Do Your Translated Websites Make the Grade?

We understand the pressures on businesses to keep their marketing up-to-date; chasing the ever-changing technological advancements and upgrades to what you offer and how your website functions can be a drain on time and resources. However, as with many things, this prompts us to employ specialists in these areas, to maximise the investment and, importantly, get the best possible results. Translations are no different.

Cutting corners, trying to hijack the skilled process with simplistic technology is a common mistake and one that can cost a business dearly in the long run. This is not to say that many of the technological applications to assist with translations cannot be very useful (we use SDL Trados Studio and train others to use it with great success) but we encourage our clients to understand the differences in the types of product on offer.

What is SDL Trados Studio?

SDL Trados Studio, as an example, is based on software that builds a database of words as the translator works, so anything that has been translated previously will automatically pop up on the screen – this can save money on repetitive texts (so no need to translate the same thing twice) and improve quality through improved consistency. This technology gets better as the years go by, and also helps the management of the translation project process.

This is a great tool, which adds to the work of a trained linguist and results in a site, which can be completed in a shorter timeframe with first-class translation. It is not designed to replace or be used instead of human translation.

We are seeing a rising trend of businesses ‘falling for’ the free translation apps and services for translating websites, which are easily found online. These have a use for quick, informal exchanges where errors can be overlooked or when simply seeking the gist of a language, but for businesses dealing with technical information, medical or legal terminology, or just anyone seeking the professional finish most customers expect, these are not the answer.

We have touched on the stats surrounding how your customers respond to genuine, professional localisation and translation in another recent post. The numbers speak volumes; your customers expect and deserve to be able to view your site in their language if you value their business and want to increase trade in their locality.

It is more cost effective to get it right first time than lose trade through a poor offering and end up paying to fix those mistakes!

Our team of expert translators are on hand to deliver the best quality translated websites to take your business to the next level. For more information, get in touch today.

View other blog posts from: Feb, 2016