6 tips for locating mobile apps that deliver results

Mobile application localization is a must if you want to reach a global audience and increase the number of users. To enter an international market, you must think about localization before planning any other marketing initiative.

The market is truly global in the world of applications. If you are not thinking about location, you are weakening your chances of taking your application beyond your location. More than half of the world’s mobile subscribers are from the Asia-Pacific region. Not offering in your native languages will significantly reduce your downloads.

In a recent study titled “The Impact of App Translations” by Distomo reveals that companies that worked on localizing their iPhone applications saw a significant increase (128% more) in their downloads. Localizing your application for each market you want to penetrate is essential.

In this article, we will present six simple but practical tips for mobile app localization. You can use these tips for iOS and Android applications.

Define your mobile app localization strategy

Before you start planning your localization for an international market, you need to define a great mobile app localization strategy. This is important because it will ensure that your localization efforts provide you with the desired results.
How do you decide on the list of languages you want to support? You can’t make that decision based on what is popular or convenient for your team. The users you are targeting may not be from one of these regions, or even if they are, they may not speak that language.

For example, if your app is targeting urban youth in countries like India, most of them may prefer English to their mother tongue. The time and resources invested in localization will end up with negative results.

Study your target market, your buyer persona, and then plan your location. Consider creating custom functions (sometimes called “deep localization”). The time invested in defining your strategy is well spent!

Plan the location before designing your application

Localization shouldn’t be an afterthought or something you plan to do but don’t prepare for until the final stages of your application development. You will be amazed at the number of problems that come up in the end. The localization errors can have a negative impact on your target audience.

You should start thinking about localization (and planning for it), during the early stages of designing your application. To enable your application to support multiple languages, please design your application accordingly.

You must follow a process called “internationalization” that encompasses various practices to facilitate localization. Internationalize your application before locating it.

Localization is the actual process of translating into different languages. On the other hand, internationalization is the process of configuring your application to adapt it to various locations. An “internationalized” application can be easily “localized” and will be just as good as a native application.
For an iOS app, see the “Apple’s” section. Internationalization and localization guide and for an Android application, please refer to the Google page “”. Location checklist . ”

Choose a good location service provider

The location may not be his strong suit. Leave it to the specialists and focus on how to design and develop a great application. The best way to locate is through a service provider that specializes in the area. They have the tools, the experience, and the resources to do it quickly and efficiently.

When choosing your location service provider, don’t make a decision based solely on who is number one in the market or who charges the least. The success of your localization project depends on the reliability of your service provider and its suitability for your business objectives.

Some of the questions to ask your shortlisted suppliers are:

Do you have enough experience in localization of mobile applications? Tell us about your projects in the past?
What are the localization tools and platforms you use?
Are your translators proficient at translating app content?
How fast can you deliver your translations?
What is your quality control process?

Choose a translation partner that meets your expectations. Spend your time focusing on your app design, marketing, and customer service

Provide context for your translators

You can know everything about your application, the interface and the functionalities. But not his translators. They need “context” to translate accurately, and you must provide that to them.

A word can have different meanings depending on the context. The “context-dependent interpretation” of words is important so as not to lose the original meaning in translation. There is no such thing as “stating the obvious” while providing context for the translation.

When submitting your resources for translation, please provide the appropriate context. Help them understand where those translated words would fit and what they would convey. They can be more productive and efficient.

Test your localized application thoroughly

After you receive the translated resources, integrate them into your application and test them rigorously. You should check all the screens to make sure the layout is not affected. Use a test environment that offers multiple virtual devices and screen sizes.

Translated strings can affect your line wrapping, boundaries, line breaks, and so on. If necessary, you may need to redesign the layout to accommodate the translation.

You should hire a localization app tester who is fluent in the language. Your app tester should detect all localization issues, including UI issues, untranslated strings, errors, and unnatural translations.

Include App Store Optimization (ASO) in your plan

App Store optimization consists of optimizing the content you provide in the App Store and Google Play, for better visibility and better positioning in search results.

You should include ASO in your localization plan because you need to ensure that you are optimizing for the correct search terms in the region you are targeting.

Study the local market and understand the search behavior of your users in that region. Finalize a keyword list based on your study and optimize your app’s name, subtitle, description, and keywords.

As of today, the App Store is available in more than 150 countries, and Google Play is available in 145 countries. By localizing your application and offering a related user experience to your non-English speaking audience, you will find an increase in downloads and therefore in return on investment.

Following the tips above when working on locating your mobile app will help you reach your location goals quickly and easily. If you are interested in obtaining more information about the localization of your mobile application, please send us a request through our contact form .