Trying to win in a new market? It’s important you speak your customers’ language – literally. And that’s where hiring professional translation services can make life easier for you.

The Importance of Translation Services for Businesses

As a business owner aiming to succeed in a global market, overcoming language barriers is pivotal. This is where translation services come into play. They provide a bridge that links your business to diverse cultures and languages. Beyond literal translation, these services account for cultural nuances, colloquialisms, and idioms that contribute to an authentic and relatable brand message. Here are some key reasons why translation services are vital for businesses:

Broadens Market Reach: Translation services allow you to communicate with potential customers in their native language, enhancing their understanding of your products or services and increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Boosts Brand Image: Professional translators ensure your message not only gets across, but is presented in a way that aligns with your brand voice and cultural nuances of your target market. This helps your business sound more professional and relatable.
Ensures Accurate Communication: With translation services, you ensure that your international distributors, partners, and stakeholders receive accurate and consistent information. This allows them to support your business activities better.
Improves Customer Experience: Customers prefer to interact with businesses in their native language. Translation services can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty by facilitating seamless communication.
Promotes Compliance: In many industries, businesses are required to provide multilingual support for their products or services. Translation services can help meet these regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties.
Enhances SEO: Translated content can significantly improve your SEO performance on local search engines, making it easier for potential customers in different countries to find your business online.

In a world where businesses are constantly vying for the attention of global consumers, professional translation services offer the unique advantage of authentically connecting with diverse audiences. By transcending language barriers, these services can significantly enhance the global footprint of your business.

Understanding Translation Services

Thanks to the growing demand for translation services, a number of professional translators have entered the market. What’s more, you can find specific translation service providers based on your exact need. For example, there are specialists who can help you with document translation. If you want to localize your website to appeal to your target audience, you can also find localization services.

Another example of a translation service is when you want to add subtitles in other languages to your videos. This is known as multimedia translation and it can help you ensure your videos capture your messages in the most efficient manner.

With the right translation service provider, opportunities are endless for you to conquer new markets as a credible brand.

The Role of Professional Translators

Granted there are many online tools that can help you quickly translate some text; they are simply not an alternative to professional translators. That’s because professional translators can identify and avoid certain words or phrases that have several implications in other languages.

Professional translators spend years mastering two languages to do their job. In most cases, they acquire specialized knowledge in specific domains, such as technical and medical, to provide the most accurate translation services.

Clear understanding of cultural nuances, knowledge of specific topics and domains and quality assurance are just some of the benefits human translators offer.

Translation and Localization Services: Going Beyond Basic Translation

When it comes to translation, it’s especially important to consider localization to appeal to your audience. There are several local references and regional implications that machine translation cannot detect easily.

Let’s take an example. When General Motors launched Chevy Nova in South America, consumers found the name confusing. That’s because in Spanish, Nova means It won’t go. There are several other examples where well-known brands have not been able to translate their message and product names properly in international markets. This is where human translations make a real difference.

Choosing the Right Translation Service for Your Business

Considering the importance of translation to conquer new markets and improve distribution, it’s critical to invest adequate time and energy on finding the right translation service. Here are some key factors you must consider when selecting the right translation service for your business.

Language expertise: A professional translator is fluent in both the source and target language. In addition to being able to complete literal translations, they should have a deep understanding of the various complexities in each language.
Subject matter expertise: In most cases, businesses benefit from hiring subject matter experts. For example, if you own a tech business look for a human translator with expertise in your domain.
Turnaround time: Professionalism is another aspect that must figure prominently when you are looking for a human translation service provider. Companies worldwide rely on dedicated translators who offer fast turnaround services.
Pricing structure: For small businesses, a simple pricing structure is essential to getting the job done. Of course, you must spend enough time trying to find a language translation services provider who can do a great job at the right price. It is therefore advisable to start looking in advance.
Confidentiality: It’s also important to find a service provider who is strongly committed to data security and confidentiality. Ideally, you should ensure they sign a nondisclosure agreement and provide information on systems they have in place for managing sensitive data.

The Importance of Human Translation in Maintaining Quality

A number of companies worldwide use translation API services and machine translation for their projects. This is especially common for small businesses operating on limited budgets. The challenge with using machine translation services such as Google Translate is linguistic accuracy. In most cases, online translation tools can provide literal translation services. But since they lack a clear understanding of the cultural context, they cannot replace the value that human translators provide.

Where to Find Reliable Translation Services for Your Business

Thanks to the growing demand for professional translation services, finding the right people is not a major challenge anymore. Let’s take a look at all the places where you can find dependable human translation services.

Online language service providers

Language translation services help businesses connect with their international audience. They provide a plethora of translation services including transcreation, proofreading, copywriting and translation. Some of the more well-known online language service providers include Lionbridge, Nitro, Gengo, LanguageLine and Speakt.

The best thing about these online service providers is their professionalism. They have a large team of native speakers specializing in multiple languages. This makes it easier for them to prioritize your projects and offer the best language solutions. Some even offer specialized services like 24 hour translation services.

Freelance Talent Marketplaces

Many businesses use freelancers to reach their audience in international markets. Language services offered by freelance translators is a preferred option for businesses looking for native speaking translators willing to work on a limited budget. On the flip side though, not all human translators are committed to meeting deadlines.

If you are interested in working with freelance translators, you can find them on Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer.

Translator Marketplaces

There are several dedicated online communities where translators network and promote their work. You can advertise your project here and connect with translators. Here, you will find both professional and freelance translators looking for translation projects.

To find the right human translator on these platforms, make sure you describe your project in detail. You also have the option of having insightful discussions with the service providers before assigning them your project.

Some of the popular translator communities include ProZ and LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, you may join specific groups with human translators to connect with the network.

Directories

Another option is to look for professional language translation services on the yellow pages. The American Translators Association is one of the largest and oldest associations of professional translators. It has more than 6,000 individual translators.

Other directories include The Open Mic, ProZ, The Translation Directory and TM-Town.

Services/PlatformsOnline Language Service ProvidersFreelance Talent MarketplacesTranslator MarketplacesDirectories

ExamplesLionbridge, Nitro, Gengo, LanguageLine, Speakt.Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer.ProZ, LinkedIn.American Translators Association, The Open Mic, ProZ, The Translation Directory, TM-Town.

ProsLarge team of professional native speakers specializing in multiple languages. Some offer specialized services like 24 hour translation services.Typically more budget-friendly. Possibility of finding native-speaking translators.Diverse network of both professional and freelance translators. Direct contact and discussion with translators before project assignment.Access to a large number of professional translators. Associations like ATA ensure high quality and professional services.

ConsMay be more expensive than freelance translators.Quality and timeliness can vary greatly. No guarantee of professionalism.Requires detailed project descriptions and possibly extensive communication before project start. Quality may vary.Some directories may not vet the translators listed, leading to variable quality. Can be difficult to navigate and find the right translator.

Best ForLarge scale projects and businesses seeking high quality, professional translation services.Smaller scale projects or businesses on a tighter budget that can handle variable quality.Medium scale projects that can invest time in finding and communicating with the right translator.Businesses that want access to a large pool of professional translators and are willing to sift through listings.

Frequently Asked Questions about Translation Services

What are translation services?

Translation services are business services that help users convey messages in different languages. By doing so, they enable businesses to expand their global reach.

What is the role of professional translators?

Professional translators help businesses overcome language and cultural barriers by making the translation process easier. A professional translator is skilled in understanding, interpreting and translating content from one language to another. Thanks to their skills and experience, they can easily convey the key message while retaining the original style and tone.

What is the difference between translation and localization?

Translation converts words from one language to another. Localization, on the other hand, involves multiple techniques to adapt the intent of the message into another language. Localization takes into account the cultural nuances and linguistic complexities of translating work into other languages.

Why is human translation important?

Human translation is essential to preserving the original tone and style of the message. Human translation helps businesses avoid misinterpretations and cultural complexities to appeal to their audience. It can also minimize translator fails that may occur when digital tools are unable to mimic natural human speech.

Where can I find reliable translation services for my business?

There are a number of online service providers, directories, communities and freelance marketplaces where you can find reliable translation services for your business.

This article, “Where to Find Translation Services for Your Business” was first published on Small Business Trends