Website
Localization Services
It is a known fact that every business person wants to grow and explore
into new markets and increase profits. One popular way to do this is by
owning a website and translate this website into various languages so
that you access to a larger audience and earn big bucks. Website
localization or website translation is one of the most cost-effective
methods used today to reach international markets.
What is Website Localization?
Website localization is the process of changing or translating an
existing website to make it accessible, usable and culturally preferable
to a new target audience.
Importance of Website Localization
Website translation is one of the most easy and economical way to reach
customers spread all across the world. The world is shrinking and
companies are doing business with customers around the world, who are
not necessarily English speaking. It's important to be where your
potential customers are looking and people feel more comfortable buying
your products and services if you speak to them in their mother tongue.
Websites are a today a crucial part of businesses, generating revenues,
offering an avenue for promotion. Websites are an easily accessible
means of providing information on a company and it is necessary that
companies look beyond national borders if they wish to expand. Thus
website translation plays a vital role in expanding business.
The following chart gives us an an idea about world Internet users by
language as in 2007:
As is seen above, it is evident that there would be great advantages to
translate your website into another language for a particular market. It
is better not to limit your market to only English as the Internet is
bigger than just the English language. Wouldn't localizing or
translating your website for a particular market be more advantageous
for your company's bottom line?
Factors to Consider for Website Translation
Although website translation is more or less similar to normal
translation work because it deals with sentences , words, and language,
it is not so simple as normal translation because of various linguistic,
visual, technical and financial factors. Before commencing a website
translation, the questions that are to be considered are as follows:
- Why is this website being translated?
- Is the translation required to generate revenue or to provide
information?
- Who is the target audience?
- Whether the target audience from a particular age group or
socio-economic class?
- Are there any language variations? For example, if you are
promoting a site in Arabic, is it for North African Arabs or Gulf
Arabs?
- How is culture affected by website translation?
- Does your website's content change frequently?
- Does your designer have the programming capability to deal with
new characters and numerals?
How does Website Translation Works?
Website localization /translation is a multi-layered process which
requires both programming expertise and linguistic and cultural
knowledge. Not all words, sentences, phrases or idioms can be translated
directly to the target language. A translator should be familiar with
the regional differences of the target language. A translator should
know the target culture.
