Software as a Service (SaaS) localization and translation services adapt user experiences and SaaS products to encompass not just a specific language, but also regional preferences and cultures. It is more than just machine translation but allows immersion for the user to enhance their experience in the manner they are utilizing the product.
The SaaS market has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. In 2025 it is expected to reach $390.45 billion with a staggering annual growth rate of almost 20%. By 2029, it is expected to reach $793.10 billion.
The advancements in digital technology have greatly influenced this growth and industries across the board are being impacted. Global expansion is becoming increasingly important for SaaS companies in order to remain competitive.
LILT has emerged onto the market as a powerful, effective SaaS localization and translation service that is so much more than a simple point solution (think Google Translate), but is an end-to-end enterprise solution. It adapts to the user’s needs, offering a seamless, relevant experience for its users.
The Evolution of SaaS Localization
The past decade has seen exponential growth within the tech industry. SaaS localization has ridden that wave, growing and evolving at an incredible pace. It has quickly evolved from basic translation to comprehensive cultural adaptation, especially with the rapid growth of AI.
AI in translation has played a major role in revolutionizing localization processes by improving efficiency, increasing accuracy, and automating tasks. It has also been a driving factor in the enabling of translation that is culturally more sensitive and much faster for content distributed throughout global markets.
Traditional localization methods tend to be time-consuming, complex, and multi-layered. It was cumbersome and required extensive knowledge of the target’s culture. Disparate processes led to disjointed solutions which made it even more difficult to effectively provide full translation services with immersive culture experiences.
It was also quite costly due to the time and money investments resulting from pricing due to human-centered processes. This means that traditional localization processes tend to be slow, inefficient, unaffordable (not cost-effective), and mediocre quality.
Modern solutions help companies scale their global operations, enabling them to more effectively leverage translation as a strategic driving force instead of just another cumbersome task to be checked off a to-do list – and is creating bottlenecks in the process.
Flexible and hybrid translation methods help companies scale and optimize localization processes quickly and easily. They are more cost-effective as well, especially when integrated with a translation management system that streamlines workflows and enhances efficiency.
Core Components of SaaS Localization
Software localization is a complex process, but LILT simplifies that with AI-powered localization, allowing businesses to scale globally. This allows companies to translate launch campaigns, in-app content, support articles, and design files for their international customers while maintaining the design, branding, support, and product experiences consistent across languages.
There are five key elements of comprehensive SaaS localization.
User interface – Main content of the site, messages, menus, contact, FAQs, dialog boxes, and tips.
Technical documentation – Software specs.
Marketing materials – Product descriptions, brochures, ads, and email.
Customer support resources - User & installation manuals, help content, troubleshooting, and help files.
Legal compliance – Privacy page, TOS, industry-specific regulations, and local, state, and federal laws.
Each of these elements is vital to the success of any business. When they are accessible to a global audience in their own languages, this contributes to the organization’s global success.
AI-Powered Translation Technology
LILT’s unique approach to AI translation combines human expertise with contextual AI technology. Contextual AI improves engagement with the products and services a company offers by delivering content that is customized to the user’s language and interests.
This results in improved customer experiences, more personalization, data-driven insights, and more efficient operations. Beyond that, the ability to easily expand to global markets is invaluable. By leveraging a translation management platform, companies can not only offer their products and services to international customers, they can do it in their own language, enhancing the customer experience.
One of the most unique features of LILT is the strong human component at its core. While an AI company, there are still human beings at the helm. The company was founded and led by researchers and all translated materials are checked by human beings. The system then learns from the feedback provided by the human checkers. This is a key part of our quality assurance process.
Integration Capabilities
A translation solution should make the process easier, not bog it down. LILT provides a workflow integration that is seamless. With more than 60 business system integrations like Contentful, GitHub, Figma, and more, you can confidently choose us to make your work a little easier.
Our integration process is quick with minimal disruption to your operations. The system is easy to use, so training is accomplished in a much shorter time than with other more complex systems. We provide a faster, easier process so that you are back up and running in a much shorter time.
Whether you're managing small-scale translations or large, ongoing localization projects across multiple languages, LILT’s seamless integration with your existing tech stack paired with its AI-powered solutions ensure efficiency, accuracy, and consistency across all content.
Quality Assurance Process
LILT has a rigorous quality assurance program that utilizes a human-AI collaboration. Human linguists are a significant part of the process. They review all AI-generated content and provide feedback to the AI system. In turn, the system learns from the feedback and improves to better ensure accurate, high quality translations.
These human reviewers also have industry-specific expertise, rounding out the user experience. Unlike traditional language service providers, which rely solely on human translators or outdated workflows, LILT combines AI efficiency with human translation expertise to improve translation quality and deliver faster, more accurate services. These quality assurance measures are ongoing and contribute to continuous improvement processes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is SaaS localization, and how does it differ from traditional translation?
While SaaS localization and traditional translation are both methods for adapting content to accommodate different languages, SaaS localization is far more comprehensive. It is a strategic process that goes further than mere word-for-word translation. It delves into the culture, adapting to provide a more user-friendly experience for certain target markets. The intention is for the software to feel native and intuitive regardless of the language of the user. This includes:
Software interface (UI) translation: Buttons, menus, labels, messages, error messages, etc.
Help documentation and support materials: FAQs, knowledge bases, tutorials, chatbots.
Marketing and sales content: Website, landing pages, email campaigns, in-app messages.
Multimedia elements: Images, videos, audio with localized text or voiceovers.
Functional adaptation: Adjusting date/time formats, currencies, measurement units, legal requirements, and cultural conventions (e.g., right-to-left languages, number formats, address formats).
Continuous updates and deployment: Localization needs to be integrated into the agile development cycle of SaaS products, handling frequent updates and new features.
Traditional translation is a more primitive, cumbersome approach to translation. Text is converted from one language, called the “source language,” into another language, called the “target language.” The primary focus in this type of translation is linguistic accuracy and cultural appropriateness of the text itself. Typically, this is a project-based activity that is centered around the translation of specific document types, including:
Marketing materials: Brochures, websites, advertisements, presentations
Legal documents: Contracts, terms of service, privacy policies
Technical documentation: User manuals, training guides, installation instructions
Literary works: Books, articles, scripts
When traditional translation is used, it is almost always project-based, meaning that it is usually initiated for specific projects or documents with defined start and end dates. The content involved is primarily static or fixed. It does not change much, if at all, within the project timeframe.
Traditional translation is an inherently human-centric process that is heavily reliant on human translators who have expertise in language and subject matter. There may be some technology such as CAT tools that assist, but human expertise is the core. The linguistic quality puts the emphasis on natural-sounding translation with high accuracy in the target language.
Feature | Traditional Translation | SaaS Localization |
Scope | Primarily text-based content | Entire software product and user experience |
Content Type | Static documents, marketing materials | Dynamic UI, interactive elements, help content |
Process | Project-based, often linear | Continuous, iterative, integrated |
Focus | Linguistic accuracy of text | User experience, cultural relevance within the software |
Technology | CAT tools, translation memory (supportive) | TMS, CMS, APIs, Connectors (essential) |
Workflow | Often separate from content creation | Integrated into development and content workflows |
Cadence | Project-driven, less frequent updates | Continuous updates, agile development |
Goal | Accurate text translation | Native user experience, global market adoption |
The business benefits of SaaS localization are significant. Because of its immersive nature, customer response is largely positive. It is effective for attracting new customers and keeping existing customers.
The increased market reach and review that it offers are incredible. SaaS localization allows businesses to reach new global markets much easier and more effectively. This is because the software is localized, meaning that users are more likely to adopt and pay for software in their native language.
User adoption and engagement is greatly improved since localized software feels more intuitive and user-friendly to customers in different regions. This leads to higher user adoption rates, increased engagement, and reduced churn.
Customer satisfaction and loyalty are enhanced by the localized experience. In their eyes, it shows that the company values the customer and respects their culture and language. This fosters trust and loyalty. When a user is able to use software comfortably in their own language, their satisfaction with the company increases.
When localization is integrated into the development process, it enables quicker, more efficient expansion into new international markets. This gives companies a global reach.
Offering localized SaaS products gives businesses a competitive advantage in a globalized market. These products can be a significant differentiator, giving the company an edge over their competitors who offer limited language options or English only.
Localized help documentation and in-app support in local languages can greatly reduce support costs. It reduces the burden on support teams while lowering support costs by allowing users to locate the answers to their questions on their own in the language that they prefer.
Providing localized content can help to build a brand’s presence and reputation on a global level. When it is consistent and high quality, it strengthens global brands by ensuring a unified and positive user experience across different markets.
How long does it take to implement a SaaS localization solution?
At LILT, we have a 30-day implementation timeline. From assessment to installation to training to implementation, we are with you every step of the way.
The general setup is about one week. It involves assessing, installing, and customizing platforms, workflows, and content types.
The linguistic setup is also about a week. It involves customizing and adjusting TM, Style Guides, and Implementing Assets.
The technical setup is the last stage and typically takes one to two weeks. It involves the installation of Connectors, data exchange, and POC.
What languages and markets do you support?
LILT is a native SaaS company, supporting more than 100 languages, including language pairs such as English Spanish, English French, English-Chinese, and English-German.
How does AI improve the translation process?
At LILT, AI plays a crucial role in speed, accuracy, and consistency. And while these are vital to your business, it’s the human-AI collaboration that sets us apart.
What types of content can be localized?
If your business can imagine it, it can be localized. We have the capability to localize all content types, including:
Text-Based: Websites, marketing materials, legal documents, blog posts, email, software user interfaces, webpages, landing pages, articles, app user interfaces
Multimedia: Videos, games, graphics, audio, images
Other Content: Presentations, social media, E-learning modules, customer support materials, User manuals
ROI and Business Impact
Our many clients rave about how our services have helped to transform their business. Several of our clients, including Intel, Lenovo, Asics, and Canva have reported cost savings as high as 40% (Intel) and translation velocity by 60% (Asics).
Speed, efficiency, and accuracy are our promises to catapult your business into the global market. Get that competitive edge by expanding your customer base with content that your customers can connect with in their language.
Transform your global content strategy with LILT's enterprise-grade localization solutions
LILT’s SaaS localization services provide fast, accurate translations that are human reviewed. And this combination of AI technology and human expertise is what really sets us apart.
It is also what will help set your business apart.
Book a meeting today to discover how we can help you reach new markets 40% faster while maintaining premium quality across all your content. We’ll have you up and running in 30 days, reaching new customers and breaking new ground in international markets.