Getting your website translated

Most small businesses rarely think about getting their website translated, but doing so can yield huge results. Sure, we've all heard that India and China are the next super-powers, but there are plenty of other countries using the internet as well, and guess what guys: they don't all speak English. Indians speak it pretty well, some even go to training sessions to develop a north-american accent so they can answer phone-lines for off-shore call centers. But in most countries, those who can't read or write in English far outweighs those who can. Those are people who could be searching for the service or product you provide!

What about Google Translate or Altavista Babelfish?
Online translation tools are super cool. I predict within 5 years we'll have ear-plug voiceboxes that will automatically translate our multi-lingual conversations. However, we're not quite their yet. Sure, putting those language buttons on your site looks great and professional, and it's amazing how it turns all your words into majestic looking Korean characters or squiggly Arabic writing, but does it actually bring you business?

Try an experiment - get some texts from a Spanish or Japanese website and translate it into English on google or altavista. What you'll most likely get is, for the most part, comprehensible. You can probably figure out what the site is about. But most probably, you wouldn't want to spend more than 10 seconds trying to read it. It's just too frustrating. Plus, since the English isn't perfect, we figure it's "not for us". (It's the looking at any website - see a couple of typos and suddenly ALL credibility is thrown out the window. You just can't trust someone who can't spell correctly, can you?)

People from other countries are not trying to learn English so they can read your sites. They are looking at sites in their own language. They are searching for keywords in their own language. So, if you want to try increasing visitors and sales, translating is a really good idea.

How To Do It
Finding a freelance translator has never been easier. There are millions of people who are fluent in 2 or 3 languages, many of whom are connected online and make a part-time income through freelance translation services. When I translated my site into Chinese, I found a translator from Harbin, China through his blog, http://translatorli.blogspot.com/. If want to translate your website into Chinese as well, write to him and ask for an estimate.

Translators will usually charge between $100 and $400 to translate a website, but if you're on a low budget, here are some tips for getting the maximum value.

Pay for Editing, not Translation
Here's a sneaky trick. Most translator's charge much more for translating than they do for editing. So put your text through Google language tools, and then send the resulting copy to a native speaker for editing.

Hire a native speaker, not a professional
Get onto myspace or facebook and find a teenager who's bilingual in the language you're seeking. (I live in Taiwan, and there are about 500 girls on myspace with flawless english/chinese.) Write to a few and say "I've got some translating to do, here's my budget." Even $50 maybe some pretty good money, depending on their countries economy.

Focus on Translating Language Groups
English grammar is very different from that of the Romance languages like French and Italian, so using Google language tools or Babelfish won't be able to get it all right. But - Romance language are similar to each other. To save money, get someone to translate your website into Spanish first (lots of S.American economies are not so strong, and you can find a good translator for $50 - $100.) Then use Babelfish or Google language tools to translate from Spanish into the other Romance languages: French, Italian, Portuguese...

You can use this trick between traditional Chinese and simplified, and also between Korean and Japanese. Of course, it won't be perfect. But probably better than going straight from English. However, for your target audiences (for example if you really want to focus on the 2 billion Chinese who will have internet soon) get a proper, high-quality translation from a native from the same country.

Target your writing to a specific audience.
Your sales copy might be working really well for your own country, but don't make the mistake of assuming it will work on the other side of the world. Before you get your text translated, re-write it to focus on the specific concerns of your target readers. They will have different questions, different wants and needs. (For example, they might be more concerned about shipping costs, payment or communication methods). If you've hired a translator from your target country, get his valuable advice and opinions about what you should say. Give him/her the freedom to change it up a little, rather than trying to translate word-for-word.