Quick guide: Using content translation services

There are customers, clients, and partners around the world who would be interested in what your company has to say, but they can’t access the information. Content translation services allow businesses to grow their reach by connecting with these audiences.

Working with professional translation agencies means you can be confident in the quality of the content you put out, from technical documents to website copy. Preparing your content is a key step that will help you get the most out of content translation services.

Why is content translation important?

Whatever your industry, the best content is carefully crafted with your audience in mind. It’s aimed at a certain demographic and it has objectives, whether that’s to inform or sell.

So, you need your content to have the same impact abroad. International audiences may or may not speak your language, meaning monolingual content might be misinterpreted or completely disregarded. What’s more, research shows 65% of people prefer content in their own language (CSA).

A good translator doesn’t just change each word, but makes sure the ideas come through. Content localization takes this a step further by making sure your content resonates with your audience on a cultural level. Most content translation services include localization options.

Overall, great translations lead to great international content. You know your words are having the right impact and delivering the right message.

How to prepare your content for translation

Preparing your content for translation can save time and help the translator to produce content that looks and sounds like your brand.

1. Make sure your content is well written

It’s important to make sure your original content has no grammatical errors, awkward sentences, or display issues. Top quality source texts lead to better translations!

2. Define your target market

To get the most out of your new content, you need to know who you’re translating for. Do you know how your product, service, or information will be received in a specific country? If not, your translation agency will be able to help you work out what to do to connect with your audience.

3. Optimize your platform

Platforms such as websites, apps, and games need to be optimized for translation. This process is called internationalization and involves making sure the platform will support new languages. For example, will it display foreign characters or text that reads from right to left? Many content translation companies offer internationalization services, so don’t worry if you haven’t completed this step in advance.

4. Create a guide

You can provide notes about context, audience, abbreviations, products, style/tone, or anything else you think will be useful for the translator. This will help them to create content that sounds like your brand.

How content translation services work

Content translation companies will take different approaches depending on the format of your content. For example, marketing videos might need new subtitles, voice-overs, transcriptions, or infographic translations. Websites may need live integration, and apps require input from technical engineers or developers.

To give you a better idea of how content translation services work for different projects, we put together some examples.

Multilingual websites

What would you do if you landed on a website in another language with no translation? How about if the translation was poor? You’d probably look elsewhere.

It’s easy to assume that having your content in one widely-spoken language is enough to attract customers. In fact, over half the world’s internet searches are in a language other than English, while 40% of people simply won’t buy in another language (CSA).

Translating and localizing your website means it should engage your international audience better, growing your potential customer base and reach. You can choose to translate key pages, all visible text, or localize your entire website for an optimized customer journey.

This can be done live, in batches, or as a one-off project. Expert content translation companies can help you decide on the best method for your project.

Medical translations

No matter how technical your medical content, professional translators can help. They specialize in your field, navigating complex topics and medical jargon with ease. Native-speaking translators also have the local knowledge required to translate country-specific concepts and cultural references.

That’s why it’s always best to choose professional content translation services, from content translation companies that work with specialized, skilled translators. They should also have stringent quality control measures in place to ensure the best standards.

Marketing and communications

Marketing content needs to have the same impact on your international audiences as it does on local audiences. In the 1970s, Pampers launched a marketing campaign in Japan that became a prime example of messages getting lost in translation. They used imagery of a stork to promote their baby products.

Only, it turns out that birds and babies have no link in Japan. Their folk law stories feature babies floating on giant peaches. Needless to say, potential customers were left confused and Pampers’ launch didn’t start off too well…

Future Group’s content translation services

Whether your campaign is online or offline, marketing content translation companies like Future Group can localize your content so that it resonates.

At Future Group, we work with companies across the globe to help them connect with their audiences. We were founded in 1994 and have since grown our content translation services to become a partner for brands of all sizes. Please get in touch to get a quote for your project.