Strategies for translation, localization, and rollout

Document Authoring (DA) can help you localize your content, but there are a number of considerations before you get started. It is good to understand the terms used when localizing content.

Vocabulary

Sync - When a doc is supplied, but does not match where the language expects it, DA will offer to "sync" it to the correct source location for the language.
Translate - The act of taking a document in one language and converting it a different language.
Transcreate - An evolution of translation. Taking a document and translating while maintaining the original tone and intent. Going above and beyond simple sentence translations. Typically associated with LLM-based translation services.
Localize - Converting a document to have more locale-centric or regionally-centric content.
Rollout - The technical term for copying documents from a single language folder and into multiple locales or regions.
Locale - The pairing of a language and region. You can speak German, but are you speaking German in Germany, Switzerland, or Austria?
Region - An arbitrary geographical location. This could be anything from "South America" to "Columbia" to "EMEA".

Introduction to DA Localization

DA provides several services to help automate the translation, localization, and rollout of content. While on-demand services like Google Translate or even built-in browser translations can be convenient, they can have non-ideal SEO impacts.

One of the hallmark features of Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is the ability to automate the process of translating, localizing, and rolling out content. In many respects, DA is no different. It provides many similar features, but with a focus on document-based authoring and reduced complexity.

Managing localized content at scale can be a challenge due to the amount of content that is created. DA gives you the freedom to be as high-touch or hands-off as needed for your project. You can choose to merge documents and compare changes across the entire lifecyle of your locatlization projects.

Strategies

It is important to pick a localization strategy that fits your needs. Adobe's best practices can be read on aem.live. The basic strategies are as follows:

Language-based

Simply translate your content into different languages.

Regionally-based

Group regions and translate the content within each.

/ch - Switzerland region
/ch/de - Switerland German
/ch/fr - Switzerland French
/ch/it - Switzerland Italian

Locale-based

Translate directly into specific regions with specific languages.

/en-us
/en-ca
/en-in
/fr-fr
/fr-ca
/de-de
/zh-cn

Hybrid (language-based)

Translate into different languages, optionally rollout to specific regions.

/en
/en/us
/fr
/fr/ca
/de
/de/ch
/zh
/zh/

Recommendation

If you're simply looking to have your content available in different languages, we recommend a language-based approach. If you have regionally specific content, common for ecommerce sites, we recommend using a region-based approach.

Locale-based and hybrid provide flexibility for scenarios where your site is mostly language-based, but you would like to have some regional or locale-specific content. It is also possible to have a hybrid region-based where only some pages are available in certain languages.

Other considerations

While a language-based approach can provide less overhead, you may run into complexities with commerce, currencies, and VAT.

A locale-based approach may provide simplicity in commerce, but it will create undesired duplication of content that can be unfriendly for SEO.

A hybrid model where the site is predominantly language-based keeps content duplication low. You will still have similar language-based commerce considerations, but this would be considered the preferred option over locale-based.

Next Steps

Once you are clear on your localization needs and your strategy, you can set up your own translation.