Website localisation: a corporate site that sounds local on every market

A corporate website is often the first and sometimes the only point of contact with a potential client, partner or investor. If it enters a new market in a translated, incomplete or technically faulty form, the company loses trust at the very moment when winning it should have been easiest. Website localisation solves exactly this problem: the site is not simply translated into another language, but arranged around the linguistic, cultural, technical and search expectations of the target audience.

What website localisation covers

In practice a website is much more than the text visible on the home page. Full localisation covers:

• Core content: the home page, service and product pages, "About us", blog, news, vacancies.
• Navigation and interface elements: menu, buttons, forms, error messages, the cookie banner, the 404 page.
• SEO elements: titles, meta descriptions, URL structure, image alt texts, structured data (JSON-LD).
• Legal texts: privacy policy, terms of service, cookie policy, which often must comply with local legislation as well.
• Multimedia: banner text, infographics, video subtitles, downloadable PDF material.
• Automatic communication: registration emails, form confirmations, newsletter templates.

Leaving out even one of these elements creates the impression of a "half-translated" site, where the user on the Georgian page suddenly runs into an English button or error message.

The corporate portal and the multilingual structure

Corporate portals that combine a client area, a document library or a partner zone have additional requirements. Here localisation is closely tied to the technical architecture:

• Language selection logic: automatic detection of the browser language, remembering the user's choice, the correct placement of the language switcher.
• URL structure: a subdirectory (site.ge/en/), a subdomain (en.site.ge) or a separate domain. Each variant has SEO and technical consequences, and we plan this choice at the very start of the project.
• hreflang attributes: they tell the search engine which page is intended for which language and region, which prevents the duplicate content problem.
• Dynamic content: texts coming from the database, filters, category names, which are often written not in the CMS interface but in the code or the database.

Working with the CMS: WordPress, Webflow, Drupal and others

Each platform has its own localisation mechanism. WPML or Polylang on WordPress, the built-in Localization module on Webflow, the multilingual core on Drupal, and i18n libraries and JSON files on custom projects. Our technical team:

• exports the content in a format (XLIFF, CSV, JSON, PO) that is compatible with CAT tools and does not damage HTML tags, variables and shortcodes;
• returns the translation in the same structure, so that import happens without manual copying;
• checks that the localised page displays correctly: headings are not cut off, banner text fits the design, forms work.

If the site is small or the CMS does not support export, we process the content as a structured table, where every element has its own address and context.

SEO localisation: a translation that Google finds

One of the most frequent mistakes is the literal translation of keywords. An English-speaking user searches for "corporate translation services", while a Georgian may type "translation for companies" or "business translation" in their own words. For every page of the localised site:

• we research which phrases the target audience actually uses when searching;
• we write the title and meta description texts according to local search behaviour, within the length limits;
• we create URLs that read in the target language and are written correctly in Latin transliteration;
• we translate the structured data (Organization, Service, FAQPage), so that the localised page is a candidate for rich results.

This work does not replace technical SEO, but without it a localised site often stays "invisible" to the search engine.

Cultural adaptation and tone

A corporate site has a brand voice, and this voice must be redrawn in every language. English-speaking companies often use a friendly, direct tone ("We've got you covered"), which in a Georgian business context sounds artificial or unserious in a literal translation. Using the transcreation approach we write headings, slogans and value statements so that the message is preserved while the form suits the local audience.

Cultural adaptation concerns the visuals too: team photos, client logos, the examples and case studies used. If the site shows only foreign clients, the Georgian user thinks the company does not work on the local market. We reflect these details in the localisation recommendations as well.

Quality control and testing

Uploading the finished translation is not the end of the project. The localised site goes through:

1. Linguistic editing: a second translator checks accuracy, terminological consistency and style.
2. Visual testing: every page is checked on desktop and mobile for cut-off text, wrong fonts, overlapping elements.
3. Functional testing: forms, links, the language switcher, downloads, automatic emails in the target language.
4. SEO check: hreflang, canonical URLs, meta tags, the presence of the localised pages in the sitemap.

Process and deadlines

We start the project with a site audit: we count the words, set page priorities and prepare the terminology base. A typical corporate site (15-30 pages) is localised in 1-2 weeks, a large portal in stages, starting from the priority sections. After launch we offer ongoing support: a new blog post, news item or service page is localised with the same terminology and tone, usually within 1-2 working days.

Frequently asked questions