Professional translation services are extremely important if you plan to expand your business to other countries or foreign markets. Otherwise, you risk embarrassing your business on a global level as well as opening yourself up to liability and other financial risks. Read on for some compelling reasons to avoid shortcuts in translation and localization.
Accuracy Is Critical
Bad translation is an international business owner’s nightmare. You’ve likely heard stories of companies translating content so badly that the target market is confused or even offended. Anyone who is not either a native speaker of the target language or a professional translator (or both) has an excellent chance of getting at least part of the translation wrong. This is bad enough when it’s on your advertising materials and your message comes across as confusing. But it’s even worse when the bad translation occurs with instructions or other important content, possibly causing property damage or injury to your customers. Clearly, it pays to make sure your translations are accurate.
You Need Localization
Translating is much more than simply knowing the words in two different languages. It also requires some knowledge of the respective cultures. For example, while an informal tone might work in one country, it could be inappropriate in a different region. This can be difficult to understand unless you work in the translation industry. In addition, when translating your content, a non-professional might accidentally use jargon that your target audience members will not understand, even when it is translated into their language. This can render your newly translated content virtually meaningless.
It’s a Complex Job
If you are somewhat familiar with the language you want your content translated into, you might feel confident enough to attempt the job yourself. In most cases, however, you will be translating more than just a few passages. If you truly want to market your business and services to other countries, you will need a large amount of content. This refers to all marketing and advertising materials, blog posts, print ads, social media accounts and product literature. And of course, you must translate your website and landing pages. All of this can take days, weeks or even longer if you are not fluent in the target language, taking you or a staff member away from your primary objectives.
Don’t take chances when it comes to translating business content for your global expansion process. Verbatim Solutions has an extensive and established track record of providing translation and localization services to some of the most recognized brands in the world. Their experienced team understands the importance of accurate and complete localization and translation services.
