How to get your website translated…the easy way.
Any ambitious company recognises that an effective website is absolutely vital for attracting and retaining consumers, and encouraging sales. Creating such a website is a complicated and lengthy process, the results of which often aren’t felt for some time. For a company with international ambitions, the process doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve got through the rudimentary stages of web development, eventually you’ll reach the question of website translation.
The importance of good translation is undeniable for companies with global reach – after all, less than a third of web users speak English, whilst 80 per cent of Europeans will only buy from a website presented in their native language.
However, website translation is often viewed as a constant demand; necessitating increasingly more time, resource and expense as a website expands and develops over the months. It’s tough for companies to keep up. Does it have to be this difficult to have your website translated? Of course not. There is an easier way.
Main website translation challenges.
The most obvious challenge faced by companies in website translation is the sheer number of different languages and localised content that would need to be produced.
Whilst the top ten languages on the internet account for 2.3 billion internet users, there are still more than 440 million internet users who speak other languages. English has predominantly been the language of the internet, but there have been remarkable shifts in usage in China and the Arabic-speaking world, and although most of India’s 50 million internet users can speak English, 75 per cent of them prefer to seek out content in their first language (which, in India, there are many). In our article, the internet’s most popular languages, we suggested that if English was to be knocked off its perch at the top, it’ll most likely be overtaken by Russian or German.
From that challenge stem many others. As both your company and website grow, the amount of content which requires updating will continually expand, and the need for fresh, localised content increases. This could result in having to hire new members of staff whose sole purpose is to translate website content in your content management system (CMS), and further costly development additions. Whilst many CMS platforms have ‘copy and paste’ translation tools, they’re often crude and at the detriment of site optimisation.
Then again, not every part of your website might need translating. By knowing which parts of your website need to be translated and which don’t, you could save valuable time.
Proxy solutions – the easier way
If you were told that you could have your entire website translated and reaching new markets in just a few days, rather than a few months, you might wonder how it would be possible – especially given the challenges we’ve just outlined. Well, with a proxy-based website translation solution, a few days is all it takes. Companies like Brightlines, who employ large teams of linguistic and technology experts, have developed translation solutions that make the process entirely painless and leave your team to crack on with other important tasks.
For one thing, when you hire a website translation company with a proxy solution, your web developers aren’t needed other than for initial site structure setup. If your website is responsive and already compatible across multiple viewing devices, then your translated sites will be too.
There’s also no need for you to install and maintain a complex CMS. When you work with a company like Brightlines, we handle all aspects of your content maintenance, providing translation from a human expert – not a flawed algorithm*. Human translation ensures the correct message is given every time, which is extremely important when targeting content towards regional audiences who have their own mannerisms and cultural quirks. A word or phrase can mean completely different things in countries which, on a map, seem close together.
A website translation proxy solution, like the one we’re pioneering, retains the use of your existing website’s functionality, again keeping your developers free for other tasks that can grow your business. Just leave all translation duties to us; there’s no repeat development of a feature for each language – just a website filled with highly-effective translated content with the option of expanding to include further languages down the road, quickly and easily.
How the proxy works
Here’s a step-by-step guide to how Brightlines’ website translation proxy solution works:
- Words are counted. Your website is scanned and run through our powerful Translation Management System. This produces a word count and translation costs are calculated.
- Content is translated. This content is then translated by our world-class translators, experts at creating translations that perfectly reflect your message.
- Translated content is approved. Once all the text has been translated an offline version of the site can be viewed for approval. This will look and function exactly as the original.
- Ongoing website translation management. Going forward, your site can be scanned automatically on an agreed schedule for new and updated content, this can then be seamlessly translated without client intervention.
- Translated website. When users choose to view your site in a different language, they will be presented with a mirror version which is exactly the same as your initial site, just with localised content.
So you see – there is an easier way.
Website translation needn’t be a daunting task; it should be an exciting one. Make sure you partner with a company which offers the very best top-level linguists with specialist expertise, like Brightlines of course, and you’ll be on top of the world!
If you’re interested in an effective website translation service for your business, please do get in touch.
*I mention here a “flawed algorithm”, meaning of course automatic or machine translation. There is a real danger in using machine translation services to translate your website as automatic machine translation is against Google Webmaster Guidelines. The translation it produces is not deemed high enough quality to be ranked by Google. You can read more about that here: Are your international website invisible?