Localising adult content: glossaries, tone levels and a review routine that works

01Start with a glossary

List the words that matter most: product types, materials, body-related terms, and brand phrases. For each one, agree the preferred local term, any terms to avoid, and a note on tone. Even a short glossary of a few dozen entries stops the same product being named three different ways.

02Agree tone levels

Agree the scale once, then mark each page with its level before translation starts.

03Brief the translator properly

• Who the customers are in that market, and what they already know.
• The glossary, the tone level for each page, and a few examples of good copy.
• Which claims need proof, and which words are off limits.
• How to flag doubts rather than guessing.

04Review before anything goes live

1. Read each page as a customer would, in context, not line by line.
2. Check glossary terms and tone levels.
3. Confirm prices, delivery details and legal references match that market.
4. Check titles, headings and image text were translated too.

Legal pages go to a lawyer in the market as well. The service behind this is content localisation.

05Keep it alive

Languages move, products change and customers write back. Update the glossary whenever a new term is agreed, and review the busiest pages in each language every few months. The keyword side of that upkeep is in our entry on keyword research.

06What goes in a style guide

• Who the customers are in the market and how they talk.
• Formal or informal address, and when exceptions apply.
• How frank to be about bodies, pleasure and products.
• Words to use, words to avoid, and terms that must never be translated, such as brand names.
• Rules for numbers, units, dates and prices.
• A page of before-and-after examples.

07Inclusive language across languages

Languages handle gender differently, and approaches to inclusive wording vary and are debated. German writers choose between forms such as the gender star, neutral wording or traditional forms; French and Spanish have their own options. Choose an approach that suits your brand and your audience in each market, apply it consistently, and prefer wording that does not assume a partner's gender or a reader's body. A native writer who knows the current conversation in that market is the best guide.

08Microcopy matters most

Buttons, error messages, form labels, the age check and checkout steps are read by every visitor, often at moments of hesitation. They are also the text most often left to machine translation or forgotten entirely. Give them the same care as product copy, keep them short, and test them on the live site in each language before launch.

09Sensitive topics and consent

Content about consent, sexual health, safety and age must be accurate and careful in every language. Have it written or reviewed by a native speaker who understands the subject, and where it touches on health or law, by someone qualified. A careless phrase about consent or safety damages trust more than any typo, and in some markets can create legal risk.

10Choosing translators and reviewers

Agencies offer scale and project management; freelancers offer continuity and often deeper knowledge of a niche. For adult content, choose people comfortable with the subject, who neither shy away from it nor turn every line into innuendo. Ask for a short paid test on a real page, check it with a second native speaker, and keep the same people where you can, because familiarity with your glossary and tone grows over time.

11Listening to customers

Customers in each market will tell you when something reads wrong, through reviews, support messages and returns. Log those comments by language, look for patterns each month, and feed fixes back into the glossary and style guide. This is the cheapest quality check available, and it improves with every order.

12Measuring quality

Quality is hard to score, but some signals help: the number of errors found in review per thousand words, customer complaints about language, conversion and return rates per market, and how quickly changes reach every language. Track them per market each quarter. The full service is described on content localisation.

13A worked example: one product line

By way of example. A brand selling a rechargeable silicone vibrator localises its page for German shoppers. The writer chooses formal address to match the brand, uses the common German terms for the product type and material from the glossary, converts dimensions to centimetres, replaces an English pun in the headline with a plain, warm line, rewrites the care section using German cleaning terms, and explains discreet delivery with the carriers German shoppers know. A second native speaker reads it on the live page, catches one term that sounds clinical in context, and the glossary is updated so every future page uses the warmer word.

14Briefing for different content types

Product pages, guides, emails and legal text each need different briefs. Product pages need specifications, the glossary and the tone level, and should follow the patterns on website localisation. Guides need the reader's questions in that market and the keywords researched for it. Emails need the trigger, the timing and discreet subject lines. Legal text needs a qualified translator and a lawyer's review. Using one generic brief for all of them is a common reason quality varies across a site.

15Keeping costs in check

Localisation costs can grow quickly as catalogues expand. Reuse approved text through translation memory tools, keep product descriptions structured so shared parts are translated once, and prioritise the pages that bring traffic and sales. Review effort should follow risk: more for legal, safety and checkout text, lighter for low-traffic archive pages.

16When to bring in a specialist

Most product and guide pages can be localised by a skilled native writer with the right brief. Bring in a specialist for legal text, health and safety claims, and anything about consent or age (see our notes on international rules), where a qualified reviewer protects both the customer and the business. For explicit gated content, choose writers comfortable with that material and agree clear boundaries in advance, including what the brand will never publish in any language.

17Building a repeatable process

The first market is the hardest. By the second, you have a glossary template, a style guide outline, a review routine and a list of every page type that needs attention. Write these down as you go, store them with each market's materials and its keyword map, and the third and fourth markets will take a fraction of the time. The wider service is on content localisation, and the difference between translating and localising is explained in our guide to translation vs localisation.

QQuestions