Translation is key to increasing sales, supporting customer relationships, and gaining commercial esteem around the world.
A high quality, professional translation will ensure your business puts its best foot forward into new markets and trading arenas, thus guaranteeing value for your money.
Before you rush out to negotiate with the nearest translation company though, there are a few tips you should consider that could save you money, time and effort when dealing with translation for your business and should ensure you are ready to translate.
What needs translating?
You can cut translation costs by only translating relevant material, or by producing less wordy copies of original documents. For instance, do you have a few similar blogs that could be amalgamated into one? If so, rework the blog so it is ready for translation as this will save you money.
Cultural references must be checked and modified before translation begins, but if you’re unsure check with in-country teams or your translation vendor about colloquialisms, customs and local dialects that may not be appropriate for your target market.
Value for money
The cheapest translation quote may not be the best suited to your needs. It is worth asking a few vendors for quotes and drawing up a comparison of the service they provide.
If they are cheaper, is there something that the more expensive companies provide that the cheaper one doesn’t? Check for disparities on quotes and ensure they offer the same service.
Check a company’s credentials before asking for a full quote. They should happily provide customer testimonials, professional accreditation, and even samples of their work if they offer a reliable translation service.
Don’t forget the value of working with native-tongue translators as they have specialist, insider knowledge of the language.
Market research
The value of knowing your target market inside out can’t be overstated. Your knowledge of regional difference, language dialects, and cultural taboos or customs will make the difference between an okay translation and a great one.
Employ a localisation expert if you are unsure of all the contexts that need addressing, and if you are targeting a specific region check if there are regional dialects that correspond to areas. For instance, if you are branching out into China does your translation need to be Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Traditional written Chinese or Simplified written Chinese?
Localisation is a complex matter that should be applied wherever you plan to target. Designs and artwork should be considered, and even colour connotations vary around the globe.
Be sure to seek advice and do your research before translation occurs as this will save reworks and expense while ensuring you can effectively communicate with your audience.
Communicate your requirements
Communication is key to translation. This applies not only to your target audience but also communication between you and your translator.
The more information you can give to your translator the easier they can produce work that fits your requirements. Be sure to give them a glossary of terminology, website links, and any other documents that will assist their understanding of your requests.
Once a translation and localisation team can understand your branding, ethos and company policies they can then work towards producing a translation that fits your company and your target audience.
Do you need specialists?
Does your business cover a niche market that specialises in a certain field? If so, you will require specialist translation.
If you have documents that are highly technical, have legal or medical terminology then pursue a translation vendor that offers translators who are trained in these fields.
Often translation companies will have experts trained in various fields such as, law, medicine and engineering, who will have a greater understanding of terminology, thus ensuring an accurate and reliable translation.
Be sure to check these credentials before confirming a request for translation.
Once you have chosen a suitable translation vendor who is capable of fulfilling your requests, and your text has then been translated, there may still be more work to do.
The translated text will need inserting back into the original background (if it is part of a website). This can be a simple procedure but remember that often the translated text is lengthier than the English version and may require some formatting to fit.
Artwork and design elements need to be linked to, and complement, the translated text to ensure consistency. Remember to confirm that artwork is culturally aware.
If you require multilingual desktop publishing, and typesetting in right-to-left, such as in Arabic translation, you should ensure your translation vendor is capable of this. Some translation companies have in-house design teams that can provide this service but check first if you know it is something you will need.
Once completed, your carefully planned, professionally translated material will be an asset to your company that works from the outset to target your customers and promote your brand in a way that best suits your company.
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