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3 min read

11/03/2016

Translating Websites: The Benefits of Translating Into a Different Language

There are more than one billion live websites online. They are mostly monolingual, although translations are becoming increasingly important. There is no denying the Web has become the 'de facto' tool to search for information (much to the relief of trees) and statistics point to this being the case for commerce too. There is no better way to make a website more enticing to a broader audience than making it multilingual.

Companies such as Microsoft and Adobe have versions of their sites in several languages. It helps them to gain the competitive edge, especially when targeting new foreign markets. By the way, did you know which website has the most translations in the world? Surprisingly, neither of the above nor Wikipedia. It's the Jehovah Witnesses' website.

Translating a website can only be beneficial (if it is a quality translation, of course). The economics of offering your website in different languages are unquestionable. But let's try to be precise.

The following six reasons explain the benefits of using a website translation service provider:

1. English isn't the number one language in the world

You might think that English is the most common language in the world. But, you may not know that English is only the third most spoken language. The dominating language is Mandarin Chinese, followed by Spanish.

2. You will increase your company's revenue

Large, medium and small companies and brands realize the benefits of selling to an international audience.

In the digital age, there is no 'local economy'. If you only target an English-speaking audience (or a monolingual audience), you are missing out on lucrative opportunities. There are plenty of people that want to use your products and services abroad. You are just not talking to them.

Take mobile games as an example. Typical games directed to an online audience, often under 16 or 18 but who have a cellphone. Kids play online with other kids from countries around the world like China, Spain, Japan, Brazil... And they buy credits. Online, in their language.

3. A website translation service is better than Google Translate

To cut costs, some businesses rely on nothing more than machine translation services. One typical example is Google Translate. You just need to read a few more articles on our blog to realize how terrible this decision is. The issue with using unchecked machine translation is that you always end up with elements that are not localized, culturally interpreted or even that are wrongly translated.

 

 

The last thing you want to do is to become a laughingstock, an Internet joke. As a developer of machine translation technology, I can only tell you this: use it for fast translations where speed is more important than quality, like reviews or just to get the gist. Machine translation is not a publishing service.

4. You will increase consumer confidence in your brand

Following the above line of thought... What happens then when you take the time to translate a website? Your potential customers will have more trust in your brand. Why? Because they will feel you understand their needs. You will have reached out to them. You are not saying 'hey, I have this cool stuff, which by the way you can't really use nor understand.'

5. Multilingual websites overcome cultural barriers

When a website is in a person's native tongue, they will feel more comfortable browsing through it. I frequently travel to Japan and China and, believe me, I feel very comfortable when I see something in written with the Latin alphabet.

6. You will gain a significant competitive edge

How many restaurants in Shanghai or Dalian won me over just because I could read the menu! Have you ever been to an Italian restaurant where everything was written in Chinese? I have. I settled for 'spaghetti' in whatever shape it came.

There are many universal things in life that people use, regardless of their language. If you sell something they use, you should tell them about it. Having a multilingual website (and menu for your restaurant) will give you the competitive edge. But there's more...

Website translation services are useful beyond the Web

The Internet offers many different ways of communicating and trading online. During the Web's early days, people would do those things solely on websites.

These days, with the rise of smartphones and tablets, we also use "apps" for the same purposes. After all, they offer a convenient way to talk and buy online without opening a browser!

Professional website translation services can be used for multilingual apps. This also includes rich HTML content served within those apps.

Translate content that makes sense to your audience

When you use a good website translation services, one thing is for sure: the translated content you receive will make total sense to your target audience!

Pangeanic provides a raft of website translation and localization services. We can translate your content to and from dozens of popular spoken languages. And now the commercial line...

Contact us today to request a FREE TRANSLATION QUOTE!