3 Ways to Have a Higher-Quality Website Translation

Translating your brand’s website is crucial for not just audience engagement, but also for your bottom line. With over 75% of consumers needing to make a purchase in their own language, the success of your company can come to rely on high-quality translations.

 

If your company has global ambitions, here are three ways to ensure quality remains high even as you cross borders:

 

  1. Enlist the Help of Professionals

Taking your website abroad means not just translating content, but also localizing it. A professional translation firm specializes in grasping the cultural nuances that are often lost in strict, word-for-word translations.

 

Professionals understand how to keep the integrity of your brand message even as it gets displayed to a new audience with different cultural perceptions. You can’t count on amateurs or machine translations to preserve your core messaging when faced with completely different linguistic and cultural standards.

 

  1. Follow the Law

It is likely that your website has a set of privacy terms or other legal pages. When this is the case, it is necessary to accurately translate these items to abide by the local laws and regulations in a foreign country. While that content is suitable as is in your home country, once it travels abroad you are under new jurisdiction. Having professional translators help you in this circumstance is important for ensuring all the boxes are checked and you are conducting business legally overseas, even when it’s virtual.

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  1. Expect Format Changes

When text is translated from one language to another, this often results in three major formatting changes:

  • Space – A translation from English takes up an average of 30% more space on the screen.
  • Imagery – You must consider if certain visuals have different meanings in your target country. You don’t want to have anything on your website that can be construed as offensive in another culture.
  • Code – In a situation where the target language uses symbols or characters, you may need to change the back end of coding so these appear correctly.

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