---
title: Localization
description: How to prioritize storefronts, review localized metadata, and build a repeatable localization workflow with Marteso.
---

# Localization

Localization is one of the highest-ROI moves available to an indie iOS developer after the US market is stable. A well-executed German or Japanese listing — with translated title, subtitle, keyword field, and screenshots — often costs a few hours and can unlock a market that's as large as several US state-level download segments. This guide shows how to decide where to invest and how to run the review.

## Storefront prioritization worksheet

Not every market is worth custom metadata. Use this worksheet to prioritize where to start:

| Step | Question | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Which storefronts already send you downloads without localization? | Marteso **Analytics → Countries** |
| 2 | Where do you have above-average organic ranks without localized metadata? | Marteso keyword dashboard → Store column per keyword |
| 3 | Where are competitors localized that you aren't? | Marteso **Competitors** tab → check their metadata |
| 4 | What's the market size relative to US? | Public App Store revenue data |
| 5 | Do you have a translator you trust for this language? | Internal capacity check |

**High-signal markets to evaluate first:**

| Market | Why it matters | Localization effort |
|---|---|---|
| Germany (de-DE) | Large, high-spend iOS userbase; German users strongly prefer localized apps | Medium — well-documented translation standards |
| Japan (ja) | App Store revenue per user is among the highest globally | High — UI and copy conventions differ significantly |
| France (fr-FR) | Large iOS market, app descriptions in French convert measurably better | Medium |
| Brazil (pt-BR) | Fastest-growing iOS market in Latin America | Medium |
| South Korea (ko) | High mobile spend, strong preference for local-language content | High |
| Netherlands (nl) | Punches above its weight for paid/subscription app revenue | Low — small market, test with keyword-only localization first |

## Localization review checklist

Run this checklist for each locale you're localizing:

**Keyword research**
- [ ] Re-research keywords in the target language — don't translate English keywords literally
- [ ] Check what top-ranking local competitors use in their title and keyword field
- [ ] Validate search volume using Marteso's country-specific popularity scores
- [ ] Confirm that the translated terms reflect how local users describe the use case (not how English speakers would describe it)

**Title and subtitle**
- [ ] Title is under 30 characters in the target language (translated text is often longer)
- [ ] Subtitle is under 30 characters
- [ ] No direct keyword translation that would sound unnatural to a native speaker — use a native reviewer
- [ ] Brand name is consistent (usually keep the English brand name unless it has a phonetic issue in the local language)

**Keyword field**
- [ ] Entirely in the target language (mixing languages reduces effectiveness)
- [ ] No repeated words from the localized title or subtitle
- [ ] Under 100 characters
- [ ] Uses search terms validated by local rank data, not machine-translated English keywords

**Description**
- [ ] Proofread by a native speaker, not just machine-translated
- [ ] Opening lines work in the first 250 characters visible before "More"
- [ ] Feature names and product terms match what users search for locally
- [ ] Calls to action are idiomatic (e.g. the German direct download instruction is different from the US "Download now" pattern)

**Screenshots**
- [ ] Caption text is translated and naturally idiomatic
- [ ] UI screenshots show any locale-specific UI changes (if your app adapts to language)
- [ ] Right-to-left languages have mirrored device frames if appropriate

## Review workflow per market

For each localized storefront, run one review cycle per metadata release:

1. **Draft** — open **Suggestions**, filter by locale, run AI or review pending suggestions for the target market
2. **Keyword validation** — check keyword popularity scores for the target country in the keyword dashboard
3. **Native review** — have a native speaker review title, subtitle, and description before submitting
4. **Edit in Versions** — open **Versions**, select the locale, and update the metadata fields directly
5. **Screenshot coordinate** — if the locale needs custom screenshots, see [Build automation](./screenshot-automation.md)
6. **Push to ASC** — use **Push Metadata** in Versions to push the localized fields to App Store Connect

## How separate storefronts prevent blended signals

One of the most common mistakes in multi-market ASO is reviewing aggregate analytics across all countries. If your overall downloads dip 10%, it's impossible to know if the US market dropped or if Germany is underperforming.

Marteso's per-country rank view lets you see rankings isolated by storefront. Keep separate readouts per country when reviewing a metadata change's impact:

- After a localization update to Germany, check rank movement for German-only keywords
- Don't average German keyword ranks with US ranks — they serve different metadata sets
- Use the country filter in the keyword dashboard to view each market in isolation

![Keyword dashboard showing per-storefront tracking — each keyword shows its associated Store (country code)](/img/localization-country-filter.png)

![Version metadata view showing App Store fields (name, subtitle, keywords) per locale](/img/localization-metadata-locales.png)