What is website translation?
In short, website translation services involves translating some or all of the content on your site into another language. This can be done in a number of ways, which can be slightly overwhelming if you’re new to the subject.
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Translating your website is pretty much a necessity if you want to reach an international audience.
So, if you’re thinking about the best way to get your website translated, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve created the ultimate guide to website translation to help you understand the ins and outs of the entire process, including how to decide which method would be the best for you and your business.
Hence, to work effectively in overseas markets websites need accurate translation and localisation. Not just the on-page content, but the off-page content as well.
Website Translation Services – Make a connection in any language
Most of us online exhibit the attention span of a five year old. If we don’t immediately find what we’re looking for, if anything ruins our experience, we’re off. Not writing your website in the right language is the fastest way to lose an audience. If you haven’t bothered to translate into the right language, you’ve already shot yourself in the URL.
Using a skilled translation service for your website is more than good manners. It’s smart business. 60% of global online shoppers say they won’t buy from an English-only website. With more than 3 billion people now online, that 60% represents a decent chunk of the planet. A decent chunk we can help you talk to.
The smarter way to translate your website
At Brightlines we do more than find different words in different languages. We find meaning. Before we touch a syllable, we firstly take time to understand your business and your brand, to understand the marketing messages you need to hit home. Technical, emotional, or just plain useful, we work with all kinds of clients from all kinds of industries. Essentially, we bring the essence of your brand to life for different cultures.
SEO in every language
You can have the most compelling website in the world, but if no one finds it, it’s buried treasure. To get your website up the rankings we purposely match language skills with a knowledge of SEO.
Once we’ve identified the most relevant and popular local keywords and search phrases, we weave them fluidly into the writing of each page. Page titles, meta descriptions, H1 tags, image file names, anchor text. We’ll translate everything needed to make your site a popular destination in any language.
Update. Translate. Relax. Building translation workflows
Some websites need constant feeding. Content needs to be frequently updated and published as soon as the ink is dry. If you’re managing multiple sites in multiple languages, you need a content management system (CMS) to make things simple. WordPress, Magento, Sitecore or EPI server are the most popular options, and we have experience with them all.
Our website translation services include working with website developers or your IT team to integrate our services into a translation workflow. No matter what the language, your content will be served fresh and headache free.
One site to speak many tongues. Proxy translation Servers
If you have a simple website with content which will remain the same in every language, a translation proxy server is the easiest option. Consequently, no matter how many languages you need, you’ll only have to build one website.
We can translate the content, preserving not just the meaning, but also the style and tone of the original. A simple tab on the website will then deliver the same brand experience in any language chosen.
We speak digital in any language
Hard sell or soft sell. Technical or simple. We have experience working on every kind of website across a wide spread of industries. In addition to language experts our team includes coders, SEM gurus and technical experts. Therefore, we can help you understand the technical requirements of building and managing a site in multiple languages. We can handle a range of project types including:
- Websites
- Blog content
- Landing pages
- Banner ads
- Ecommerce
For advice or help with any kind of project, our team would be happy to help.
Always talk human
AI and automatic translation services have become increasingly sophisticated. And free. It all sounds perfect until you read the output. To engage a human reader, you need a human writer. Lacking in nuance and feeling, automatic translation services can’t compete with a skilled translator.
Without that human touch readers will generally switch off and search rankings will suffer. Despite developing Google Translate, Google itself recognises machine translated sites and penalises them in search. If you want your words to hit home, trust experts and avoid robots.
Why do so many clients trust Brightlines as their website translation company?
- We work fast, but we never drop standards.
Our aim is to respect deadlines and stick to budgets. But we never compromise on quality. We deliver powerful digital content to different markets without a hitch. - We know the technical stuff
To make things easy, we always match you with a linguist experienced in your category. More than a straightforward translation service, we use IT and technical experts to help us build digital solutions.
Suntransfers – One website. 42 two languages. No problem.
Suntransfers helps travelers book low-cost taxi trips in markets all over the world. They came us to us with a 40,000 word English website and a target market spread across America, Europe, and the Middle East. We specifically pulled together a team of linguists with tourism experience and successfully translated the original site into 42 languages. Two million words later, Sunstransfers.com is relied on by tourists from Memphis to Mumbai.
To get your website to connect with the whole wide world, get in touch with our team or ask for a quote.
Translating a website can help with:
Expanding global reach
Translating a website into multiple languages can make it accessible to a broader audience worldwide. It helps businesses reach out to millions of potential customers who are not fluent in the website's original language.
Improving SEO
A multilingual website can significantly improve search engine optimization (SEO). When translated, a website is more likely to appear in local search results, which can lead to increased traffic and visibility.
Enhancing user experience
A website in a user's native language is easier to navigate and understand, leading to a more satisfying user experience and increasing user engagement and lower bounce rates.
Increasing conversion rates
When users can access information in their language, they are more likely to purchase or take a desired action. So increasing conversion rates for businesses.
Building credibility and trust
Offering a website in multiple languages shows that a business respects and values its international customers, which can help build credibility and trust.
Promoting cultural sensitivity
Translation allows for communicating ideas and information in a culturally sensitive way. This helps build a strong relationship with customers from diverse backgrounds.
Boosting brand image
A multilingual website can enhance a brand's image, showing it as a global, inclusive, and customer-focused business.
Competitive advantage
If competitors are not offering multilingual websites, a business can gain a significant competitive advantage, attracting a wider audience and creating more business opportunities.
Website Translation FAQs
What is website translation?
Website translation services involves converting a website's content, including text, images, and multimedia, into different languages to reach a global audience while maintaining cultural appropriateness and user experience.
Why is website translation necessary?
Website translation helps businesses expand their global reach, attract a diverse audience, boost user engagement, and increase conversion rates by offering content tailored to different markets' cultural and linguistic needs.
How does website localisation differ from translation?
Localisation goes beyond translation by adapting a website's content, design, and functionality to a specific target audience's cultural preferences, customs, and market requirements.
Which CMS platforms are best suited for translation?
Some CMS platforms well-suited for translation include WordPress (with plugins like WPML or Polylang), Drupal, Joomla, and Sitecore. These platforms support multilingual content management and offer translation-friendly features.
How do right-to-left languages affect website translation?
Right-to-left (RTL) languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, require website layout, design elements, and text alignment adjustments to ensure proper display and seamless user experience for RTL readers.
What is the role of SEO in website translation?
Multilingual SEO optimises translated website content to rank higher on search engines in the target language, increasing visibility and driving organic traffic from the target audience.
Why is it better to have a CMS that can export XLIFFS?
Utilizing a CMS that can export XLIFFs streamlines the translation process, making it more efficient and cost-effective. XLIFFs facilitate seamless content exchange between translators and the CMS, ensuring consistency and accuracy. They also simplify content updates, preserve formatting, and support translation memory, further enhancing the quality of the translation.
Why is it better a translator translates in a CAT (Computer Aided Translation) tool than into the back end of a website?
Using a CAT tool for translation offers numerous advantages over working directly in a website's backend, such as leveraging translation memory, maintaining consistency, ensuring accuracy, and improving efficiency. CAT tools also facilitate better collaboration, file management, and quality control, ultimately resulting in higher-quality translations.
How do I translate an entire website?
There is no room to explain this in an FAQ, but we can help you do this with ease. Book a call or ask for a quote and we can explain the different ways of going about this seemingly gargantuan task!
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If there’s anything else you’d like to know about our website translation services, or any of the other translation services we offer, please get in touch today.