Your online store is doing well on the Dutch market. You know how to reach customers through different channels and you see that reflected in traffic and sales. Now it's time to go international. Many opportunities, but also many headaches. Because how much will it cost to have all those product descriptions translated properly? And that's just the start. The website also contains blogs, frequently asked questions, legal texts... That adds up. Yet a well translated website does not have to be expensive. Read our handy saving tips to launch a well-translated webshop within your budget.
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For translations, you often pay per word. So a good first step is to make a careful selection of the content that needs to be translated. All in all, there may be quite a bit of text on your Web site, but what is really needed to go live in another language?
Certain texts should not be missing. For example, from a legal perspective, it is important that the privacy policy be accessible in the customer's language. All texts in the buying process should also be translated, from product descriptions to the payment process. If visitors cannot easily navigate or find what they are looking for, they will be gone in no time. To boost reliability, it is good to provide customer support in the target language, such as contact options, a frequently asked questions page or the return policy.
Yet not all content is relevant or appropriate for every audience. Grab that red pen and delete words, phrases or entire pages. Maybe you start with a limited offering in the new market or have products that are banned in another country. In Singapore, for example, you're not allowed to sell chewing gum. Scrap those product descriptions early on so you don't have them translated unnecessarily. For example, compare the Dutch and German HEMA websites. Many of the product categories match, but you won't find any information on the German site about the customer card, insurance or photo service that HEMA offers in the Netherlands.
Once you have eliminated everything that is not of interest to the specific foreign audience, there is still room to save on the translation strategy. There are several options, each with its own price tag. Those options range from machine translation to a creative translation tailored to the culture, habits and values of the new target audience. You can guess which translation process is more expensive. Such a creative translation is indispensable for marketing texts, but certainly not a requirement for every text.
Time is money, we don't have to explain that to you. By working with a translation agency, you avoid spending a lot of time getting your texts translated yourself. Translation agencies have an extensive network of translators and know their qualities. So they can find suitable translators faster. They also offer convenient solutions for importing and exporting your web content, so you don't have to cut and paste. And they use specialized translation tools to analyze and translate the texts. That's actually a time saver for the translators, who can work faster with these tools, but it also means lower costs for you, the client. You get a discount based on repetitions and previously translated content.
Finally, don't forget to include translation in your planning. It may sound logical, but it often happens that texts have to be translated just before their launch. That is usually detrimental to the quality and hits you in your pocket. After all, rush jobs often involve higher rates, whether it's an urgent application for a new driver's license or a translation.
