Increase App Downloads and Revenue with App Localization and LiveCode 7

Think globally, Act Locally

With the new LiveCode 7, we can finally "Think globally, Act Locally", which has been the catch phrase used to push businesses globally for years.

Increase Your Revenue

Increase your revenue with a world-ready application that can be sold in more places thus potentially increasing the numbers of customers and profits.

Build For Your Global Audience Unicode in version 7 of LiveCode, another goal of the KickStarter campaign has been fulfilled, opening the gateway to the world for your business. Here are a few ideas to think about as you start building new Apps with LiveCode:

Get more value out of your code

The ability to create a single code base that supports users worldwide is a much more efficient and cost-effective way to gain a return on your investment. With a single code base, it is easier and less error-prone to update the product. As a result, code quality improves. This allows for greater code reuse and can serve as the foundation for the next version of the product.

Start small and grow one language at a time

There are hundreds of languages in the world – you can't possibly cover them all. Instead of rushing to several markets, smart developers grow organically by using revenue growth to fund expansion into new markets. Continue inching towards full global exposure, adding language after language whenever prudent and financially feasible to do so. But the goal is to think about international users' needs up front and incorporate them into your original designs. You will not have to go back later and fix design issues to enable globalization or localization after.

Localization is more than just language

App developers often assume that launching their product in countries like China or Russia, just requires translating the dialog and text into the local language. But while this is an important part of the localization process, it's only just the start. In China and Russia, you must also localize your product with the country's native social network platforms. The Chinese overwhelmingly prefer local social media products like Weibo, which are integrated into most apps in China. The Russians prefer VKontakte, so research the local social media market in addition to the language.

Gain a competitive advantage

Making your App world-ready allows your company to enter markets more quickly and easily because it already supports foreign languages and is primed for quick turnaround in localization. Your company and product becomes more agile in seizing emerging opportunities. Furthermore, by using the savings realized from efficient development and reduced localization and testing costs, you can gain even greater advantage over your competition by expanding the language footprint of your product(s). Also many global companies ONLY use software that is multi language enabled because their businesses demand it.

There is an App for that There are several Apps that can help you manage your translations. The most common format is PO files (Portable Object files) , which are open source gettext based files consisting of multiple entries holding the relation between the original untranslated strings and their corresponding translations. You can download POEdit or even use an online web service POEditor.

Never trust automatic translations

Think of taking a shortcut and using Google Translate? Translation software makes instant understanding of any language possible, but the quality of such text is often highly questionable, particularly when larger chunks are entered into the translation module. While automatic translations might be good enough for basic understanding of web pages, your app interface will require a much deeper understanding.

Never trust automatic translations cont..

It makes sense to hire a professional translator, preferably native or someone with direct experience of the culture for the market you wish to target. Please don't think about pinching pennies on app localization, you will just alienate your potential customers and create negative buzz. Here are some resources to get started:

TethrasApplinguaGetLocalization.comBabble-onOneSky

Use Local Keywords in Marketing

If you know how to perform keyword research in general, you follow pretty much the same process when optimizing keywords in other languages. Remember merely translating English keywords into the local language might miss the cultural factor. Using a translation service agency is recommended to have the cultural nuances figured out. Also, use local search engines to advertise and not just Google. Although Google is dominant in the US and many other countries, it does not have a similar market share across the globe. Baidu [China], Naver [Korea], Yahoo![Japan] and Yandex [Russia] are amongst the other top search engines that are popular in their respective countries.

Many App Stores for Many Purposes

Western developers are accustomed to working with a handful of app stores, but once again, things are different in markets like China. There are app stores for specific cities and provinces and app stores for specific demographic markets. A good place to start would be 10 App Stores in China You Really Ought to Be On.

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