The Importance of Translation &

Localization in a Global Marketplace

Providing multicultural language solutions since 1986

Journey

• Online Audience• Where to Start• Road Map to Localization Success

Notice that countries such as China, India, and Japan are rapidly growing in terms of internet use.

Determine Where Your International Audience Lies:

5% Rule

If 5% or more of your website traffic is coming from a particular country, consider translation! You may be

missing opportunities

Translating Your WebsiteAvoid Google Translate/Bing Translate/Etc!

• Poor content = poor rankings• Negative impact on SEO

In Spanish, “como” means either “how”, “like”, “I eat”In Spanish, “mucho” means “much.”

BUT…

“¿Como mucho?” does not mean “How much?” – It means, “Do I eat a lot”

“¿Cuánto?” means “How much?”

Translation• Can impact website design – Text expansion/shrinkage

– European languages typically expand up to 20-30% while Asian languages shrink by up to 50%

The word “speed” in German = Geschwindigkeit

The word “speed” in Chinese = 馳

Translation Budget Factors• Languages• Content• Deliverables

Garbage In, Garbage Out

A translation will only ever be as good as the original source text. If content isn’t written well to begin with, a translator will not be able to improve it. Be sure you are happy with your messaging before translation.

No need to translate entire site immediately

Start small – Consider translated introduction page

(Your Chinese intro page submitted to Google™ China)

Site Design:Where’s the link to English?

Much clearer link to translated content

Be careful with dropdowns:Why isn’t Japan translated into

Japanese?Best practice

Localization Factors to Keep in Mind:

• Colors

• Types of photos

• Text heavy vs Image heavy

• What is the focus? The product, the value, the service, communication?

SummaryThink Global, Act Local

• Determine where your international audience lies

• Machine translation• How do I budget for translation?• Preparing content for translation• Imagery

www.ititranslates.com

Office: 860-647-0686Email: inquiry@ititranslates.com

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This presentation was originally created as a partnership between iTi and the Connecticut District Export Council. It has been slightly modified for Slide Share. All

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