Are you about to conquer the international market with your website or webshop? Congratulations! You are probably aware of the fact that good content is key. And the same applies to the translation of your little segment on the worldwide web.
Your translation needs to be dealt with professionally but what would it cost? Your investment in a well translated website depends on six factors. Which factors? We will tell you all about it in this blog post.
1: The number of words to be translated
Many translation agencies apply a word rate for translations. This includes the translation of your website. If you know the number of words to be translated an estimation of the costs becomes a possibility.
However, counting the number of words on the homepage is only just the beginning. Your website contains much more text than that. Texts one often forgets:
• Domain names.
• Navigation structure (menu items).
• Product pages with descriptions and product characteristics.
• Meta titles and descriptions.
• Buttons.
• Titles and alt texts of images.
• Pages such as the contact page, price lists, “About us”.
• General terms and conditions.
• Appendices.
Decide in advance whether to have your website or webshop translated entirely or whether you’d rather split it up in sections. If large pieces of text are involved, it’s quite conceivable to prefer to do this in parts. In that case start with the most important pages; pages that could be of interest with respect to the season or blog posts your readers often enjoy reading.
Take into consideration whether those blog posts could also be of interest to the new target group you’re aiming for via your translations. For example, a text on legislation may not be relevant at all in another country. Have you made the choice of having one part translated first? If so, ensure that your foreign visitor doesn’t become aware of this and that the user experience remains optimal.
2: The languages: From which source language to which target language?
The cost of having a website translated also depends on the language combination. The original text is the source language and the language you want for your website is the target language. A popular language combination is cheaper than a translation from and into languages that are less known. There are usually less translators available for less common language combinations which does result in a higher price.
Just to give you an idea; French, German and English are cheaper than e.g. Swedish, Norwegian and Korean. The less common the desired combination, the more you pay for the translation of your website.
Are you also considering having multiple websites presented in multiple languages? A multilingual website could also be an option. By using a plug-in such as WPML, you can use one domain for multiple languages making it easy for your visitor to switch between them. Read more about this in the blog post ”10 truly essential tips when having your website translated”.
3: Content: Import and export
Also consider the costs of any other parties other than the translation agency. Can you import and export the content yourself or does your website builder have to take care of it? Are you wondering as to how you should submit the content? A translation agency would be more than happy to help you in this respect.
4: Merely translate? Or apply localisation?
Okay, you’ve counted the words (or had a translation agency do the counting for you) and you know in which file format the content must be submitted. If so, the time has come to investigate whether the web texts must simply be translated or whether localisation is required.
Translating means to replace your text with the same text albeit in another language. Localisation means adapting the text in such a way that it matches the cultural preferences in the country of your target group to a tee. This could concern symbols, humour, traditions, but also political, economic and religious aspects.
An example; your website features a text on the preparation of pea soup. Not because you intend to export the best pea soup ever but because you have a blog on great dinners. If you translated that text into Korean, chances are that nobody will understand that text or have any use for it. When a translator applies localisation, he or she adapts the text in such a way that it does connect to your target audience. For example, the blog post will be about 김밥 (seaweed rice).
5: SEO: Do you want to dominate foreign search engines as well?
Optimising your website with regards to search engines will only come in handy if you do it correctly. The question is whether you just want to have your texts translated or that you want it done by a translator specialised in SEO translations. Search Engine Optimisation will make it easier to find you in the country where you want to use your website. It may be that your foreign target group uses totally different terms when searching or uses a totally different technical jargon altogether.
Do you have a website that functions mainly as an extensive calling card? This doesn’t necessarily require the services of a SEO Translator. However, if you want to be found in search engines, we recommend that you do. In addition to the text to be translated also provide the local target words. A SEO translator will then produce a translated website that will work in your favour.
6: Save on costs with translation memories and repeated words
Translators and translation agencies using smart translation software could be of benefit to your investment. The software puts together a translation memory and identifies those sentences that have been translated before. Ideal if the website you want translated contains many repeated text segments such as product information in webshops, for example.
Have you found a translation agency that uses this type of software? Once you’ve submitted the text to be translated, the translation tool determines the number of repetitions your text contains by means of a percentage. Some translation agencies translate this percentage into a lower price for your website translation.
Tip: Consult with the translation agency as to whether they will set up a translation memory or TM for you. If you let this agency translate another text for you, they will make use of this translation memory. This has two advantages; the costs will be lower and the translation of terms and repetitive texts will be more consistent.
Within 2 hours you will know exactly what the translation of your website will cost
By now you will know that your investment depends on quite a lot of factors. Yes, it is an investment, but one that will help you conquer the market in another country resulting in an increase in profit. A well-translated website always pays for itself. Would you like to know what your investment will amount to? Request a quote, free of charge and without obligation, and you will receive the required information within a 2-hour timeframe.
