When creating websites and apps for a multinational organization like IBM or GE, how do you ensure that global content is easily adaptable and translatable? Especially when you're creating content that needs to be accessed via tablet, phone and desktop? This presentation covers the basics of creating global content strategy for audiences with varying needs based on geography and language.
This presentation was given at Content Strategy Applied USA on November 17-18, 2014
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Agenda
• Big in Japan: the Japanese digital experience
• Defining global content strategy
• Taking your content on the road
• Don’t get lost in translation: Best practices
• The case for localization
GLOBAL CONTENT STRATEGY / NOVEMBER 18 2014 / VSA PARTNERS
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Big in Japan
GLOBAL CONTENT STRATEGY / NOVEMBER 18 2014 / VSA PARTNERS
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Does this baby make me look fat?
GLOBAL CONTENT STRATEGY / NOVEMBER 18 2014 / VSA PARTNERS
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Why is the Japanese experience so different?
GLOBAL CONTENT STRATEGY / NOVEMBER 18 2014 / VSA PARTNERS
• Character comfort
• Need for a high degree of information and assurance
• Mobile, mobile, mobile
• Lack of hierarchical contrast
• Low adoption of new programming languages
http://randomwire.com/why-japanese-
web-design-is-so-different/
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Product pages are packed with information
GLOBAL CONTENT STRATEGY / NOVEMBER 18 2014 / VSA PARTNERS
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What is global content strategy?
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The planning, creation and management of content, in terms of:
Governance
Workflow
People
Work
Global content strategy is concerned with scaling content for global markets !
in a way that is efficient, consistent, relevant and sustainable.
….around the world
Substance
Structure
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The benefits of a global content strategy
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• Tell a consistently compelling story about your offering, !
no matter where audiences find you
• Make sure your content is ready to scale for global markets
• Streamline translation and publication workflows to !
save money and time
• Improve content reach and performance
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Taking your content on the road
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• Less is more (cheaper and faster to translate!)
• Replace idioms and obscure language with common
expressions
• Adhere strictly to English grammar rules
• Be exceptionally clear, e.g., use nouns with the words !
this, that, these, and those
• Be aware of visual cues that may be irrelevant or even
offensive in other cultures
• Create a corporate glossary (!!!)
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Why a corporate glossary?
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• Safeguards your product and company branding
• Preserves your company trademarks, service
marks, copyrights, and so on
• Ensures that everyone in your organization uses the
same terminology to describe the same things
• Makes your content easier to read for people of all
reading levels
• Lowers the price and time it takes to translate the
content into multiple languages
• Helps to ensure the quality and consistency of
the translations
http://www.contentrules.com/blog/simple-rule-3-real-editors-dont-
do-it-without-a-terminology-manager/
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Translation: Best practices
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• Use native-speaking translators who are ideally
based in the target country for translations (at least !
1 person to translate and another for QA)
• Find translators who are subject matter experts
and skilled at marketing translations, whenever
possible, to nail style and tone
• Create separate experiences for each country !
(not language) and don’t forget about differences
among dialects—there are significant differences
between French Canadian and the language spoken !
in France
• Store and track all translations in an owned
terminology database to save time and money
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Translation vs. localization vs. transcreation
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Translation
Localization
Transcreation
Content
No change (direct
translation of
existing content)
May be altered to be more
culturally appropriate/
relevant
New content may be
developed to suit local needs
Design
No change (same
images)
May be altered to be more
culturally appropriate/
relevant
Change to suit new content/
local needs
UX
No change (same
layout)
May be altered slightly as
required by content needs
Change to suit new content/
local needs
Adapted from: http://www.slideshare.net/IntelligentContent/
planning-your-globalcontentstrategyswisher
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The case for localization
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Global UX: Design and Research in a Connected World,
Szuc/Quesenbery
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Additional Global Content Strategy resources
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• Contentrules.com and anything written by Val Swisher on
Slideshare—she knows her stuff!
• Milengo.com global content strategy blog
• Global UX: Design and Research in a Connected World,
Szuc/Quesenbery