Translating your website is an important step in expanding your business to new markets. A translated website will allow potential clients to view your product who otherwise might not have due to a language barrier. When pursuing website translation services, it is important to keep in mind the common errors that businesses make when translating their websites. These mistakes can make your website look amateurish and unprofessional. The following are five of the most common mistakes that are made when translating websites; understanding these is the first step to successfully translating your business’s website.
1. Website Translation Services Reliant On Machine Translation
While it may be convenient and cheap, an over-reliance on machine translation like Google Translate can lead to a website littered with errors. Long samples of text translated by a machine will tend to have awkward sentences and mistakes in grammar and vocabulary. A website that has been mostly translated with the help of a machine will end up looking silly and unprofessional. Your time and money would be better spent on professional translation services that specifically offer business translation services that will accurately translate your website without any of the mistakes listed above.
2. Website Translation Services Without Localization
Your website might be translated well, but in order to be fully deployable, your website must be localized. A website that lacks localized translation will not resonate well with its intended audience. Localization takes cultural and linguistic values of the target audience into account, which can make all the difference to the reader. In addition to providing accurate translations, translation agencies that provide website translation and localization services will make sure that your website’s content is adapted to match the particular cultural values of your target audience.
3. SEO Is Not Taken Into Account
A website might be translated and localized well, but it won’t be successful if it doesn’t generate traffic and conversions. Having great SEO in English does not immediately transfer to multilingual SEO. SEO best practices need to be kept in mind when implementing website translation services. Keywords that perform well in English might perform differently in their translated form. A competent and experienced translation service company will do the necessary research to make sure that your keywords, meta tags, and other marketing components are translated correctly to maintain strong SEO.
4. The Website Is Not Optimized For Mobile
Most people have experienced the frustration of interacting with a website that is not optimized for mobile viewing. It is estimated that roughly 80% of the world’s population uses a smartphone. With the number of people interacting with websites on their phones, it is practically a crime against marketing not to optimize your website for mobile viewing. Making your website look good on mobile is well worth the time and cost.
5. Website Translation Services That Forget About Forms
This is not a difficult mistake to correct, but it is often overlooked when websites are translated. Potential clients and costumers interact with your business through the sign-up and contact forms. If a potential buyer can’t read the form, your website will struggle with conversions. You can avoid this mistake by relying on the professional translations of a dedicated translation service company.
About Language Connections:
Language Connections is one of the top language service companies in the US. Over the last 30 years, we’ve focused on providing the best business translation services, interpreting services, as well as interpreter training and customized language training programs. In addition to top-tier corporate language training, we offer certified corporate interpreters and professional business translation services in 200+ languages. Our network includes linguists with backgrounds in all major industries. They’re ready to meet your needs, whether they’re for technical translation services, legal translation, government translation services, international development translation services, education translation services, life sciences translation, or something else. Reach out to us today for a free quote on our cost-efficient and timely translation services, interpreters, or other linguistic services.
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Email: service@languageconnections.com