E-learning Content Localization

🔤 Being able to learn to code in languages other than English used to be one of the most popular requests from Mimo users. And removing this language barrier was a solid growth lever for us back in 2022. We added one language. Then 5 more. Depending on the platform and market, we saw: 📈 +16% - +170% in D1 user retention 📈 +24% - +126% in D14 user retention. And an increase in app stickiness ➡ more monetization touchpoints over time 📈+2% - +150% in trial opt-in rate 📈+13% - +170% in friend invite rate 📈 higher new app rating, with 1* ratings about the lack of localization disappearing Does it make sense for your app? I don't know but here's how you can start: 1️⃣ Check if the problem even exists. Is not having the content / UI localized a barrier for users? Will localization add extra value? Figuring this out is easy if you've been doing your homework and tagging user reviews and other feedback streams. 2️⃣ Make sure you're not just following the vocal minority. On Firebase, analyze your engagement metrics broken down by users' device language. How much worse is it for languages other than English? How many users (DAUs, MAUs) have their devices set to other languages? 3️⃣ Pick a language based on impact/effort or any other prioritization framework of your choice. Implement it. 4️⃣ After localizing the content and UI, test localizing your marketing and product comms: push notifications, emails, in-app messages. 5️⃣ Store listings. Check if search volumes of keywords in other languages are higher than those of keywords in English. Monitor how localizing the listings affects your search visibility and the conversion rate to download. Localize the visuals to give it an extra boost. 6️⃣ Promote localization as in-app events / promotional content. 7️⃣ Get back to the users that have been requesting localized content. Reply to emails and reviews - let them know it's available now. Check if any update their reviews and rating. What I've learnt (the hard way): ❗These days, localizing content and UI might seem easy, but it still adds complexity to the product as you'll have to keep localizing every string of text you're adding. ✅ To reduce this complexity, use the tools for managing localizations. They are really worth it.  ✅ Keep improving the quality. Create glossaries and train the ML on your context. Monitor user reviews to make sure the localization does more good than harm, i.e., doesn't make the content harder to understand. ❗❗Ownership. Such experiments fit well into the Growth team. But once the localization is a part of the product, consider transferring the ownership to the core product team for further improvements and maintenance. ❗❗❗In the stats above, you can see a LARGE difference in the uplifts. The results can vary greatly by market and better ones typically come from the markets with low adoption of English, i.e., outside of Tier-1. So, choose your focus wisely 🙂 What's your experience with localization? #growth

"Why does my content perform better in certain regions than others, even if my target customers are the same?" Here's what you should ask instead: Are you truly localizing your content or are you just translating it instead? Because there is a massive difference. Content doesn't just need to be created in the same language your audience speaks to localize it. 👉 It also needs to resonate with local cultures, preferences, and behaviors. Let me ask you this. → Have you thought about how your message aligns with regional values, communication styles, purchasing behaviors, and even humor? → Do you factor in search intent and content consumption habits or do you roll out the same keywords and format globally? The truth is that the same content that thrives in one region can flop in another if not thoughtfully localized. Yet, so many brands I see still miss the mark. ❌ They translate the words but not the meaning behind them. ❌ They push out generic, vanilla content that feels tone-deaf, irrelevant, or out of place. ❌ They assume the one-size-fits-all approach works anywhere. HARD TRUTH: It never does. Your content's success doesn't depend on how wide you cast your net. It's how well you weave your message into the local tapestry. Below are 4 pillars of effective content localization to consider: 🟢 Cultural Reference What's viral in the US may not make any traction in Japan. Trends, humor, and values don't translate 1:1. 🟢 Language & Nuance Even in the same language, word choice and spelling are critical. A British "flat" is an American "apartment" (Or "localisation" and "localization"). These nuances matter more than you think. 🟢 Behavioral Insights User behavior varies by region. Some regions favor long-form articles, while others may engage more with short videos. 🟢 Timing & Preferences Peak engagement times and platform usage differ across markets. Global reach doesn't mean blasting the same content everywhere. Nor is content localization limited to speaking in your audience's tongue fluently. 💡It's an art of communicating in a way that reflects and respects their unique characteristics and needs. Back to my original question: Are you meeting your audience where they are in a way that feels native to them? Or are you betting on a translated message to do all the weightlifting? ****************************************************** PS: If your content is not getting the attention it deserves in certain regions you want to reach, it may be time to rethink your localization strategy. Need help with that? I am available for hire. Let's discuss how we can refine your current approach and truly connect with your audience on a global scale. Hit me up. __________________________ Image credit: Legends of Localization

Properly implemented hreflang tags are not enough for international SEO performance 🚨 Moreover, I audited many websites with incorrectly implemented hreflangs and can assure you that's not always the reason for poor international visibility. It doesn't matter how many countries or languages you target --> 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝. You can't publish the same content for US, UK, Australia, and Canada and expect it to rank in each country. Google will identify duplicates and will not index them at all. The approach I'd recommend for those who value resources: 1️⃣ 𝐃𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 and identify the main differences and peculiarities in this region. Uncover cultural nuances and regional terminology and remember that each niche and market has significant differences, features, and specific terms. 2️⃣ 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭. Sales teams, customers, or creative research can reveal who you're up against. Analyze their websites for keyword inspiration. 3️⃣ When translating the content, ensure the next step is h𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 4️⃣ 𝐃𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫. Find a freelancer or ask people from your company to help you with that. Believe me, it's worth it. Neither Google Translate nor AI will ever give you accurate translation and meaning of your keyword list. Machine translation can't capture cultural context. Only native speakers can find the right keywords that resonate with your target audience. 5️⃣ Each element on the page like meta-tags, URLs when localized, headings, buttons, CTAs, navigation --> literally e𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫, it all needs a native speaker's touch. 🧙♂️ 6️⃣ 𝐌𝐚𝐩 𝐔𝐑𝐋𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. Organize your content for internal linking, clusterization, and e-commerce optimization. For your inspiration use Aleyda Solis' free template 👉 https://lnkd.in/ddNuWzuP #internationalseo #localization P.S. This is how Google can react during the first week to simple meta-tags updates with relevant keywords included, even though the content was the same. Half of the pages were not indexed at all and more time is needed

I have been working with video localization for Semrush YouTube Channels and Academy courses for almost a year now. We are now close to 150 different videos localized and published in 3 different languages. The experience has been great, with a lot of tests and learnings together with good results: growing traffic to Semrush for Academy Subdomains in Spanish and French, and keeping it up with views on YouTube for Spanish and Italian. After 12 months of diving into this, here are some takeaways if you’re considering exploring video localization with AI. 🤖 - AI is a powerful enabler AI made all of this possible, providing scalability in both cost and speed. In 2024, we successfully localized original Portuguese content for our Italian and Spanish channels using AI. And also localized English courses content to French, Spanish, and Italian. 🙂 - Human touch is essential AI got us far, but it wasn’t enough to hit our quality benchmarks. We added a human layer to review the content, update visuals to better reflect cultural nuances, and fix translation errors. For this, counting with native speakers are a must to ensure quality before publishing. Localization isn’t just about swapping languages - you need to cover examples and content. 💡- Also create content that is not translated It’s important to localize in languages where you can actively engage with the audience. Portuguese is my native language, so the content was originally created in Portuguese. But speaking Italian and Spanish allowed me to ensure quality, respond to comments, and participate in live events like webinars. Recording a few videos directly in the target languages (without AI translations) also boosted the perception of original content. 🔥 - Step by step to get it faster To scale the process you need to create an MVP project, test it a lot, establish a lean process, and include people who embrace the project. A big thank you to Lucas, Valentina, and Carmen, who work together with me on this. 👉 - The first one will not be good enough The first few videos won’t be perfect. The key is to refine as you go, but without overcomplicating the process. If it becomes too complex, it might make more sense to create content directly in the target language instead. 🧡 - Be strategic with effort If a particular video takes too long to localize effectively, it’s often better to move on and focus on the next one to maintain agility. It depends on your objectives, keep focused on them for the long run. 🤘 - Test and learn To be honest, it didn’t go exactly as I thought it would, and even now, it’s not quite like I imagined a year ago. In some aspects, it’s turned out way better; in others, not so much. But the learnings from trying and continuing to create content for specific regions have been amazing. Big thanks to Academy Team and to Lucas Amarildo, Valentina Pacitti, Carmen Díaz Soloaga and Fabien Rothey that are together in this project.

Localization for #CustomerEducation. Is it just about translating content? Not always. Localization needs to consider both learner language and learner locale, and those are not always connected. Take, for example, a global company that has customers in North America and Europe. Both regions likely have many languages to translate. On top of that, the company's product is different in both regions. And, the culture of each country within those regions is quite different. Thus you have language, content, and culture considerations, and again, these are not always connected (meaning it's not as clean as French = France, because French = Canada as well). You may also have a lot of customers located in France that actually work with North America, so they'd need the content for NA, not EU. While translations can be handled by AI these days (and I remember the pain of pre-AI translations!), there's still a clear need for a localization strategy for larger organizations. How does your team manage #localization? Are you lucky enough for a dedicated headcount on this task? #customertraining #lms