Introduction to Localization
Localization is modifying a product, service, or content to fit a culture and market; this process is about more than just translation. The end product remains the same as the original, but the localized version is more suitable for its target customers. It speaks to them in their language, references their culture, and considers their preferences, norms, and expectations. Sound localization can be a strategic advantage for any company looking to win global customers.
The Importance of Localization for Businesses
Localization has become a critical component of any international business strategy that intends to reach consumers and brands locally, engage locally with stakeholders, and generate revenue in local markets. Consumers expect to be served and addressed in their languages and cultures. Localization allows businesses and brands to break through language and cultural barriers, build trust and engagement, and connect with local communities and audiences.
Understanding the Role of a Localization Agency
So, what is the difference between a localization agency and a localization consultant? A localization agency is a service provider that offers a full suite of translation, adaptation, and optimization services from linguists, subject-matter experts, and technical experts. The localization agency can thus take care of the localization process from the moment your project starts and give you an end-to-end solution so the business team can focus on the core business.
Advantages of Working with a Localization Agency
Quality Assurance: Because localization agencies iterate so many rounds of testing and review, quality assurance is unsurpassed. Third is what is produced, as accurate as possible, as culturally appropriate as possible, and as usable as possible.
Scalability: From stitching up minor strings (pieces of string: content localization updates) to rigging entire mega-ships (new product localization) and back up again to scale down when the clients need.
Process Integration: All LSPs integrate at least three types of software (e.g., translation management systems, computer-assisted translation [CAT] tools, and content management systems) and other tools into their localization process to improve its flow and consistency.
Regulatory Compliance: Localization service providers know what regulations apply to specific content types or product categories and are most likely to ensure that the localized output 'plays by the rules.'
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Localization Agency
When selecting a localization agency, businesses should consider the following factors:
Native-Speaking Linguists + Subject-Matter Expertise: make sure you have native-speaking linguists who are subject-matter experts in the target languages and industries.
Industrial Experience: Have they worked for other companies in your sector?
Localization Technology and Process: Does the company use localization-specific technology and conform to best practices and QMS?
Scalability and Flexibility: Can the firm do whatever work you need—big or small, simple or complex? Can the firm adapt its model to your needs?
Reputation and References: How does the agency rank among clients and peers in the industry? Would they give you a reference? Does the organization have experience internationalizing its clients’ work? Are there case studies available?
Common Misconceptions About Working with Freelancers for Localization
Even the best freelancers can help only in a few of these areas, so here are some myths that need busting:Quality Assurance: A freelancer's sign-off process and quality assurance (the checks and balances that oversight brings) may not be as rigorous as a professional localization agency. Thus, they may not provide you with a clean copy every time.
Thin Resume: A freelancer will have different breadth and depth of experience with a particular industry and subject matter as a localization department or a team of specialists.
Scalability: A localization project using freelancers—especially those you haven't worked with before—will become increasingly unwieldy as its scope or complexity increases.
Control and Feedback: Five freelancers are more complex to control and more complicated to give input to than one agency, and the one unit feeding in requires much more coordination and feedback.
Benefits of Hiring Freelance Translators
Despite these misconceptions, some advantages are working with freelancers for some localization tasks:
- Savings: She might not be cheap, but a freelancer is rarely as expensive as a localization agency, and she’ll help your bottom line.
- Deftness: The freelancer at your desk is always better placed than the salaried worker to make a last-minute edit or that sort of thing — the kind of thing your regular would have forgotten to do once he went AWOL.
- Niche expertise: If the project is highly specialized, a niche freelance translator with 15 years of experience translating that subject or language combination will produce a better result than a general-purpose localization agency.
Challenges of Working with Freelancers for Localization
However, companies should also anticipate this dark side of total freelance localization.
- Quality Control: Your quality control will be seriously compromised unless you have been looking after things more closely in-house (e.g., through style guides and terminologies).
- Management: Managing hundreds of HCTs will always take time and need more oversight to keep on schedule and budget.
- Collaborative Infrastructures: a freelance translator might have a different set of shared tools, technology, and backups than a professional localization agency.
- Limited Scalability: localization via freelancers scales only so far. There are only so many people with skills in a language. That pool of candidates who are native speakers of at least one language and sufficiently specialized to be effective and available on short notice diminishes relative to the effort needed.
Comparison: Localization Agency vs. Freelancers
The information below gives details that could be useful when you need to consider whether to use an agency that specializes in localization or to hire freelance translators for individual projects:
For a given project, budget, and need, this could be a localization agency or a team of freelancers:
- Knowing the Complexity of Your Project: If you need to translate thousands of files into several languages (and highly technical), then an agency is a better fit than a single freelancer. You will get the same quality product From an agency or freelancer, with the same translator, but the project management will be more severe with an agency.
- Niche Specialization: A project might be highly specialized in a particular domain or language, in which case it might have to be outsourced to a niche freelancer.
- Budget: A freelance translator might be a better fit when budgets are small and the project is short-term. A localization agency might work better for more extensive projects requiring a longer commitment.
- Scalability and Agility: If you have a well-established localization practice with predictable needs, you are better off partnering with a small, boutique operation that can deliver targeted and often bespoke services. On the other hand, if your needs are likely to scale dramatically (or pivot in specific ways) in the near term, the agency's workforce (and a kind of brute-force capacity, e.g., the ability to 'throw money at a problem') will help you manage growing volumes of work and shift with it in that direction.
- Quality and Compliance: Are you offering high-end content that needs a polish, or must your project satisfy governmental regulations? In this case, an agency's quality assurance and regional regulatory experience might be critical.
Conclusion
Whether you choose to work with a localization agency or individual freelance translators ultimately depends on your needs, whether you're looking for a long-term partner, need your content handled by the same team of individuals, and, of course, your budget, and a few other factors. Understanding the pros and cons of each option can help you determine what makes the most sense to your business goals, what will keep your products or content locally relevant, and ultimately, what will help you produce quality localized products and content that your users and customers gladly accept and adopt.