How to choose a localization partner: 9 questions to ask

Choosing a localization partner is a long-term decision. The right one becomes an extension of your team; the wrong one quietly costs you quality, speed, and rework. Before you sign, ask these nine questions.

1. Who actually does the translation?

Ask whether your content is handled by in-country, native-speaking linguists with subject-matter expertise — or routed through anonymous marketplaces. For regulated fields (legal, medical, finance), domain specialists are non-negotiable.

2. How do you keep quality consistent?

Look for a defined process: ISO 17100 / 18587-aligned workflows, layered review, and independent LQA scoring against an error taxonomy. "We have great translators" is not a process.

3. How do you manage terminology?

A serious partner maintains a termbase and translation memory for you, so terminology stays consistent and repeated content costs less over time. Ask who owns that data — it should be you.

4. Which content types and formats can you handle?

Websites, apps, software strings, marketing, legal, multimedia, and AI training data each need different treatment. Confirm they can handle your formats (.xliff, .json, .docx, .srt, and CMS/repo connectors) without manual copy-paste.

5. How do you protect confidential content?

Expect NDA-first handling, encrypted transfer, access-controlled storage, and clear data-retention terms. If you work with personal or regulated data, ask about GDPR and local data-protection alignment.

6. How do you scale — and stay fast?

Ask how they add languages and volume without quality dropping, and what typical turnaround looks like for your content type, including rush options.

7. Who is my point of contact?

One accountable program manager beats a ticket queue. You want a single owner who knows your account, not a new stranger every project.

8. How is pricing structured?

Understand per-word vs. per-hour, TM discounts on repetitions, and what's included (DTP, QA, project management) versus billed as extras. Transparent pricing signals a mature operation.

9. Can you show relevant experience?

Ask for examples in your industry and language pairs, and how they measure success — SLA adherence, LQA scores, on-time delivery.

The short version

A good localization partner is transparent about people, process, and data. If answers are vague on any of the three, keep looking.

At Localyn, every engagement runs through one accountable team with ISO-aligned QA, managed terminology, and NDA-first security by default. Request a quote and we'll walk you through exactly how we'd handle your program.