Every time companies mention going global, the first thing they think of is website translation. It appears straightforward enough. Get the content, change it to a different language, and boom – you are international. But when it comes time to ask how much does website translation services cost, everything gets vague.
Let us clarify that.
Instead of simply asking, “What will the costs be for my business?” a wiser question to pose is: What does a professional service for website translation actually entail, and is it worth the cost? If your aim is to make a powerful and genuine mark in new regions, then the costs associated with translation should strategically be viewed as an investment, and not merely another expense.
Website Translation Costs
A single price estimate does not cover the translation of a website’s content. The requirement hinges heavily on the following criteria:
- The total number of pages or words present on the website.
- The target languages into which the translation is needed.
- The overall difficulty level of the content, e.g. legal, marketing heavy, technical, etc.
- The speed requested to complete the work.
- The extent of localization needed, or if translation is required as is.
- Technical aspects, formatting, and file types.
A majority of translating services charge on a per word basis, which ranges between $0.08 and $0.25 on average. Broader content and more commonly spoken languages like Spanish and French generally tend toward the lower bound. In contrast, technical fields and uncommon language pairs increase rates.
Others, like Rapid Translate, provide lower overall rates per word after a volume of work is completed or during recurring projects.
Price Inclusions
This is the area where substantial value comes into view. When paying for translated content on websites, professional services ensure that they do not simply provide word to word translation, but offer complete support and polish, as well as expertise in the field.
Let’s take a look at what is almost always covered in policies:
Professional Native Translators
Your content gets the attention of professionals actively working in the field. It means that they speak the language of the culture you wish to target and know your sector. These are not freelancers on a one-size-fits-all platform. Instead, they are visionary marketing experts.
Localization
This is more than just words. Result-oriented and accurate translation of any content into another language involves strategy even more than the choice of words on their own. The humor, layout and tone as well as images must be changed so that the audience accepts it. A good translator is able to do this without exposing your readers to unnecessary blunders.
Retention of Brand Voice
Every brand has a tone of communication whether corporate, casual, bold, playful or technical. It is essential that each brand and its tagline is rendered in each language which they operate without making any alterations or losing the tone. Your readers must be captured in an effortless way. A good translation service achieves this by taking care of the voice and purpose.
Technical Capabilities
Websites are complex. Professional web translation services often come bundled with various proprietary tools or content protected by a client’s CMS, multilingual SEO, dynamic elements like server-side includes (SSI), menus, forms and modules as well as e-commerce components. It is not just the blog posts, it is the whole machine.
Proofreading and Quality Control
Every page undergoes a secondary review. Verification checks for errors, inconsistencies, or formatting issues after translation is done. A translation should represent the brand, and these final touches are what ensures the brand comes across as polished.
Why Cheap Translation Can Prove To Be Expensive
Now, let us address the elephant in the room. The services of unqualified freelancers, automated tools, and cheap, unscrutinized options portray themselves as budget-friendly treasures.
The reason behind this is: If less is being paid, then there is less that will be available for them.
Translation done at affordable rates comes with a variety of issues such as:
- Buzzword: broken or awkward phrasing.
- Outdated, False or Self Styled definitions of words.
- Culturally insensitive content or offensive material to indoctrinated peoples.
- Loss of tone or inconsistent voice.
- Substandard User experience.
- Decrease in rankings on search engines (or multilingual SEO).
The barrier poses more radical consequences, which is loss of economic trust. People looking for new ways to spend their time may close the page in an attempt to escape from incomprehensible phrasing.
E-Commerce Stores Need More Than Translation
When dealing with online stores, the need goes further.
You are not just translating a product description, because also handling are:
- Header names.
- Promotional messages.
- Feedback.
- Shopping views.
- Shipping policies.
- Policies for refunds.
- System notification messages.
- Thank you messages.
Each component is a segment of the client’s experience. If any component of a client’s experience is muddled, they may leave their shopping journey midway or become skeptical about the reliability of the brand. A Sprint services provider will know how to balance clarity and logic with brevity in any language.
Undoubtedly, these complexity will incur additional expenses, however, that added expense is offset by the increase in profits. Gains achieved through these results, when translation and execution of an online store is perfectly done, create a milestone.
Set Terms: Translation Versus Localization
While these terms might seem similar, let us shed more light on the distinction for clarity.
- Translation focuses on switching one target language with a corresponding source language.
- Localization targets a specific culture and customizes every slight detail, consisting of the reference, approach, dialect, tone, structure, and even physical layout.
A custom made store promotes loyalty for a new market creating new revenue streams, allowing businesses to operate everywhere.
As has been previously stated, these localization services, for their cost, definitely deliver value.
How To Make Website Translation Services Cost-Effective
Translation services are costly, but there are ways to make them reasonably priced. Businesses achieve savings in these ways:
- Bulk purchases: Many services provide discounts for bulk purchases. With discounts comes savings on a per-word rate for translating several pages or an entire site.
- Reusing previous translations: Businesses may already possess certain translations like product descriptions and taglines and will therefore not incur additional costs.
- Consistent style: The less complex the design of the content, the easier the work involved in dealing with it or handling it.
- Detailed explanation: Saving content and time through reduced alterations can be achieved by upfront clarification of a glossary of terms alongside tone and stylistic preferences.
- Long standing relationships: If there is a continual need for translation, establishing a bond with one translation agency translates to loyalty benefits.
The Guiding Principle Focus on Value Instead of Cost
The cost is reasonable considering the drastically improved return on investment attributed from increased SEO, improved brand trust, remarkable conversions, all significantly improving credibility, overall far better than the primary investment.
Consider it like this: the reason you constructed your website was not because of cost savings. It was to help grow your business. With translating the website, we are simply taking the next step.