As the world becomes more globalized, having a multilingual website isn't a nice addition anymore; it’s a necessity for any business that wants to grow its audience and improve traffic. We know that multilingual websites can receive more traffic than monolingual sites.
Professional translation is one of the most important steps to a multilingual website. The low cost and speed of machine translation may be tempting, but the resulting low-quality translation can really tarnish a brand. When you invest in a certified translation service, you can be sure you are getting accurate and culturally relevant content that resonates with foreign audiences.
This article will make the case for professional translation for multilingual websites by exploring:
- The opportunities for multilingual websites
- The limitations of machine translation
- The benefits of professional human translation
- Tips for launching a successful multilingual website
With the right translation strategy, any business can tap into lucrative foreign markets and gain a competitive edge.
The Opportunities of Multilingual Websites
The internet has broken down barriers for global business, providing even small companies access to a worldwide consumer base. But simply having a website isn't enough - to fully capitalize on global opportunities, the website needs to speak your customers' languages.
Reach More Customers
The most obvious benefit of a multilingual website is the ability to reach people who don't speak your native language. Spanish speakers, for example, often navigate exclusively in Spanish online. With a Spanish-language site, you expand your reach tenfold.
The gains can be huge. According to CCSA Research, 76% of consumers spend most or all of their time online in their native languages. English lags, with 52% choosing to browse mainly in English.
Boost SEO & Organic Traffic
Search engine optimization for a multilingual site is exponentially more effective. By targeting multiple languages, you can dominate the first page of Google results across different locales.
Higher rankings means more clicks and visitors - Serpstat found multilingual sites can drive more organic traffic than monolingual sites.
Increase Conversions & Revenue
But higher traffic doesn’t necessarily mean more revenue. The content needs to resonate in order to convert visitors. That’s using culturally adapted messaging and localization that speaks to foreign audiences.
Professional translation means that content is correctly conveying the meaning and is respecting cultural norms.
Multilingual sites generate more sales by combining higher conversions with increased organic traffic. Exact gains depend on the market, but increments of 10-60% revenue are common.
The Limits of Machine Translation
With the opportunities so evident, many companies turn to machine translation to quickly and cheaply translate their sites. The results, however, often disappoint.
While AI translation tools have improved, they still produce spotty translations that can undermine user experience and damage brands. Here are some of the limitations:
Low-Quality Output
And machine translation still has a long way to go when it comes to accuracy. It is a very context dependent technology that guesses meanings and grammar and often gets it wrong. With the wrong word choice, misunderstanding and unnatural phrasing.
For simple phrases, it may be good enough. While it’s not good at articulating complex ideas or topics with cultural nuance, it can be good at understanding the context of these ideas or topics.
These systems cannot appropriately evaluate context nor cultural adaptation without human insight. But this inferior quality damages brands, creates poor user experience.
Meaning Loss
Lower-quality translations don't just mean bad; they lose meaning. Users get lost when key ideas get lost in translation, and they are confused by contradictory or nonsensical messaging.
Word choice error is not the only meaning of loss. For example, machine translation also omits intricate expressions, idioms, metaphors and other textures of human communication. The upshot is that the predictable, overly literal translations don’t connect.
This presents problems for user experience and SEO. Visitors bounce from sites that are hard to understand or fail to resonate. At the same time, bots can't accurately index low-quality content with fuzzy meaning.
Brand Damage
Protecting brand image is a top concern for businesses. However, inconsistent, inaccurate translations can undermine rather than reinforce brands.
Poor translations introduce uncertainty about brand values. Errors can alter intended messaging, such as a stuffy formal tone rather than a casual voice. The right brand presentation is crucial for audience connection.
With inferior quality, translations can even introduce offensive material. Gaffes like profane language or culturally insensitive content hurt brand integrity and reputation.
The Benefits of Professional Human Translation
Professional human translation is essential to realizing the promise of a multilingual website. Qualified linguists provide not only precision and fluency but also cultural expertise vital for adaptation.
High Quality & Accuracy
Professional translators consistently produce quality translations that accurately and fully convey the intended meaning. Fluency and word choice come from human insight machines can't match.
Working with actual linguists also allows for specialization - such as legal, medical, or technical translation. Niche expertise ensures precise terminology so nothing gets lost in translation.
Translators also catch errors and inconsistencies that AI would miss. They polish translations to flow naturally, following rules of grammar and composition in the target language.
Localization Expertise
Professional translation also excels at localization - adapting content to resonate in a specific cultural context. This requires in-depth knowledge of local customs, norms and preferences.
Skilled linguists transform messaging and tone that appropriately targets audiences within cultural parameters. Market-specific examples, idioms and references help content feel customized rather than generic.
Regional differences are also considered, from vocabulary and spelling conventions to design, layout, images and color symbolism. Localization makes the content feel native.
Brand Consistency
Accurate linguists with localization abilities are vital for maintaining brand voice, style and tone across different languages.
Human experts immerse themselves in the company vision and branding to guide translation decisions. This allows them to match the right tone and style choices to stay on brand while keeping content feeling authentic.
With machine translation, you surrender control over how your brand is presented. However, professional services allow you to protect brand integrity in all markets.
Tips for Launching a Successful Multilingual Website
Clearly, unlocking the potential of a multilingual website relies on proper implementation. Here are the best practices to follow:
Prioritize Vital Languages
While it's tempting to translate sites into every possible language, a gradual rollout is more practical. Focus first on languages with the largest business impact.
Identify priority languages based on market size, growth potential and alignment with products or services. Local competitor analysis also determines relevant languages.
Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, French and Hindi are the most common languages, but niche languages can also dominate specific verticals. Before expanding, get translations right in the top languages.
Use Qualified Linguists
As outlined, success depends on linguists providing high-quality, localized translations. However, finding good talent can prove difficult.
Avoid cheap freelancer markets like Fiverr, which produce inconsistent results. Instead, go through an established translation agency that vets linguists.
Look for native-level fluency, niche expertise if relevant, and localization abilities. Also, confirm vendor management practices for training, style guides, editing and quality assurance.
Website Technical Considerations
Multilingual websites require some technical considerations during development and deployment. Plan to allow for:
- Expanded content volume
- Foreign language CSS expanding page sizes
- Additional quality assurance testing across languages
- Mirror URL structures for SEO continuity
- Alternate language tagging for bot crawling
- Multilingual site search optimization
Build in features to simplify ongoing translation maintenance as new content gets added.
Create Language Style Guides
To ensure brand consistency across multilingual content, create detailed style guides for linguists. Include specifics like:
- Company voice, tone, messaging
- Product/service terminology
- Approved regional vocabulary differences
- Localized examples & references
- Grammar conventions & punctuation
- Prohibited words or profanity equivalents
Guidelines enable scaling up translation while preventing brand erosion from creeping inconsistencies.
Monitor Quality & Performance
Once launched, continue monitoring translator quality and site performance in each language. Watch for issues like:
- Translation errors slipping through
- Inconsistencies in regional usage
- Loss of brand voice or style
- Lagging engagement and conversions
Address issues through updated style guides and advanced linguist training. Site analytics help optimize translations for engagement and ROI.
Conclusion & Next Steps
As the business world becomes more interconnected each day, a multilingual digital presence has become indispensable for continued growth. Professional translation is now mission-critical for future success.
To recap, multilingual websites drive over 3X more traffic by:
- Reaching larger global audiences
- Improving SEO & rankings
- Increasing conversions & revenue
However, machine translation cannot unlock its full potential. Only professional human translation delivers the quality, meaning, and localization that are vital for ROI.
For any company lacking multilingual capacity, the time for action is now. Prioritize key languages, secure qualified linguists, and implement translation workflows to drive results.
The investment will pay dividends through expanded market share, future-proofed growth and global competitive edge. Don't leave money on the table - get started with high-impact translation today.