The concept of product internationalization (i18n) is becoming common among global companies over the past few years. In today’s global economy, more companies are now establishing their businesses in foreign markets. Digitization, the latest technological advancement, fast transportation, and the pandemic have greatly contributed to the increasing trend of globalization. When we talk about business globalization, companies have to focus on product localization and i18n mindfully.
Software i18n helps companies smoothly fit in global markets and significantly increase their customer base. For i18n, you can partner with a language service provider or get a professional localization solution for enterprises. So, let’s find out why you should do i18n and how it helps companies grow seamlessly in the foreign marketplace.
Internationalization Overview
I18n is a process of adapting all components of your software to make it resonate with the international marketplace. You must design and develop your software in a way that can easily be modified for diversified users worldwide. In the i18n processes, you don’t really do any design modifications or content translations; you just have your software ready for all the stuff coming ahead. Basically, it makes localization easier and much smoother. I18n should be an integral part of your localization strategy. It keeps the thing on track from the beginning and makes the localization hassle-free and agile.
Why does Internationalization Matter?
To make your software product successful in a foreign marketplace, you have to localize its user experience and overall functionalities. I18n plays a vital role in making your brand localization processes seamless and fast. It supports developers in effectively carrying out software localization tasks. So, developers don’t really have to do much work localizing your software for multiple regions.
When your software is already internationalized, localization is done in less time because your software automatically checks the inputs and uses the right format accordingly.
Significance of Websites, Apps, and Software Internationalization
Companies that want to make their place in the international markets and access a wider audience should start investing in i18n. You can get help from the best localization management platform in the market or hire a language service provider for software i18n. Following are some benefits of internationalizing your software and apps.
Faster And Easier Localization
I18n makes your localization procedure super-fast and agile. When your websites, software, and apps are already prepared for localization, it gets easy and simple for developers to localize them for every region you’re targeting. Instead of wasting time on extracting and modifying hard-coded elements from your software, developers simply insert their inputs, and it gets automatically adjusted with the design and layouts of the software. For instance, it gets super hectic to insert new translations into your software when it is not already internationalized. Developers have to spend a lot of time replacing the existing text with new ones. There is a high chance that the translations do not get fit with the current software design and spacing.
I18n eliminates such issues and helps your developers perform localization tasks effortlessly.
Easy Maintenance
When your software product goes through a lot of changes and iterations, there are higher chances of errors and bugs. But when you do i18n effectively and correctly, it automatically eliminates the likelihood of errors throughout your localization process. Moreover, keeping your content outside your code instead of hardcoding it inside makes it easier to maintain and change whenever required. It also encourages continuous localization, where all localization teams, from translators to developers, can work side by side with each other.
Better User Experience
Your target customers expect your software to address their core needs, so you have to adapt the appearance and features of the software to meet those wants. Through localization, you identify and anticipate the localization requirements, so developers can avoid localization problems that might affect the user experience. Similarly, using incorrect formats also have a direct impact on how your users would perceive the software.
Faster Time to Market
Software i18n prior to localization saves your developers’ time and helps them seamlessly go about localization in the quickest turnaround time. I18n streamlines your localization work and helps you quickly localize different software versions for various regions. This way, you can significantly reduce your time to launch your software into multiple markets around the world. If you are using a professional localization solution for enterprises, it may contain features to optimize your software i18n and further reduce your time to market.
Wrapping Up!
Summing up the discussion, doing localization can have a huge impact on your overall software user experience. It is also a helpful technique to support your localization team to effectively carry out their everyday tasks – that too without spending too much time and effort. So, get your software i18n done already if you have localization in the cards.