Localization
Localization adapts content, offers and websites to a specific market – going beyond translation to cover language variants, culture, currency, legal requirements and local search behavior.
What is localization?
Localization (often abbreviated as L10n) is the process of adapting content, products and websites to a specific market. Unlike a pure translation, which transfers words from one language to another, localization makes sure a page feels as if it had been created for that market in the first place.
Localization typically covers:
- Language variants: Spelling, vocabulary and tone that differ between, for example, American and British English, or German in Germany and Switzerland.
- Search behavior: Target keywords are researched per market, because people often search with different terms than a literal translation would suggest – see keyword research.
- Formats and practical details: Currencies, prices, units, date formats, phone numbers, addresses and payment methods.
- Culture: Images, examples, references, colors and humor that resonate locally.
- Legal requirements: Imprint, privacy and consent rules, product regulations and, in some countries, licenses such as China’s ICP registration.
For SEO, well-localized pages earn better engagement and more local links, and they send stronger local ranking signals. Machine translation and AI can speed up the process, but a native speaker with market knowledge should review content before it goes live.