Localization is the process of creating Web pages that customize language, content, and design for a particular country or culture. It is not simply the act of "translating" a Web site into another language. Rather, localization involves understanding the local audience's language, culture, and customs, and providing that audience with a Web site that is both a likeness of the English-language version, and a useful, clear tool for the local user.

Here is the home page for a fictional American company, Chuzzlewit Brothers Chocolates.

The English-language Web developer designed the site with localization and non-English-speaking markets in mind. The rest of this article provides the guidelines that helped the company optimize its localization process.