A product that has been localized properly has the look and feel of a product originally written and designed for the target culture. Here are just some items that, aside from language, have to be considered in order to effectively localize a product or website: measuring units, number formats, time and date formats, paper sizes, fonts, default font selection, case differences, character set, tables for sorting, local regulations, currency conversion, taxes...

The standard localization process includes the following basic steps:

- Analysis and evaluation of the necessary resources and tools, based on the material received.
- Creation and maintenance of terminology glossaries; cultural, technical and linguistic assessment.
- Text translation, review by a second linguist, and proofreading to ensure quality and consistency.
- Resizing of the user interface.
- Localization of graphics, movies, scripts or any other media containing visible text and user interface.
- Documentation layout.
- Compilation and build of the localized files for testing.
- Linguistic and functional quality assurance.
- Project delivery.

Depending on the project size and complexity, this process may require the coordination of multiple professionals: Project Manager, Translators, Proofreaders, Engineers, Desktop Publishers, and Testers.