{"id":573,"date":"2016-05-26T15:47:53","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T10:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/?p=573"},"modified":"2016-07-07T15:51:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T10:21:46","slug":"should-you-use-translation-app-for-website-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ulatus.com\/translation-blog\/should-you-use-translation-app-for-website-translation\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Use Translation App for Website Translation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are over a billion websites on the Internet. Less than 40 percent of these sites are in English. According to Internet World Stats, nearly half of Internet users are not native English speakers. Other surveys show that most people will not make an online purchase in a language that is not their own. What does this mean? It means that if you have an international business and you only have an English website, you are overlooking half of your potential customers. Flipping this around, if your language is not in English, there is another half of the world that is missing out on your business. For those with non-English websites, this is an important statistic since much of the world’s wealth is tied up in English-speaking nations, and those whose first language is English are not known for their bilingual fluency.<\/p>\n

One of the greatest misunderstandings about website translation is related to localization. Many people mistakenly believe that translating a web page is as simple as installing an app. While there are sites that have two completely different web pages connected by a link, most sites with language links simply use a machine translator similar to Google Translate to reconfigure their site with words translated into the target language.<\/p>\n

The problem with the machine translation of a website is the same problem for the machine translation of any document: inaccuracy. If your site is simply informational, perhaps this is not of a great consequence. However, if you are promoting products, financial information, or the website contains information about safety or health, then the accuracy of the translation becomes quite important.<\/p>\n

When designing or redesigning a website you know will be translated, there are some things you can do to ease the process and keep expenses down.<\/p>\n

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  1. The first piece of advice is the same regardless of the medium: write in simple, concise, and clear language. By avoiding the use of jargon, acronyms, and idioms, you significantly ease the translation process. When writing is clear and not vague, your translator does not need to spend the time researching meanings and finding the proper terminology.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. The use of clear and accurate language throughout your site can make the use of translation memory quite relevant as well. Because webpages often require updating, translation memory can save significant time with technical words and phrases.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Website design is as important as the content. When a person stops by your site, they often decide in less than two seconds if they are going to spend any amount of time there. If the layout of your site does not look appealing, they will leave without ever reading your content.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n