Contents:
- Be careful with literal translations
2. Web structure and hidden text
2.1 URL a meta dáta
3. Translating brands and claims
4. Images
4.1 What all is translated
5. Times, numbers, currencies, etc.
6. Blogs and e-mailing
7. SEO, SEO, SEO (…and PPC)
8. Exporting content and automisation
9. Localised translations
10. Translation Proxy
11. Social media
1. Be careful with literal translations
Words aren’t everything, but they’re still very important. Creating a text that’s stylistically appropriate is based on one core principle: translating the main idea, but not word for word.
There are many bad examples out there, and in many cases, these bad translations were detrimental to a company’s success and harmed the credibility of their foreign campaigns. That’s why it’s all the more important for you to never underestimate the power of hiring a human translator, which no machine can truly replace.
Native speaker
In an ideal scenario, the translator — and at the very least the proofreader — will be a native speaker in your target language. A translator who’s a native speaker will be able to pick up even the smallest language nuances, which is crucial especially when sending out marketing communications in a highly specific cultural environment. Only then will the people trust you, making it easier for you to increase your customer conversion rate.
2. Web structure and hidden text
A multilingual website has a significantly different structure than a monolingual website. Any translation of a website will have a significant impact on the structure of the website, its attractiveness, and overall content engagement (taking into account, of course, the length of a content article or text, the articulation, and readability). But more importantly, it will have a big impact on the way people navigate the site and how long they end up staying on a particular subpage. You should also remember to translate texts that don’t form the core of the website’s content per se, but that are very important from an organic Google search point of view.
URLs and metadata
That’s why when expanding your content into another language, it’s crucial that you don’t forget to translate the URLs and metadata. Furthermore, each new subpage must be included in the sitemap, which is uploaded and stored in the website’s source.
Hidden messages
The text content of a website is not just about visible text. When getting your texts ready for translation, it’s also necessary to consider hidden texts, such as:
- in forms – hidden messages and warnings for incorrectly filled-in fields
- information and notes in lightboxes
- information and notes when hovering the cursor over the active element, etc.
3. Translating brands and claims
For translations of domains, trademarks, claims, abbreviations, established phrases, etc., it’s crucial to find out whether your brand or abbreviation doesn’t mean something negative in the target language. You might otherwise find yourself in a rather unpleasant situation, which could end up affecting the success of your brand.
EXAMPLE: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation
Japanese automobile manufacturer Mitsubishi launched its Pajero model onto the market, which enjoyed immense success worldwide except for on the Iberian Peninsula. Only upon an in-depth examination did they realise that in Spain the word “pajero” means not only “bird” but also something far more vulgar.
4. Images
Many small and medium-sized businesses are often surprised to find that website translations are more than just translating texts. Extensive studies have shown that we process and store information from an image faster and more thoroughly than we do from a text, which means images form an essential part of a website.
What all is translated
- text used directly in the image
- alt text – a short description of the image, important for search engine optimisation (SEO)
- long description – a longer description of the image, important for SEO
- tooltip – text that’s visible when you hover the cursor over an image or icon
Cultural credibility
Distinguish between subtle cultural features that are displayed in the image. You might not notice them or even think they’re that important, but your target group will, and if they don’t identify with the image, you’ll be pointlessly looking for reasons why.
"Make sure the picture isn't outrageous in the target country because a scantily clad woman on a website will probably not bode too well in the Middle East."
On the other hand, your image might be completely harmless, but it still doesn’t resonate with your audience.
EXAMPLE: Imagine a picture of a group of friends eating outside in public.
- In the UK, these people look and dress a certain way. They probably sit inside a nice restaurant and are more reserved and polished.
- In Spain, things are completely different. They look different, dress differently, and behave differently. It’s safe to assume they like dining outside on a picnic blanket in the park, that they’re more laid back, and that they laugh more.
Details determine credibility. If you want to attract Spaniards, you can’t use pictures that they don’t identify with and vice versa.
5. Times, numbers, currencies, etc.
Stanford University conducted a study on website credibility based on 18 factors that users considered to be signs of credibility. Web design was number one.
This includes page layouts, colour schemes, and images as well as smaller details that can easily be forgotten when translating a website.
This includes such data as:
- time and date display (e.g. in blogs and news articles),
- currency symbols,
- telephone numbers,
- hours of operation,
- shipping/delivery rates and times,
- price listings,
- addresses.
EXAMPLE:
- Spanish dates are formatted as day, month, year (e.g. 1 July 2017 or 01/07/2017),
- however, in the US, dates are formatted as month, day, year (e.g. July 1st, 2017 or 07/01/2017).
These small details also add to the overall impression of the website.
6. Blogs and e-mailing
If you’re expanding into new markets, you’ll need both a well-thought-out and perfectly targeted marketing strategy. Your website is part of that, but it’s far from the only thing you need to worry about.
- One of the best opportunities to promote your new website is a blog that’s written in your target language and for your target market. This simple and affordable method of marketing will help you attract and engage new audiences from abroad.
TIP: If you already have a blog in English, we recommend translating all relevant articles into the target language. This will make you more authentic and credible in the eyes of your target group, who will get a better idea of your product thanks to content they can understand.
- E-mailing is an indispensable part of a translation project when expanding abroad. It consists of transactional and commercial e-mails, which contain important information about:
- purchases made,
- delivery time,
- dispatch and delivery of a package,
- terms and conditions for refunds and exchanges,
- ongoing news and offers, etc.
7. SEO, SEO, SEO (…and PPC)
No website operator can ignore the need for SEO, especially when the website is being translated. The actual website translation itself has two main aims:
- to attract the right target group, and
- to convert the target group into customers.
It’s great to have catchy texts and nice imagery, but when it comes to getting more site traffic, what you really need the most is good SEO and ads in Google Ads. The only way algorithms can determine the relevance of your content is by matching people’s search queries with the keywords and phrases used on your site.
The first step is to have the texts translated by a professional translator. The second step is to have the text edited by a native speaker and proofreader who, after conducting a keyword analysis, will incorporate keywords into the text in the language that the site is being translated into.
Because website optimisation takes time, one way to instantly get a spot in Google results is to use Google Ads. These are translated in the same way as the text from your website.
"Whoever is on the other side of the Google search engine doesn't seem to exist."
8. Exporting content and automisation
Getting your documents ready for translation is a very important step. Most of the time it’s possible to export content in .html or .xml format. Content delivered in this way will be translated and then copy-pasted into the new language version of the website in the same exact format. This is the easiest way to have your website translated without the need for a programmer.
Tech-savvy translation agencies will have the technology to link the website’s content management system to the translation agency’s system. This will enable you to automate the entire translation process, and it’s used mainly by e-shops that add large amounts of new products and content in batches.
9. Localised translations
We’ve already mentioned the importance of cultural credibility in images, but adapting to the audience in text format is just as important, if not more so. Language localisation is the process of adapting content to a specific country and culture. It’s more than just a translation because when you read a localised text, you won’t be able to tell it was translated.
EXAMPLE: Localisation of a Coca-Cola ad campaign
- Coca-Cola bottle labels in the United States and in other Western-oriented countries have first names on them that are typical for that country.
- Because it’s disrespectful to address a person by their first name in China, the names were replaced by words such as “close friend”, “husband”, “classmate”, and so on.
10. Translation Proxy
A “Translation Proxy” service is a kind of foreign language filter that is embedded on your site. The mentioned service takes over the content of your site, does a machine translation of it into the selected language, and then displays the translated text in the selected languages without interfering with the source code. The advantages of a Translation Proxy include fast and simple management, automated real-time translation, and almost zero cost. Disadvantages include its inaccuracy and high error rate, especially for unique texts.
11. Social media
An extension of website translation is also translating the remaining form of communication that takes place within a digital space. If you want to maximise the success of your translated site, you need to be effective and consistent outside of it, namely when translating:
- social media content,
- responses to comments,
- customer support, etc.