection from global risks and force majeure by opening additional markets in different corners of the world;
Rising the trust of the customers by increased brand recognition in the world;

These advantages are also significant in the context of "staying afloat," as the failure rate for startups is around <a href="https://explodingtopics.com/blog/startup-failure-stats#" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">90%</a>. Sometimes, entering a market other than the local market can bring new perspectives.

## Key steps to expand internationally 
Startups that decide to go global are experiencing an exciting but challenging journey. We defined the general steps to provide a better overview. 


### **Step 1.** Development of the globalization and localization strategy.
 
This step is primary because it defines the entire direction for global expansion and contains:
1. **Market research**: Evaluate and define the general direction (target regions and countries), potential audience, and possible revenue for each. Choose the current and future priority — this will save you time when you decide to scale globalization efforts.
2. **Competitors research**: Understand the market leaders and companies that already exist in your segment, as well as their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies for adapting to the local market. Also, learn how they talk to customers, what they say, how they sell, etc.
3. **Build a business model** for the region you decided to start in. This step includes adapting the product/service, creating a pricing strategy, forming distribution/logistics (if needed), researching local regulatory and legal considerations, risks, and budgeting planning.
4. **Create a localization strategy**. You will likely need the support of local experts to think through all the nuances and understand the regional peculiarities from the start.

Read more →   [How to build an effective localization strategy](/blog/how-to-build-an-effective-localization-strategy)?


### **Step 2**. Globalization and localization strategies implementation

A perfect plan is just the beginning – success comes from flawlessly executing it. In many ways, the final result of global expansion is closely intertwined with the team's expertise and professionalism. So, to make your plans come true, you have to build strong teams and provide optimized and result-oriented processes for them. The composition may vary, but mainly, startups need the following:
1. A **content translation team** whose tasks will include translation, localization, and transcreation, depending on the content type. We highly recommend reading our article about [transcreation](/blog/the-importance-of-transcreation-in-localization) for a deep understanding of the difference between all these terms and the cases when they are best to implement. That means your project can require UX copywriters, industry experts, and translators.
2. **[Localization engineers](/blog/the-role-of-localization-engineer-in-the-globalization-process)** to control and improve the process and cover challenges from the technical side.
3. **[Localization managers](/blog/role-of-the-localization-managers-in-business)** who oversee all activities from start to finish and manage localization aspects (for example, legal, which is essential for specific industries.) 


---

→ **Read more** about the legal aspect of localization for industries:

- [Medical software localization](/blog/medical-software-localization)
- [Blockchain localization](/blog/blockchain-localization-bridging-the-gap-between-technology-and-world)

---

### **Step 3**. Choose the best tools for localization

Once you have planned a strategy and built a team to go global, it is a perfect time to choose a solution that will help make your plans come true fast and easy. At this stage, you have a few options:
1. **CAT tools** for expanding startups globally — this is a group of instruments, such as machine translation, glossary, and translation memory, that help translators and linguists do their work by additional automation.

- The **main benefit** of these solutions is that the translation speed and quality will rise. 
- The **main disadvantage** of CAT is that this solution is targeted at individuals rather than teams. So, CATs can't assist with progress monitoring or effort synchronization.

Read more →   [Top CAT tools for translators in 2024](/blog/top-cat-computer-assisted-translation-tools-in-2024-for-translation)

2. **Translation management system (TMS)**: This software combines CAT tools with management capabilities, such as reports, dashboards, invoices, etc. The main advantage of translation management systems is their comprehensive structure, which means that businesses can cover the majority of localization tasks in one place.

Read more →   [How to choose the best TMS for your business?](/blog/get-rid-of-your-excel-files-with-translation-management-system-tms)


### **Step 4**. Final implementation, Tips from Pro
As an additional step, we want to highlight the things you should take care of from the start to simplify the localization in the future.

**Tip 1**. Integrate localization into your CI/CD pipeline. In other words - build a [continuous localization](/blog/role-continuous-translation-agile-software-development-workflows) process, significantly speeding up your time-to-market. Once a perfectly built process can cover your localization needs for a long time.

**Tip 2**. Optimize for [multilingual SEO](/blog/seo-for-multilingual-websites) from scratch. The search optimization plan will help build the resource structure, define the priorities, and translate the content more specifically to the audience.

**Tip 3**. Remember to adapt the customer support and localize [UGC content](/blog/localization-in-ugc-user-generated-content) (if it exists.) The latest research shows that <a href="https://csa-research.com/Featured-Content/For-Global-Enterprises/Global-Growth/CRWB-Series/CRWB-B2C" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">73%</a> of customers want product reviews in their language, and <a href="https://csa-research.com/Featured-Content/For-Global-Enterprises/Global-Growth/CRWB-Series/CRWB-B2C" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">40%</a> will not buy if the content is in a language other than their native language.


### **Step 5**. Monitor, analyze, and adapt
Even the greatest plans and realizations can be improved. We highlighted a few aspects you must consider from the start. 
1. **Track performance**. This step includes sales and revenue metrics, customer behavior, ROI, etc., and compliance with the primary business plan.
2. **Track localization success**. Monitor how the localized content resonates with the local audience. Your instruments here are surveys, pools, and A/B tests to check customer satisfaction and detect pain points.
3. **Adapt to the feedback**. Based on customer behavior and feedback, adjust your offers. This process could include adding or modifying features, adapting tone of voice, providing additional educational content, etc.


## Top 3 challenges and solutions for startups to expand globally

In general, the process of expanding startups to other markets looks complex but clear, but there are challenges that startups can face when deciding or have already started going global:

### Challenge 1. Manage all translated content throughout the project

At the start of the localization, startups can often use general solutions like cloud drives to collect content, glossaries, and style guides, email to exchange information, spreadsheets to track progress, etc. It can work for the first stages, but as soon as the business needs to translate more content, the time spent on managing the entire process grows exponentially, as does the chance of human mistakes.

**Solution**: translation management systems cover most of the localization management routine. With [Lingohub TMS](/), you can have unlimited projects for different content types, such as websites, social media, help centers, and mobile applications conveniently located in folders. 

Also, users can overview the progress per project, language, and branch to plan the resources and have a transparent overview. All data is stored in the cloud environment and can be imported in the original format or CSV/XLIFF, allowing smooth work with internal and external translators. 



### Challenge 2. Scale the localization process
  
Closely related to the first point, the scaling challenge comes when businesses add a new language version(s) or work with other file types, frameworks, etc. Thus, if your team spends **X time** on translation and organizing the localization process, when adding a new language, you need **X2 resources **to handle it at the same level. What if we say that you need much less with the well-built process?

**Solution**:
With Lingohub, your processes are flexible and easily automated, which allows startups to expand internationally with less human effort. For example, you can:
- Build a workflow that includes text processing steps, such as automatically setting up the status and removing spaces;  
- Exclude the human efforts like double spacing, wrong terms translation, and missing tags with automated quality checks;
- Smooth exchange of localization files between your [repository/application](/integrations/) and Lingohub with built-in synchronization tools;
- Create custom flows with a REST API and many more.


### Challenge 3. Finding linguistic experts in time

Even if you have a ready team, a situation can arise when the deadline is approaching, but someone from your linguists is sick or on vacation. Finding the right person and sharing all the context information about the project will take time, and the translator can become a bottleneck.

**Solution**:
With Lingohub, you can order translations for more than 40 languages without leaving an application. The best thing is that all the context data, like a glossary and style guide, will be available for our translators, meaning you will get the top-level result without stress.



## To sum up

Companies expanding internationally are on the way to worldwide success. To achieve this with the maximum benefit, you need a professional team and tools that can support localization.  

Lingohub was developed with customers in mind, so we provide a vast pool of features focused on automation and improving the customer's processes. Try yourself how this can work with our 14-day trial, or [book a demo](/demo) with our team to discuss your case.


Expanding startups to the worldwide market is vital to their success strategy. This article overviews the startup localization process, including its main steps and challenges.

Expand your startup internationally: Key benefits and strategies

Today, translation and localization are highly profitable when users are just one click away from the businesses. The latest research, for example, claims that each <a href="https://coschedule.com/blog/localization" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">1$ </a>spent on localization brings a 25$ return, which is a great ROI. Such a success of localization implementation is conditioned by the high impact of the native language on the users and as a result their increasing loyalty.

To add more weight to the word above, let's overview the <a href="https://csa-research.com/Featured-Content/For-Global-Enterprises/Global-Growth/CRWB-Series/CRWB-B2C" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">CSA - Can't Read, Won't Buy</a> report, which proves the following:
- 65% of users prefer the content in their native language;
- 40% of users wouldn't buy on the website with the language other than their; 
 - 73% of customers need product reviews in their native language.


Based on all these facts above, the translation industry has become a necessary part of all the processes for companies going global. The statistic shows that the language market has ​​<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/257656/size-of-the-global-language-services-market/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">doubled twice</a> in the last decade, which is closely connected to the increased internet spreading and popularity and ability to communicate with users worldwide easily. Companies started interested in providing multilingual regional versions to stay on the same wavelength as their customers. As a result, today the translation market reaches over ​​<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/257656/size-of-the-global-language-services-market/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">$40 billion</a> with a tendency to grow.


## How much does translation cost today?

When starting software translation, one of the initial challenges is understanding the fair market pricing. The cost of translation service can vary from, for example, ​​<a href="https://www.upwork.com/hire/translators/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">5$ to 50$ or even 150$</a> per hour, or you can meet the price per word/line, etc. All this can be confusing for customers, so we decided to talk about translation costs a bit more.

First of all, if you want to get the average cost of translation services, it is impossible because of a few factors:

1. **The language pair's rarity**. The more common language pairs like English-German will be cheaper than rare pairs, like Sweden-Chinese. The more translators are on the market for the pair the lower will be the price and vice versa.
2. **The industry of the text that should be translated**. Even native speakers can't correctly describe complex topics like banking, medicine, legal, accounting, etc. As these are sensitive areas, such texts should be translated by the translators who are professionals in the field, or by the experts inside the industry.
3. **Urgency**. Here all is transparent as much as can be - the faster you need a result the more expensive the work will be, as it requires extra effort from the translator's side.


The location of the translators also impacts their salaries, and to show the difference, let's take a look at the average translation services cost in different countries worldwide 
- ​​<a href="https://www.indeed.com/career/translator/salaries" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">25$</a>/hour in the USA 
- <a href="https://www.payscale.com/research/DE/Job=Translator/Salary" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">19$</a>/hour Germany  
- <a href="https://www.payscale.com/research/FR/Job=Translator/Salary" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">16.5$</a>/hour in France 
- <a href="https://www.payscale.com/research/CH/Job=Translator/Salary" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">40$</a>/hour in Switzerland 


## Сost of website translation. How much should I pay?

Besides all this data, there is an important question, how much tentatively does translation cost for the website or software? Let's try to count together the simple example of a small website with only three pages - homepage, contact, and about us. And to simplify this counting, let's choose the English-French pair. 

The tentative number of all words on these pages will be around 1500, including all the UI elements like the menu, footer, and CTA.

To provide the most accurate pricing, we compared the prices from different agencies with those from Lingohub. In terms of noncompeting, we will provide only the tentative pricing we got without agency names
- 199$ in agency A  
- 215$ in agency B 
- 210$ with [Lingohub translating services](/features/professional-translation) (70*3=$210)


Thus, if you need to translate x10 pages with respectively 15K words, the average price will be $2000 for a general topic like a software translation. As we mentioned above, the price can vary based on multiple factors. 

But here is a pitfall that usually isn't considered when estimating the website translation - you need many more resources than just a translator. Besides the linguist, you need at least a manager who can provide the correct guides for the translator, like a list of terms and a style guide, and who will manage and control the entire process. Also, companies often require a designer, especially when dealing with languages that use different scripts, such as Latin or Cyrillic, to fix UI issues, as various languages often require different box sizes, etc.
Besides the professional team, you should count the tools you need to manage the translation. 

Of course, when we talk about small websites/landings with up to 2-3K words, you can store all content somewhere, but when discussing mid-size and bigger resources it is impossible to handle everything without the translation management system. At this stage, you must find a solution that will save your team's time and, consequently, money spent on translation.


## How can Lingohub help reduce translation costs?

**Case 1. The term consistency.**

Whether there is only one person working on your content or a team, having a consistent terminology base can help minimize issues and provide necessary context. For instance, if a specific feature is spelled in a particular way, it should be used consistently throughout all the texts on your website, software, etc.

You can provide a [term base](/features/term-base) as a separate document, but you or your manager have to ensure after translation that all important terms were translated correctly. Also, when translating, your team has to switch between translation and documentation to find the needed term. Such a process is just about the extra time spent on the task that can be handled automatically.

As a solution, the Lingohub application has a term base that highlights all terms inside the Editor and provides the correct suggestion right during the translator's work. 

Additionally, the [quality checks ](/features/quality-checks)feature is a warning if the term was used not in the exact match as the glossary suggests, which allows managers to see all the issues with terms translation initially, without a deep dive into the texts. Such an approach highly saves the time of translating and editorial teams and, as a result, the translation costs.
___________________

**Extra case** - imagine after some time, your team decided to change the feature name or even the company name spelling, for example, "Company Name" instead of "CompanyName." Changing all the text on your resource is a long and energy-consuming process, while with Lingohub you can automatically import all your content, and add a new rule to the term base, thus all segments with the wrong term will be highlighted.

Thus your team will see where the misspelled words are placed and quickly change them. After all fixing is done the content can be exported back in one click to your app/repository and delivered.
___________________

**Case 2. Translation speed**

A lot of translators are charged per hour which means that any reduction of this time can significantly save the translation budget.

At Lingohub you have two main options that aim to speed up the entire translating process.
Pre-translation feature, which can use the previous translation data, AI engine results, or any existing language to fill the text segments.
The AI [machine translation](/features/machine-translation), which results are available during the translation process within the Editor, along with a custom searching ability, all without leaving the application.
By reusing the existing translation or support of the modern robust engines you can accelerate the entire process two times like our customers already do.

**Read more:**
→ [How Chipolo accelerated the localization process with Lingohub?](/case-studies/chipolo)
____________________________________

**Case 3. Challenges with the external experts**

During the long-term translating process, when the team supports various multilingual versions, the situation when the business has to hire freelancers or an agency to support the process occurs often. 

If the new team members or agency are not involved in your translation management process and system, you may encounter issues when the file structure is broken (e.g., some tags are missed).

To solve this challenge, Lingohub supports the XLIFF format for efficient maintenance of file structure and to avoid potential issues when working with external translators. Using XLIFF, you can easily move localization files back and forth without risking any disruption to your code's structure.

→ [More about our integrations and files supported](/integrations/)


## To sum up
The modern translation industry can't be imagined without modern tools designed to automate and simplify processes. No matter if you are working with external translators, freelancers or an in-house team, the translation and localization management software directly impacts the cost of website translation by reducing the manual tasks and efforts.

Lingohub was designed with the understanding of challenges that exist in the translator's way, so the tools we provide are thought out to the smallest detail to ensure that everything is going the right way. 

If you want to get more information, [book a demo](/demo) with our team, and we will guide you through all the features. If you'd rather try it on your own, take advantage of the free [14-day trial period](https://app.lingohub.com/sign-up) (no credit card required). We hope to see you on board soon as we work towards global outreach together.





Understanding the translation cost is important when planning the localization budget. In our article, you will find out the world's rates and tips for reducing.

Translation cost: World's rates and tips for reducing

We continue our series of articles about the localization of different languages, and today, we will delve into something new: Russian, one of the representatives of the Cyrillic script.

Russian is often a targeted language for localization, with more than 258 million speakers worldwide. Additionally, many Russian-speaking audiences outside Russia live in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Israel, and other regions, making this language universal for several areas. 

Despite Russian localization's attractiveness, it can be challenging because of the peculiarities of the alphabet, grammar, and scripts. To help you better understand this language's nuances, we overview the main challenges of its localization and how to solve them.

## 1. Fonts challenge

The first challenge you can face when translating from Latin to Cyrillic script is choosing an appropriate font. The typical situation is when the current font isn't good enough for Cyrillic or doesn't correctly support unique characters like "**ё**" or "**ъ**." Look at the image below, where the fonts are compared with different scripts. 

As a result, one of the main tasks before Russian localization is choosing the best font to fit the original version's design conception (serif or sans serif, decorative, etc.)

---

Because of this, as a best practice, the Lingohub team always highlights the importance of a design-first approach to localization. Such a strategy allows the team to evaluate the general view of the localized content from the start and add needed changes at the initial stage. 

To simplify implementing this method, we designed the Figma plugin, which allows fast content exchange between the layouts in Figma and Lingohub. You can pre-translate your text in a few clicks and push it back to the Figma layout to evaluate the changes and implement the required edits.

## 2. Context challenge
The correct translation from English to Russian is impossible without additional context, especially when discussing small text segments (one-word segments). The reason is the big difference in grammar between English and Russian. Take a look at the main distinctions below:
### Nouns genders
Each noun in Russian has a masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. These genders affect the adverbs, verbs, adjectives, and numerals. For example, the button text "Next" can be universal for the English UI and used in the blog, app, etc., with no changes. However, translating it to Russian often requires understanding the button position.

When we talk about a "next page," the word "page" in Russian has a feminine gender, so the correct form for the word "next" will be "Следующая''(Sleduyuschaya), and when we talk about a "next product" (product has a masculine gender), the correct form will be "Следующий" (Sleduyuschiy). Also, based on the context, this word can be translated as "Дальше''(Dalshe) or even "Далее" (Dalee).

To provide you with another example, let's take a look at the phrase "I have done," which is impossible to translate without context as it can be both "Я сделал" (masculine) and "Я сделала" (feminine). 

### Nouns declension
Besides gender, Russian nouns have six cases, but unlike German, they affect the word itself, not the article (the Russian language doesn't have articles at all). Take a look at how the word "application" - "приложение" changes based on the cases. Below is an example of a singular. 

- **Nominative** - приложение (prilozhen**ie**)
- **Genitive** - приложения (prilozhen*iya*)
- **Dative** - приложению (prilozhen**iyu**)
- **Accusative** - приложение (prilozhen**ie**)
- **Instrumental** - приложением (prilozhen**iem**)
- **Prepositional** - приложении (prilozhen**ii**)

---
Therefore, to handle the potential issues with the incorrect forms of the words during translation, at Lingohub, we provide a list of additional context tools that can simplify the process and improve the accuracy and quality:
- **Context images** - screenshots that can be uploaded automatically or manually and that show where the exact text segment is placed on the page. 
- **Segment description** - where the team can add information about a specific segment.
- **Segment keys** that can indicate where the text exists in the design.
---

## 3. The tone of voice challenge

To better overview this part, we should take a step back and explain the conceptual difference between the two groups of languages - **analytic (English)** and **synthetic (Russian.)**
The first group (analytical languages) requires additional words to convey the exact meaning, while in synthetic languages, the meanings are expressed by word forms. 
When we want to say "Sit down" based on formality in Russian, we can ignore adding "Please" and only change the entire word:
- **informal** "садись"(sadis)
- **formal** "присаживайтесь"(prisazhivaytes) - this form will be polite and formal. 
"Please" can be added optionally, but this is not required. 

Now, let's review the tone of voice challenge in detail.

### Formal and informal tone 

In Russian, there are two forms of appeal: formal "Вы"(Vyi) and informal "ты"(tyi).
In general, there is the following rule: 
- "Вы" is written with a capital letter when politely addressing one person and with lowercase when addressing several persons. However, this works mainly in very formal situations, such as when writing applications, claims, etc. 
- In less informal situations, for example, messages inside the app, emails, etc., can use lowercase "вы." Also, communication with "вы" is used when talking to older people or people you don't have a close relationship with. 

The appeal "ты" is very informal and can be used with friends or people you know well. In business cases, such an appeal is often used in organizations like cosmetics companies or some games, etc., when a brand wants to build a friendly relationship with the customer. One of the cases is the advertisement of the Snickers chocolate: "Ты не ты когда голоден." (you're not you when you're hungry)


Correct usage of formality is essential because both pronouns and verbs change by the formal and informal tone. If we translate the phrase "After submitting the action, you will be redirected to the page." we will have the following options:
formal: "После подтверждения действия вы будете перенаправлены на страницу"
informal: "После подтверждения действия ты будешь перенаправлен на страницу."


### Anglicisms usage 

Anglicisms are part of Russian, especially in the IT industry, and translators can face the challenge of using anglicisms or searching for corresponding translations without a detailed guide. Examples of words that are widely used without translation are "OK, push, pull." Also, a widely spread situation is when the words are transliterated like:
- "забукать" - "to book..." something, 
- "инфлюенсер" - "influencer,"
- "ивент" - "event"

---
Choosing the correct tone of voice will mainly affect the entire translation, so it is essential to discuss the tone of voice the team will use before localization and prepare the [style guide](/features/style-guide) that describes all nuances based on the audience's peculiarities. 

---

<br></br>
## 4. The words' order challenge

Russian is a highly flexible language, allowing different word orders. However, the word order can also vary to emphasize specific elements or thoughts. The sentence "The translation industry grew by 15% last year" can be translated like:
- (1) В прошлом году индустрия переводов выросла на 15%.
- (2) На 15% выросла в прошлом году индустрия переводов.
- (3) Индустрия переводов выросла на 15% в прошлом году.

All these sentences are built correctly and can be used based on the context of the previous sentences and the rhythm of the text. 

Sometimes, the sentence should be changed entirely to convey the correct meaning. That's why the translation team requires professionals who can deeply understand all the nuances of the regional culture and content meaning.

**Example**: "Я знаю это. (I know that)." (neutral) vs. "Это знаю я." (that know I)." (emphasis on speaker.)

Also, there is no need to change the word order in interrogative sentences - a question mark at the end is enough.

**Example**: 
- Questioning intonation - "Ты пойдешь со мной?" - "Will you come with me?"
- Affirmative descending intonation - "Ты пойдешь со мной" - "You will come with me."

## To sum up
To sum up, Russian, with its unique linguistic characteristics, may not be the easiest language for localization, but it offers access to vast and lucrative markets.

To support localization, Lingohub is building a comprehensive platform designed to simplify and streamline all your localization needs. With our advanced tools and dedicated support, we ensure your content resonates effectively with Russian-speaking audiences. Book a call with us, and let's grow together.

Localization to Cyrillic scripts is challenging as it requires understanding all nuances of the fonts, design, and word usage from scratch. Click and read more about Cyrillic localization in the Russian language example.


Russian localization: challenges and tips

## What is UX writing? 
UX writing (User Experience writing) is a process of creating user-oriented content whose primary goal is improving the interaction between user and software. This activity is often related to software elements such as navigation, buttons, error messages, tips, banners, and other parts responsible for user experience. Unlike copywriting (creating landing pages or blog articles), UX writing aims to provide an excellent user experience, not attract or push sales.
During this process, the experts focus on clarity, conciseness, and functionality, which are closely related to the product's context of use and influence customers' engagement. For example, research shows that <a href="https://www.linearity.io/blog/ux-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">89%</a> of users will go with a competitor in case of a poor user experience, and <a href="https://www.linearity.io/blog/ux-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">74%</a> of businesses call user experience a crucial part of boosting sales. 

## Examples of UX writing
One of the main goals of UX writing is **designing user flows and creating clear and consistent guidance** at every step of the product journey. Let's look at a few scenarios of flows used in most web and mobile applications.
Initial user engagement. Here, the main goal is to help a new user start interacting with the product. Mostly, UX writers prepare some welcome texts and first instructions on creating a profile/sign-up or what can be done with the software. 
- **Onboarding**. UX writers create clear, easy-to-understand step-by-step instructions that help users get comfortable with the interface. Onboarding content creation is also essential when new features are released, or changes are made to existing ones.
- **Contextual clues**. In this scenario, pop-up windows or text on hover can provide helpful information about parts of the application or web resource.
- **Navigation**. The clear and familiar names in the navigation help users find the needed functionality and don't frustrate them with multiple clicks to find the parts of the application or website they need.
- **Error messages**. Clear error messages inform the user what went wrong and how it can be fixed. Confused messages or their absence can lead users to avoid dealing with the issues and leave the web resource.
- **Confirmation and completion messages**. Notifications about the successful completion of actions support the user and create confidence that everything was done correctly. For example, when the user is notified that the order has been completed. In turn, closing messages of gratitude help end the user journey on a positive note.

## Why should you care about UX text localization?
As described in the previous paragraph, UX content is essential to user satisfaction with the product and closely related to the quality of their experience. That's why the localization of the UX text should be considered much more responsible.

Also, it is essential to remember that localization includes not only translation but adaptation to the audience's tone of voice and the region's cultural nuances. Thus, it is common for businesses based in different regions to communicate with users using varying levels of literalness and formality, and your copywriting team should have a precise guideline for each market.

To highlight the importance of correctly communicating UX content, we defined five points that can be increased if all done correctly.
- **Usability**. When users have a guide who shows everything inside the product, it will help them quickly find the needed functionality and use all its benefits from the start. Otherwise, important parts can be missed without proper support, leading to decreased satisfaction and future usage — almost half of users (<a href="https://colorwhistle.com/website-design-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">42%</a>) leave websites if they encounter UX problems.  
- **Trust and loyalty**. The intuitive and seamless interface fosters a strong connection with the audience. Users have access to a broad market, allowing them to find the perfect fit. As a result, 86% of consumers are likely to disengage from the brand after encountering two unsuccessful customer experiences.
- **User engagement**. According to statistics, most users, on average, use apps for <a href="https://www.founderjar.com/ux-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">3-7 days</a> before deciding. So, you have limited time to compete with the other market players, and great UX can help you keep a top position. 
- **Market coverage**. Localizing UX writing allows companies to enter new markets and attract users from different countries, which opens up new business opportunities and contributes to the growth of the number of users. 
- **Profit**. A great UX can increase a website's conversion rates <a href="https://uxcam.com/blog/ux-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">three times</a>.

## How can Lingohub help UX writers during localization?
Lingohub, a comprehensive localization tool, provides a list of abilities to support UX writers during content localization. Let's review them in detail.

**Labels and segments grouping**
Labels is a tool that allows you to create unlimited "color tags" for your text segments to mark needed information and quickly filter them by request. You can simply manage labels inside the application and highlight UX-related content.

**Quality checks**
Lingohub offers a robust [quality assurance tool](/features/quality-checks) to ensure your texts fit predetermined criteria. This tool includes length, spaces, HTML tags, placeholders, line breaks, etc. This feature, for instance, can set character or word limits for translations to ensure that the localized text fits within the design constraints of the application, which is essential for buttons and navigation lines. With quality checks, you can prevent issues such as text overflow or misalignment, which are crucial for maintaining a seamless user experience.

**Term base**
Lingohub allows for the creation and maintenance of a [term base](/features/term-base), a set of approved terminology, and phrase translations. This tool helps maintain consistency for specific words to ensure all project users see the same terminology. Also, term bases significantly speed up the localization process because UX writers get clear suggestions and do not need to check the correct translation of the words manually.

**Professional translation**
If you need experts who can support UX localization, Lingohub is the best place to find them. Our [professional translators](/features/professional-translation) bring expertise to handle complex localization tasks, ensuring high-quality results. You can easily order translation or proofreading for your content, and rest assured, everything is at the top level.

If you want more information about Lingohub's features and abilities, we will gladly guide you through our application during a short [demo call.](/demo) Arrange a suitable time, and let's grow together!

UX writing is often an underestimated aspect of localization that significantly impacts the end result. Check out our article to enhance trust and loyalty, user engagement, and more with the content.


UX writing in localization 

German is a West Germanic language official in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. It is the 12th most spoken language in the world, with around 130 million speakers. 

The German language has two varieties: Hochdeutsch (High German) and Plattdeutsch (Low German), with a dozen dialects included. Hochdeutsch is the basis of standard German, which is learned in universities and used in mass media, government, etc. At the same time, each land in Germany has its peculiarities and varieties of vocabulary and pronunciation. 

To show the difference, take a look at the "I have a present for you" phrase translation: 
- Ich habe ein Geschenk für dich. (Standard German)
- I hob a G'schenk fia di. (Bavarian German)


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If you want to learn more about the differences between German in regions, we recommend reading our article about [Austrian and standard German](/blog/localization-regions-austria-germany).

---


When it comes to localization, German is a high-priority language for those wishing to enter the European market. The reasons are that Germany itself is the top economic power in this region, and German-speaking countries make up a big part of the central European area.

To simplify the German localization tasks for all comers, we described the main peculiarities of the language and ways to handle them in this article. Scroll down, deep dive, and get the best practices for your projects. 

## Peculiarities of the German language
### 1. Complex sentence structure and word order.
The German language has unusual word order and sentence structure for English-speaking audiences. One of the most notable differences is verbs with separable prefixes (ab-, an-, auf-, ein-, fest-, her-, hin-, etc.).

- I get up in the morning. ---> Ich **stehe** am Morgen **auf**.

In this case, the verb aufstehen (to stand up/to get up) splits into two parts (auf + stehen), and the prefix goes to the end of a grammatical basis. 

**Challenges**
.
The example above doesn't look challenging, but the situation changes entirely when the translator sees the long sentence split on a few strings.  

**Example**: "To ensure that the translated software functions correctly in all regions, **we get up early** in the morning to test the application thoroughly."

**Translation**: "Um sicherzustellen, dass die übersetzte Software in allen Regionen korrekt funktioniert, **stehen wir früh am Morgen auf** und testen die Anwendung gründlich."

The thing is that, that "stehen wir früh am Morgen auf" phrase can be ruined if the translator separately works on a string "*in all regions, we get up early*" = "*in allen Regionen stehen wir früh auf*" so the "*am Morgen au*f" part can be lost. 

**Solution**

Working with Lingohub, translators can see the segment's keys and filter the data based on their coincidence for a better context. For example, it is possible to filter segments like below as all of them have the same "navigation" part:
- navigation.button
- navigation.resource
- navigation.projects

Additionally, if there are any questions about the context, the discussion tool helps to solve them. First, the context panel allows the discussion to open right during translation; second, mentioning segments and projects simplifies the task, as all participants clearly understand what they are discussing.


## 2. Formal vs informal
Understanding the correct tone of voice during localization to German is crucial. Unlike English, with a single form "you," that can be used in any situation, German has four different pronouns: **du** (singular informal), **sie** (singular formal), **ihr** (plural informal), and **Sie** (plural formal).

Additionally, the pronouns the translators use also impact the verbs, so a mistake in the tone of voice will cost additional time and money to fix. For example, if you want to ask, "Have you read the book?" there will be two different sentences:
- Formal - "**Haben Sie das Buch gelesen?**" 
- Informal - "**Hast du das Buch gelesen?**"

**Challenges**

No matter how many translators work on localization, the business's voice should be consistent and uniform when communicating with users. Social media, landing pages, and marketing emails must follow the same rules/ language forms, and a style guide is required to reach this task.

**Solution**

Instead of long documentation, which makes it hard to find a reply to the question, Lingohub designed a [style guide](/features/style-guide) tool that provides the primary information and also affects machine translation suggestions, thus cutting off the time required for quality translation. With the Lingohub style guide, translators get all the needed information during the localization process. 


## 3. Cases and genders 
Each noun in the German language has an article that describes its gender. These articles can be definite (der (masculine), die(feminine), das(neuter), and indefinite (ein, eine, ein) accordingly. Additionally, these articles are impacted by the cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive.)

For example, the masculine noun "**der** Tisch" (table, nominative case) becomes "**den** Tisch" (accusative case) and "**dem** Tisch" (dative case).

**Challenge**

This peculiarity requires a precise context, especially when talking about some names for fictional things (which is a typical case in the game development industry.) 

**Solution**

To avoid problems with article use, it is best to create a glossary that lists all the terms along with their corresponding meanings and descriptions. In the image below, you can see how Lingohub highlights all the terms and provides detailed data inside the edit

## Other peculiarities of German localization that are important to notice
- German is a l**anguage of compound words**, so the number of words in the text can be less compared with the original, but the number of characters is higher. The "washing machine"="**Waschmaschine**," "grocery store"= "**Lebensmittelgeschäft**." 
- In German, **all nouns are capitalized**.
- The German language has a unique letter, **eszett/scharfes S (ß)**, which denotes a special sound pronounced as a long "s." For example, "die Straße" (the street) or das Floß (the raft.)
**Umlauts (ä, ö, ü)** are special German vowels with two dots on top: ä, ö and ü. They modify the pronunciation of the base vowels a, o, and u.

## Conclusion

German software localization requires a deep knowledge of the language peculiarities from the start to prepare comprehensive documentation and find the best translation team.

From the heart of the Austrian mountains in Linz, our team comprehends all the potential challenges that businesses may encounter. That's why we designed an all-in-one solution for content localization and additionally provide top-notch translation services. Book a [demo call](/demo) with our team to get additional information and let's grow together

Looking for German localization? Be sure to read this article first, where we outline the main challenges and best practices. Click to learn more!

German localization: language challenges and tricks

German localization: challenges and tricks 

Our team had already overviewed the [Portuguese language's importance](/blog/does-your-app-speak-portuguese) for going global, its general statistics, and its pluricentric character. Today, we will dive deeply into the Portuguese peculiarities and challenges caused by them and how they can affect Portuguese localization.

## The Portuguese language peculiarities during localization
Suppose you have a target to localize your website or software to Portuguese. In that case, it is essential to understand the pitfalls from scratch to prevent possible issues, prepare the necessary documentation, or find the best solution. Let's overview what challenges you can face and how to solve them.

### The language length 
The difference between English and Portuguese language length is around 15% (Portuguese sentences are more extended.) The following grammar features explain this:

**1. Verb conjugation:** The verbs in Portuguese are inflected for person/number; thus, the words became longer. For example, the verb "**Fazer**" – "**To do**" will change based on the person in the following way:
- I - Eu faço 
- You - Tu fazes
- He/she/it - Ele/ela/você faz
- We - Nós fazemos
- You (plural) - Vós fazeis/Vocês fazem
- They - Eles/Elas fazem
 
**2. Adjectives:** In Portuguese, adjectives are agreed with nouns and numbers and almost always come after the noun. The "**successful project**" phrase will be translated as:
- singular: "**um** projet**o** de sucesso" 
- plural: "**uns** projet**os** de sucesso"

**3. Vocabulary differences**: In comparison with English, Portuguese has a bigger number of long words-phrases to describe the English terms:
- lamppost - poste de iluminação
- laptop - computador portátil
- homework - trabalho de casa

As a result, when localizing from English to Portuguese, there is a big chance that the existing designs wouldn't fit the new content. Take a look at the <a href="https://open.spotify.com" target="_blank" rel="noffolow">Spotify websites</a> for Portuguese and English-speaking audiences to see how wider the buttons and longer the text are in the version for Portugal.


The best practice for preventing issues with the design for localized content is a design-first approach, which we in details described in a separate article in our blog:
→ Read more about [UX localization](/blog/localization-first-approach-in-the-ux-design-process)

Lingohub provides a tandem of tools that simplify fitting new languages to the existing design: AI pre-translation and smooth integration options. With a few clicks, you can pre-translate the Lingohub provides a tandem of tools that simplify fitting new languages to the existing design: AI pre-translation and smooth integration options. With a few clicks, you can pre-translate the original and send it to Figma, Storyblok, Contentful, etc., or to the repository you use (GitHub, GitLab, Azure). 

### Complicate formal and informal categorization 
Portuguese uses different forms of politeness depending on the situation and the person. For example, there is no need to worry about formal addresses for the first or third person, but you should consider the correct form regarding the second person. 

In general, for the second person, there are two forms:
- Informal "**tu**;"
- Formal "**você**;" (Brazilians also use você in informal situations, while Portuguese try to avoid this word as much as possible.)

However, this categorization may seem simple only at first glance, as when it comes to communication, it is possible to highlight three different forms of politeness:
- **Very formal** — communication with someone who outranks or is in a position of power (judge, police, etc.) In this case, instead of "você," Portuguese can use o **senhor** or a **senhora** + the person's **title**. 
- **Middle formal**. This tone is for communication with adults or people with whom you can't use the informal one — for example, with the employees of restaurants, stores, governmental departments, app users, etc. Here, it is possible not to use pronouns or exchange them with names or family-related nouns(mother, father, grandmother, etc ). The <a href="https://eportugal.gov.pt/en/inicio" target="_blank" rel="noffolow"> example </a>below shows how the "**What are you looking for?**" was translated to "**O que procura?**" which, in direct translation, means "**What search?**"

3. **Informal**. The appeal, "**tu**',' is used with friends, relatives, and non formal situations, even if people just met (in a bar, party, or other informal events.)

Also, in Portuguese, there are different words for apology: **desculpa** (informal) and **desculpe** (formal.)

Because of such tiny nuances, which are essential to consider, it is crucial to design the [style guide](/features/style-guide) for translators before Portuguese localization starts. First of all, this document should be based on the region, as the difference between Portugal and Brazil in this question is significant.


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In Lingohub, we provide the [style guide tool](/features/style-guide), which can contain all the needed information and affect the machine translation result. This combination with machine translation means that from the start, teams receive more accurate suggestions from the outset, reducing the time spent on proofreading.

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### The rich idiomatic vocabulary
Portuguese has many specific phrases and words with deep cultural references. For example, to describe someone who talks too much, the phrase "Falar pelos cotovelos" can be used, which literally means "to talk under the elbows." The origin of this idiom may be linked to exaggerated gestures, such as raising and lowering the arms. 

Localization is a much wider process than translation and requires a high level of language knowledge and a deep understanding of the region's cultural context. That's why it is essential to work with professional translators who understand all the nuances.

## Other Portuguese language peculiarities 
- **Flexible word order**: In Portuguese, there is no required word order. Mostly, it is in SVO (subject-verb-object) order, but this language is pretty flexible, and it is also okay to use OSV, OVS, and VOS.
- Portuguese has the letter **"Ç" (C-cedilla)**. It is a variation of the letter "C" and denotes the voiceless sound /s/ before "a," "o," and "u."
- **Gender-specific articles**. Masculine words are used with the definite articles o/os, and indefinite um/uns, while feminine words are used with the definite articles a/as and indefinite uma/umas.


## To sum up
Portuguese is the second fastest-growing language, with more than 300 million speakers worldwide. Because of this, it is a trendy option for localization for global businesses. Like any other language, Portuguese has its pitfalls and challenges, which we discussed in our article, and requires a deep dive into a cultural context. 

From our side, at Lingohub, we provide comprehensive solutions that allow you to manage your Portuguese localization, hire a professional translator, and provide robust CAT tools for the existing team. If you want to learn more about how it can work - book a [demo call](/demo) with our team or try Lingohub for free!


Portuguese is one of the top 10 most spoken languages globally. Click and read our article to learn more about the best practices for Portuguese localization.