Translating your website is one of the most important steps to increase brand awareness and reach international markets. But what is the best way to translate the content on your website for a new market?
Although you can localize your website in several ways, some practices are more effective than others.
In this article, we share everything you need to know about translating the content on your website for a new market, including examples and best practices.
Let’s get started!
Why Should You Translate the Content on Your Website for New Markets?
Speaking your target audience’s language is a non-negotiable for entering foreign markets and gaining a competitive edge over brands that don’t target the same international markets.
If your audience understands what you have to say and offer, it is more likely that they will engage with your brand in their native language!
However, it’s not as simple as plugging your English content into Google Translate and crossing your fingers. Successful translation demands thorough research and maintaining consistency across languages.
Every target market has different language requirements, cultural nuances, and preferences. Therefore, you should tailor your brand’s voice and messaging to match those unique characteristics.
This can show your audience that you care about them, increasing their trust in your brand!
What Are the Best Content Translation Methods?
You can use several translation methods to translate your website effectively into multiple languages. The main ones are:
#1 Machine Translation
Machine translation (MT), also known as automated translation, is done by computer software with human intervention only for reviews and QA.
Google Translate is one of the most popular machine translation tools because it can translate most languages for free.
Despite its benefits, machine translation is neither accurate nor does it consider each language’s cultural nuances or the specific context.
This means the translated text may not make sense to the target audience, which can deter them from engaging with your brand!
#2 Human Translation
Human translation (HT) is when a professional translator translates the text from one language to another. In this case, the human translator should know the source and target languages’ nuances well to tailor the text to the target audience’s preferences.
An experienced linguist understands the context of the text and can thus accurately translate it into multiple languages, helping your brand gain the trust of your target audience.
Moreover, specialized human translators can create high-quality multilingual content that complies with SEO requirements, increasing your website’s visibility on search engines.
The biggest disadvantage of human translation is its higher cost compared to other translation methods. What’s more, the translation process takes significantly more time than most other approaches.
#3 Combination of Machine Translation and Human Translation (Hybrid Translation)
By combining human and machine translation, you can get the best of both worlds!
Hybrid translation is the best option for multilingual websites with many pages because it combines machine translation’s speed with human translation’s accuracy and high quality.
The main downside is that it costs more than machine translation.
#4 AI-Driven translation and Localization
AI-driven translation is one of the most effective translation methods!
Leveraging the most innovative AI software, this translation method can help you create accurate, culturally relevant content cost-effectively.
AI-driven translation combines the benefits of traditional translation methods, adding to their effectiveness. From enhanced personalization to better scalability, this translation method’s benefits can help boost your localization strategy.
Combined with quality assurance (QA) and post-editing processes, AI-driven translation becomes even more precise and effective, ensuring high-quality website content across different languages.
How to Translate the Content on Your Website for a New Market?
Translating your website content for a new market isn’t a simple process! There are several things you need to consider before embarking on your content translation project:
#1 Understand Your Target Audience
Understanding your target audience is key to creating culturally relevant content.
Before you start translating your website content, make sure you do thorough research on your target audience’s cultural background and language nuances.
By doing so, you will be able to identify your target audience’s needs, interests, and preferences and adjust your content accordingly!
#2 Invest in International SEO
International SEO is an inextricable part of a successful localization strategy!
Optimizing your multilingual website to boost its visibility on foreign search engines may sound daunting, but it is essential for localization success.
Some of the best practices you need to implement in your international SEO strategy are:
- Find the languages you’re going to target.
- Do keyword research for every target market.
- Translate and adapt your website content to match your target audience’s preferences.
- Use localized URLs for every target language.
- Link to relevant local content.
- Check every region’s laws and regulations.
- Implement hreflang tags.
- Host your website on a local IP.
- Adjust date formats, measurements, and currency for every region.
#3 Localize Your Website Design
It’s not enough to localize your website. You should also localize your website design to offer users a fully localized user experience!
To effectively localize your website design, you need to adjust visuals, colors, number formats, and page layout to match the preferences of your target audience.
Some languages use more characters than others, while there are right-to-left languages, like Hebrew and Urdu. Integrating multilingual design into your website is essential to adjust to different language requirements.
However, you should conduct thorough market research before implementing these adjustments. This way you will avoid cultural misunderstandings or irrelevant content, ensuring cultural resonance!
#4 Select the Right Translation Software
Choosing translation software compatible with your content translation process and CMS is essential to ensure efficient workflow, avoid delays, and efficiently allocate your resources.
Your best bet is a cloud-based, easy-to-use translation software with CMS integration that provides high-quality translation, like Transifex.
Make sure you review the features of your translation software to see if they meet your needs. Translation memory, computer-assisted translation (CAT), API-based quality assurance, and collaboration tools are some features to look for in translation software!
How Can Transifex Help You Translate Your Website Content for a New Market?
Speaking the same language as your target audience is crucial for a successful localization strategy!
Transifex can help you translate your website content effectively and accurately, ensuring cultural resonance using human-quality AI-powered translation tools.
Additionally, it can help you enhance workflow management across different translation projects and teams by leveraging Translation Memory (TM) and Machine Translation (MT)!
All you have to do is upload your content, translate it with the powerful Transifex AI tool, and publish your translated content using Over-the-Air (OTA) programming.
Are you ready to take your website translation efforts to the next level?
Sign up for a free trial today!
FAQs
What’s the Difference Between Machine Translation and Human Translation?
In machine translation, the content is translated by computer software, while in human translation it is translated by a professional translator or linguist.
Should I Translate My Website?
To enter a new market and connect with audiences in different countries you should translate your website into multiple languages based on your target regions.
Should I Translate My Website’s URLs?
Besides translating your content into the target languages, you should also translate your website’s URLs for a fully-localized user experience. Google recommends using different URLs for each target language to help users find and browse your website in their native language.
Is Translation Good for SEO?
Translation is good for SEO, as it positively impacts your website’s ranking on search engines. Optimizing your translated content for local search engines can improve visibility, leading to more website visits.
What Is an SEO-Friendly Translation?
SEO-friendly translation involves optimizing your website’s translated content to appear higher in local search engine results for each target language.
How Much Does Google Translate Cost?
Google Translate is a free machine translation tool.
