Do you have a thriving webshop and want to enter foreign markets as well? Then of course a translated site is a must. However, the costs for a thorough translation can be considerable, especially if you have a large product range or want to make your site available in several languages straight away. In this blog post you can read how a smart approach can help you save substantially on translation costs.
Do you also want to score abroad with your webshop, but are reluctant to pay high translation costs? Not necessary. Contact us for a tailored advice.
In the spirit of "cheap is expensive," let's first list how to better not save:
If you do choose one of these 3 options, you will end up with the worst of it. The quality of your translated content will be (far) below par, resulting in damaged reputation, disappointing sales and happy competitors. But how do you actually save on translation costs? A smart way to do that is to differentiate the quality level and translation method for each content type. What exactly do we mean by that?
Your webshop contains several types of content. You have a homepage with promotional text, service pages with factual information such as ordering and returns, category and product pages with product descriptions and specifications, and pages with small print (such as your terms and conditions and privacy policy). For your homepage and other highly visible pages, a creative, non-literal translation is essential, or you'll miss out on customers. Yet is such a relatively expensive translation really necessary for frequently asked questions? Or for "straightforward" product details? The answer, of course, is no. Below we outline for 3 content types what can be an effective approach.
Smoothly flowing texts tailored to the target audience are crucial here. The best option is therefore transcreation. This is a mix of translation and copywriting, where the source text is only loosely followed. Another option is marketing translation. This involves following the source text a bit more closely. Don't skimp on translation costs for these pages! This will pay for itself in no time, because top texts generate additional sales.
For frequently asked questions and other information pages, an "ordinary" translation is sufficient. Above all, the texts must be clear; stylistic tours de force and fun language quirks are not necessary. The costs for regular translations are significantly lower than those for creative translation or transcreation.
The bulk of the content on your website probably consists of product descriptions and specifications, possibly captured centrally in a PIM system. A good strategy for translating such content is to use machine translation (MT), followed by human revision. In the industry, we then often talk about "MT + post-editing. This option delivers very acceptable quality at up to 50% lower costs compared to full human translation. Moreover, you save time.
We won't give a calculation example here, but as an entrepreneur you've probably already realized that a differentiated approach to your translation project can save you a lot of money, while still getting superior quality where it's really needed. Read all about it in our whitepaper More success with your international webshop.
Wondering how much you can save? Then contact us yet today . We will analyze your content and gladly prepare an itemized quote for you.
