How can I get my website ready for localization?

How should I prepare my content for translation?

How can I get our software ready for translation?

These are a few of the questions that our clients often ask when approaching new markets.

We live in a more connected world than ever before, so effective content should have as broad a reach as possible. Any company doing business internationally should consider content translation as part of its content marketing strategy.

Market research firm Common Sense Advisory surveyed online customers from ten non-English speaking nations for their study “research called Can’t Read, Won’t Buy,” Sixty percent indicated they never or seldom purchase from websites not in their language.

Top Tips for Preparing Online Content for Translation 

The top 3 tactics listed below will guarantee that your source content does not slow down translation timeframes or produce extra effort. Getting this properly simplifies the translation process and reduces translation expenses. So, let’s begin:

Use brief sentences.

Long, convoluted phrases are significantly more challenging to grasp and interpret than short, brief ones. Try to keep each statement under 20 words long and ask yourself, “Can I reduce this anymore?” A second view from a coworker or reading the information aloud might assist you in determining if a sentence delivers precisely what you want. KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Understand your target market.

When starting your marketing translation project, it’s critical to ensure that your language service provider (LSP) has as much information as possible about your target audience.

Age, geography, cultural background, and education are all essential demographic characteristics for translators; the more they know about your target, the simpler it is to tailor the translation to that audience. It is thus simpler to make your marketing content attractive in several languages and experience a higher return on your translation and marketing efforts.

Localise or localize.

Remember that specific components, such as currency symbols and units of measurement, may need localization; alternatively, there may be terminology that you should not translate for branding or other reasons. Allowing the translator to know how you want things handled from the start can save you time. Make no assumptions that a translator will understand what you want.

Here are a few examples:

Bread and butter: A person’s principal source of income or a means of subsistence? In any language other than English, this phrase will have no meaning other than the base of a sandwich – assuming the target culture even has bread as a staple diet in the first place.

Public Holidays: Thanksgiving is observed every year in the United States, but although other English-speaking nations are likely to understand what it signifies owing to the dominance of US television and movies, various cultures are less likely to be acquainted with it. Depending on the context, you could mean “public holiday”; alternatively, if the notion of expressing thanks is more important, a fair translation would be “day of thanksgiving.”

In conclusion: Multilingual content marketing may be more effective with a well-defined approach.

It would help if you had a good plan in place, to begin with – and then you could wait for the desired outcomes. You must work with the best service to acquire the best content translation for your company. It has the potential to be one of the most fruitful collaborations for your content.

We recommend to create some styleguides and glossaries (TM) with the assistance of your LSP. Also, it is important to set realistic deadlines and timeframe and make sure there will be enough time for QA, DTP and testing.

To give you the best quality, TIL go through various translation stages. TranslationsInLondon can also help you to optimise your content and find the best approach for your company.

Reach out to us today to kick off your localisation campaign!