7 Tips to Help You Optimize Your Website Translation

When it comes to tapping into an international market, translating your website into a different language seems like one of the many daunting and complex tasks. But taking on this project doesn’t have to be as time-consuming, frustrating, and stressful as you might thing. When you are equipped with the right information and the help of a professional translator, not only does translating your website become easier, you can be guaranteed that you are going to end up with the highest quality results possible. In this post, we will uncover seven tips on optimizing your website translation for success.

Don’t Forget About Multilingual Search

When it comes to reaching a new target demographic that doesn’t speak the same language as you, it is not enough to simply change the language on your website. If you want to bring in international customers, you have to optimize for search too. You will need to do all of the same things that you typically do when creating a domestic search campaign, just in a new language. This includes link building, local domains, relevant keywords for URLs, metadata, and content. This is typically uncharted territory for any business that does not speak an additional language and know how to optimize search for international customers, therefore it is important to invest in a professional translator to get the job done.

Take Into Consideration Content on a Local, Regional, And Global Scale

Before beginning to translate your website content, you must first take into account what content is best suited for specific regions or areas and what content can be translated globally for multiple countries. For example, product descriptions and your company message might be able to be translated globally (for several countries) while other types of content such as local legalities and press will be specific to local markets and regions.

Ask Yourself How Often You Will Perform Maintenance And Do Updates

Any business with a website that they want to keep relevant must be updated on a regular basis. But you must first determine what that means to you. How frequently will you update your website and perform routine maintenance. Any time you update your website’s content, you will also need to update the content in the new language that you have the content translated into. If you plan on doing daily updates, you will need to invest in a highly automated process in order for the content to be translated across several languages. If you only do updates on a quarterly basis or once a month, you will not need a very high level of automation.

Examine Your Website Images

When you are targeting a new international audience and translating your website content into their language, the text is not the only thing you must take into consideration. You must also review all of your website photos and determine whether or not they are culturally appropriate. What might make sense or seem normal in your country might not be understood or translated well in another country. In addition to making sure the written content on your website can be effectively translated, work with a professional translator to examine your images and replace anything that would be better fitted for the cultural differences.

Use All Of The Right Symbols

Just as the text and imagery will differ from country to country, so will the symbols that are being used. Even with languages that are similar like English, the symbols that are used in the United States will not be the same as the symbols used in England or Australia. A professional translator will help you make sure that you website uses all of the correct symbols related to times, dates, currencies, and other matters.

Understand That Relevant Content is a Top Priority

Images that are appropriate and relevant in one country with a different language are quite often different, as we discussed above. And naturally, what is relevant in one country will not be relevant in another. What might resonate with your English speaking audience might not be the same as say, German or Spanish. But working with a professional translator will help you develop written content that not only makes sense to your international audience, it will be relevant to them, their lifestyles, and the current events happening around them.

Avoid Machine Translation

Using machine translation may seem like the most appealing option because of the low cost, but it will ultimately be a poor investment. While at times, the machine translation will accurately translate text, this isn’t usually the case. The translation could very well end up not making any sense to your international audience, therefore risking the opportunity to garner new clients. Instead, stick to using an actual human being as your website translator. With that said, humans can make mistakes just as machines can. That is why it is so vital that you do a little bit of research and make sure that you are hiring a highly qualified professional with years of experience in the language and the subject matter.

Looking for more advice on the best ways to optimize your website translation? Or do you have any other questions related to professional translation services? Don’t hesitate to contact us today. Our team of highly skilled professional translators offer services in multiple languages including Spanish, German, Russian, Swedish, French, and Italian among others. We also offer services for medical, legal, and website translation.