You have already spent months on analyzing your target audiences and building a user-centric app. You have followed almost every pre and post launch marketing strategies to make your app a great hit. And, undoubtedly, your app is doing well in all English-speaking countries. But, you are struggling hard to drive downloads in non- English-speaking countries. Do you know why? -Because, yet you haven’t localized your app for non-English-speaking countries. App localization is the process of making your app understandable in several languages. However, App Store itself offers distribution of your apps to over 150 countries and in 28 languages. And, that provides a huge opportunity to app developers for finding promising niches and target huge traffic in different app markets.
With the rapidly increasing smartphone penetration all across the world and rapid advancement in technologies, users are adopting mobile-first approach not only in their daily lives but, in their businesses too. And, with the globalization spreading quicker and faster than ever and with the major advancements in industries, mobile apps are getting increasingly popular all around the globe. But, cultural and linguistic barriers are also there, as always. Today, every country or region has its own way of apprehending new things- be it technologies, food, fashion or anything. And, that’s why, if you want to expand your app business in many countries, especially in non-English speaking countries, you need to apprehend their taste and languages. For that, you need to aptly optimize and localize your apps according to the country requirements. Your app marketing strategy needs to add the local language and fulfill various other cultural requirements in order to maximize your app’s performance in various non-English speaking countries. App Localization is beyond simple translation: it’s actually much more. It’s about making your app compatible with specific culture, language, and population. A lot of analysis and research needs to be done, before you opt for localization of your app.
Let’s Get Started with App Localization
Before just jumping into app localization, you need to do in-depth analysis and research to find out the non-English speaking countries, you are going to target. As this will help you save time and resources and you can keenly focus on your target countries rather than just wasting your time on non-targeted countries. Localization of any app requires a lot of effort, as you need to translate all metadata and marketing copy of your app. And, that needs to be done perfectly because a small bug can make your app stop and can certainly do negative marketing of your app. Let’s take a look on a few steps of App localization:
Step1: First step to start with App Localization – Find the right keywords and properly optimize them. Finding the right keyword is not about translating your current keywords list through any other automatic translation tool. And, not even asking a native speaker about the app related keywords. You need to use right keyword tools that can help you with the related keywords. And, once you get a small pool of potential keywords, you’ll need to figure out if they are actually popular in the country you’re targeting and check if there is not too much competition for those keywords. There are only 28 languages available for 155 countries currently and iOS localization is language-based. That means if you are targeting, let’s say, France then all App Stores using French language can be a great help in making your app a hit.
Step2: Once you’ve figured out your keyword list, it’s time to localize your app name. And, to start with localization, just select 2-3 strongest keywords and add them in your app title to make your app more discoverable in that specific country.
Step3: Now, once you have your targeted keywords list and title, you can focus on other optimization factors that include app description and screenshots. For writing the localized app description, one of the recommended ways is to hire a native speaker, who can easily translate the original app description into native app description.
Step4: Next and one of the most important factors is App Screenshots – For making any app a big hit, its app screenshots must be captivating and user-centric. And, we are assuming that your app already includes alluring screenshots. Adding some catchy and sales lines in the native language on your app’s screenshots can also prove to be a great help. But, while adding native languages, you should check it those lines are going good on those screenshots. Don’t just overload longer and bad looking words on your app screenshots. Try to use words that are adaptable with the design.
Step5: For your app preview, Apple does not support localization, yet. It’s recommended to avoid using too much text in your app video. Try to create it universal. And, yes don’t forget to localize your “What’s New” section as well.
And, the Last Step
After doing all these changes in your app, it’s time to test your app rigorously. Check if you have added all the required steps of app localization and if it’s worth continuing your localization process. And, then publish your app. Once you publish your new version, wait for a couple of weeks. If your app downloads are increasing – be it significant peak or average peak. This shows that you’re on the right way and your app localization has proved to be successful. And, you can start your app localization process for other countries, too.
And, if there is no significant increase in app downloads or traffic, it means that either you have not followed the app localization process aptly or you’ve targeted wrong country for your app or most importantly, your app is not as much impressive as it should be.
At Parangat, we provide best-in-class App Store Optimization (ASO) services that include App localization, too. We imbibe strong keywords tool with native and optimized keywords. And, no automatic-translation is done here. Till date, we have served lots of clients across the world and have offered top-notch App development, Web development, SEO, ASO and many other services that have helped our clients’ businesses gain visibility and increase revenue and value, both.
Sahil Gupta
With roll up the sleeves, dive in and get the job done approach, it was year in the year 2010 when Sahil started Parangat Technologies. Emphasizing on a healthy work culture and technology driven company, he has successfully created a workplace where people love to work and live. He is a software engineer and a passionate blockchain enthusiast.