2012 May

Website Localization and SEO Translation

May 29, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Thanks to its global popularity, there are few easier ways to reach out to consumers than through the internet. The World Wide Web has caused a revolution in international business, allowing entrepreneurs from every walk of life, big and small, to successfully engage with overseas audiences. Simply put, the opportunities to reach out on the internet know no bounds, but there are many challenges to be faced if one is to successfully penetrate a foreign market.

Website localization is key to everything – or translating your website and making its content culturally and linguistically appropriate for the target audience.

Who to Target?

First things first, we need to know which markets to focus on. It may be that you already have a specific target language in mind, if for example, you’re in the business of selling Chinese joss sticks, then it would make sense to target Chinese-speaking nations.

For those without a specific target market in mind however, it’s often better to play the numbers game. Taking a look at the latest figures from Internet World Stats, we can clearly see that there are ten languages which dominate the internet by a clear margin:

Language	Percentage of Internet Users	No. of Speakers Worldwide
English	26.8%	1,302,275,670
Chinese	24.2%	1,372,226,042
Spanish	7.8%	423,085,806
Japanese	4.7%	126,475,664
Portuguese	3.9%	253,947,594
German	3.6%	94,842,656
Arabic	3.3%	347,002,991
French	3.0%	347,932,305
Russian	3.0%	139,390,205
Korean	2.0%	71,393,343

Looking at the table above it’s apparent that anyone looking to establish a global presence simply has to take a proactive approach in localizing their website for multiple markets.

The above markets are important, for the simple reason that together they encompass almost 82% of all internet users online today. Translate your English language site into the next nine most common languages and suddenly you’ll be visible to three times as many users.

Even more compelling – several surveys have shown that as many as 90% of users, when they search for something online, do so using their native language. A growing number of businesses are already catching on to this, so much so that website localization has become one of the trends to watch this year.

The Art of Website Localization

Never make the mistake of thinking that localization is easy. There’s more to it than simply translating the text into the target language and hoping for the best. Content doesn’t just have to be translated, but it also needs to be made relevant to the target market, which means using colloquial terms and, where possible, a context that local readers will be able to relate to, to achieve maximum impact.

The website has to be localized from a visual aspect too. This is where many businesses make fatal errors, failing to realize that an image or ‘look and feel’ that is fine in their own country, is inappropriate or possibly even offensive in another culture. For example, an image of a scantily clad woman might go down pretty well in the UK or the US, but the majority of Saudi Arabian viewers probably wouldn’t appreciate this approach.

More than just images, the style of a website must also fit. We need to consider local tastes. An obvious example is the Japanese, who tend to prefer cluttered websites with multiple colors, while UK and US audiences prefer a cleaner, simpler look.

Finally there are technical aspects, such as using a country-specific domain name. Users in Japan are much more likely to visit (and trust) a website that has a .jp domain.

The Importance of SEO Translation

One of the most overlooked aspects of website translation is search engine optimization. Many webmasters seem to think that localization and SEO translation are one and the same thing, but in fact, they couldn’t be more different.

Whilst localization is done to make a website appeal to humans, SEO translation is done to make the site visible to search engines. Let’s not forget, over 90% of internet users will be searching in their own language, and to be found, the fundamentals of your website’s SEO structure needs to be accurately translated – something that goes beyond just translating keyword, but also key attributes such as meta tags, script messages, anchor texts, image captions, file names and so on.

The benefits of SEO translation are the same as the benefits of localization. Quite simply, one cannot live without the other. Your website needs to be visible, and it must appeal the target audience.

As Willy Brandt put it:

“If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen sie Deutsch sprechen”

Filed Under: Localization

Translation in the Travel Industry

May 25, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

The travel industry is a sector that has witnessed great expansion ever since it has leveraged the services of translation. People all over the world enjoy taking a holiday to foreign destinations. Travel and holiday are always in demand and with the growing pressures at work and need to spend quality time with family, it is envisaged that this trend will continue to grow in the future as well.

While most people look forward to a foreign holiday, one of the facts most easily overlooked in the excitement of planning for the travel excursion is the barrier imposed by language. Not understanding or knowing the local language can inhibit the pleasure of travel. While it may be possible to convey basic needs such as asking for directions to a sightseeing spot, a hotel or the airport, there is a loss in time and interpretation that can upset many travel plans too. Besides the true cultural and holiday experience may be limited. By using translation services for many of the subsectors, the travel industry can really stand to benefit. Not only is the experience more comfortable and enjoyable for the tourist, it also allows him or her to appreciate the warmth and friendliness of the tourist destination.

The translational needs in the travel industry revolve around some of the essential requirements. First and foremost is the translation requirement while booking a hotel or accommodation. The place you stay in during your travel needs to essentially act as a home away from home. Only when the needs of the foreign tourist are well defined and understood in terms of budget, special requirements, the hotel can provide the necessary arrangements. Another key area is related to dining. The food offered in eateries and restaurants is listed on the menus, but unless it has an appropriate Italian translation or a German translation, for instance, the Italian or German tourist will not be able to understand and appreciate it. In case of medical assistance also, translation services can sometimes be a life savior. Besides, translation is also required for ticketing, passport or visa assistance. Even for foreign exchange transactions, it is helpful if suitable Italian translation or German translation is available at hand.

While most tourist destinations highlight the must-see places at various websites and in the form of advertisements or brochures, the relevant information most often does not have an equivalent Italian translation or German translation. This seriously jeopardizes the chances of attracting tourists from Italy or Germany. The travel industry must become conscious of this fact and leverage translational services to reach out to people speaking different languages across the globe, but who are eager to visit and explore different sights and experiences. Many sightseeing packages can be tailor-made as per the needs of Italian or German travelers. Guides conversant in the European languages can share the information about history and culture of a place as well as answer the queries of the tourists in a language they can understand. This makes the whole travel experience a wholesome and enjoyable one.

Filed Under: Industry

Tips on Software Localization

May 22, 2012 By Bradley F. Leave a Comment

Localization of software is necessary for greater acceptance of the product by users in different geographic territories. Only when prospective users get the impression that the software product has been developed to cater to their local requirements, they take the initiative to learn and use it. Although a major activity, the localization process can be made easy by using the right resources and the methodology. A look at some useful tips on software localization may be beneficial.

Analysis of the localization requirements before you begin is crucial. Make a list of all the problem areas that need localization support. This will enable you to allocate the right team and resources.
Simulate a translation and testing project so that all issues related to localization are revealed at the initial stages of the project.
Standard resources and file formats should be the norm for your software development. If you use a consistent structure for all your programs, then it would be easy to know which text is to be translated. You can also make use of translation tools in the first round of localization effort which can be then reviewed and corrected.
Translation memory tools can contribute in expediting your localization process in a major way. These tools build a repository of phrases, sentences and paragraphs and help in providing a consistent translation approach while reducing the translation time.
A style guide and terminology should be clearly defined in the beginning so that all the localized software versions have the same look and feel.
Have a localization project plan where the duration of the text translation phase is less than the complete project time. Testing and incorporating feedback should be allocated enough time and resources. Also provide for time to incorporate last minute software updates.
Ensure that the entire team is aware of the project methodology and central resources. Seamless coordination and information flow is necessary for the success of any localization project.

Filed Under: Localization

What Country Travels The Most?

May 18, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

As tourism has gradually developed into a leading internationally traded service in recent times, countries are recognizing the contribution of the tourism sector in economic growth. Although leisure continues to be one of the dominating reasons for travel, other factors such as health, medical, religious and business purposes are also on the rise.

Firms operating in the travel industry must be anxious to know what country travels the most so as to provide services that cater to needs of visitors from those regions. As per a report published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization for 2011, the outbound tourism trends reveal that Europe is still the largest source of tourism market in the world, followed by the Asia and the Pacific. In terms of spending, Germany leads the list, followed by the USA and China at the third spot. In terms of international expenditure, Germany, the USA and China accounted for nearly 22% of the global market share. The highest number of foreign tourists was from China at 1341 million travelers in 2010. The report also projects some interesting trends. By 2020, the most popular tourist destinations would be Europe, (717 million tourists), East Asia (397 million) and the Americas (282 million).

All this data indicates is that while there is promising growth for international travel, the local travel and tourism industry should be suitably geared to leverage this attractive opportunity.

Are you from the travel, tourism or hospitality sector? Then you would surely know that capturing the international travel and tourism market is attractive but would be possible only when you have added some service capabilities that you were not providing before.

If your career is closely related to these sectors then you must build up your strength and accessibility to address the needs of foreign tourists. Addressing the language barrier is a significant need. Perhaps you can partner with a translation agency to bring an innovative marketing approach. How about language translation services that help your customer feel totally at home in a foreign location? German translation of your restaurant menu or hotel website can help you serve your German speaking tourists better. What better way exists to impress your guests with the feeling that you truly care about their well-being and comfort? A conversation in a native language builds a rapport and bond of familiarity in a short time. Use the strength of languages to connect with your customers in the travel and tourism industry.

Filed Under: Industry

Quality Translations: Measuring Factors

May 17, 2012 By Bradley F. Leave a Comment

Every linguistic expert will agree to the fact that translation is an activity more subjective than objective. Yet with the growing needs of communication across the world, that need to overcome several linguistic barriers, translation is occupying a major role in the way businesses and societies interact. As an increasingly demanded service, the translation industry is growing leaps and bounds. However, what distinguishes a professional translation agency from its peers is the quality of the services that it offers to its clients. Although it is a difficult task to assess the quality of translation services as it is critical to the long terms goals of not only the customer but also the translation agency involved.

There are several factors that can together give a fair representation of the quality of translation. This gives an idea to the customer whether the translation agency is following the right processes and methods to achieve the desired translational goals. Also, the translation agency is able to effectively monitor the performance of its employees and the quality of its deliverables. This also helps the translation agency to further improve and refine its internal processes. Let us browse through some of the important factors that are indicative of the quality of translation.

Experience and expertise of the translators governs the quality of translated outputs to a large extent. The translational team must be chosen depending on the specific industrial domain or subject. The academic credentials and the practical experience of the team give a good idea about the quality of translation offered by the translation agency.
The intermediate steps during the translation process for review, proof reading and editing indicate how much importance is attached by the translation agency to ensure that the deliverables do not distort the true meaning. The time spent on review and correction should not be unduly large since it either means that the original translation was inaccurate or that the reviewer is not aware of what kind of mistakes to look for. The reviewer should preferably be a native speaker of the language into which the work has been translated so that he or she is quick to pick out errors or flaws that do not sound natural.
Usage of software tools, translation memory aids, dictionaries or glossaries built up internally by the translation agency are helpful tools that reduce the effort and time spent on translation activity and also brings in consistency. It also indicates that the translation agency is keen to build up its earlier experience and knowledge base.
Using standard templates and formats for all deliverables is also a quick indicator of whether the translation agency adheres to the established quality norms.
Quantification of errors in terms of number of inaccurate translations or mistakes per a given number of words is another way to keep track of translation performance. Since gauging the errors in translation is subjective, a classification level for severity of errors should be used.

Although the quality factors discussed above are not an exhaustive list, they can together provide an overall indication regarding the quality of the translated work.

Filed Under: Professional

Choosing a CAT Tool

May 9, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Any person keen on a career in translation services should be aware that proficiency in different languages is not the only skill needed. Familiarity and expertise in using CAT tools is also important to add that extra edge to your knowledgebase. CAT tools can expedite the time taken for translation. Besides they also provide a consistency in the translation services, thereby ensuring that the quality standards are met.

For a beginner in the field of translation services, selecting the right CAT tool can be a difficult choice. There are many CAT tools available currently, but before you choose any one of them you need to make sure whether they serve your translational needs. Some of the freely available CAT tools can act as a good starting point since they offer good scope to try, to experiment and to learn the tool without making any investment. Some of these are Wordfast Anywhere, OmegaT and Anaphraseus. One can also evaluate the suitability by downloading the trial versions of CAT tools such as Trados, Alchemy, MemoQ, or Fluency. Across is a tool that works for all Microsoft applications.

Another factor that needs to be considered before you decide on a given CAT tool is whether the translation services you routinely offer are related to heavily formatted word documents. Also if you are working on ppt files needs to be checked. Some CAT tools do not support the language pair that you might be required to work on, so check this fact beforehand. Also whether support is there for languages with a non-Latin script or right-to-left writing style is important.

Using CAT tools to support translation services is an effective way of leveraging technology to simplify your routine tasks. The more you train and learn the usage of these tools, the more value will be derived. However, do remember that CAT tools use the basic principle of translation memory, so it might take up a bit of time to build up your own database, and you might need to collaborate with other translators.

Filed Under: Software

Annex Russian to Your Hotel Websites Language Menu

May 7, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Attracting customers online can be competitive. Especially if you happen to be one of the new entrants in the hospitality industry, then you need to keep thinking of innovative ways to serve a larger number of customers, and of course, serve them better. Possibly, one of the ways is to reach out to tourists and travelers who are visiting your location for the first time. With a rise in the amount spent on travel and tourism these days, why restrict to serving only local customers, when your hotel is equipped to serve foreign visitors as well.

It is common knowledge now that people turn to popular search engines to get answers and clarifications to most of their queries. With e-commerce driving the way the world functions currently, you can convey the facilities your hotel can offer just by leveraging the power of translation services.

You can use the services of a translation company and have your website available to users all over the world in multiple languages. It is as easy as that, but of course, you need to consider which languages you need to have your website translated into. Make use of your local market research and you will get a reasonably fair idea as to which geographical regions most of the travelers to your city are from.

Russian is a language that you simply cannot afford to miss. With its wide outreach and dissimilarity with English, it is a language where translation services can really add value for travelers. With the help of high quality Russian translation, you can make sure that your hotel website can convey its features and address the queries and concerns of Russian travelers. It conveys your serious intent of welcoming the Russian visitors to your hotel and makes them feel well-understood and cared for. This is an important aspect in the hospitality industry, i.e. to make the guest feel welcome and valuable right from the beginning.

Remember, in today’s digital era, the customer experience does not merely begin when the guest steps into your hotel, it starts the moment the visitor arrives at your website.

Filed Under: Trendy

German Tourists on the Go

May 3, 2012 By Bradley F. Leave a Comment

Did you know that German tourists spent more than 90 billion USD on their travel expenses last year despite the economic recession, as a report claims? What this means is that an increasingly high number of people from Germany are visiting foreign destinations and are not cutting out the money spent on entertainment and leisure during travel.

Is this a promising opportunity for you, if you happen to be in the travel and tourism sector? Perhaps so, since it depends very largely on the fact whether you are well prepared to tap into this exciting chance for the growth of your business. In case you aren’t well equipped to attract the market segment comprised of German speaking tourists, you might not even realize that you have missed this opportunity that has walked past you and straight into your competitor’s business.

Want to know what can distinguish you from the numerous competitors in the travel industry? Well, it is not the advertising budget or the freebies that you offer. The most effective strategy to invite German tourists to your hotel, restaurant or travel agency is the fact that you connect with German speakers in their language.

Have you ever experienced the common bond you can spontaneously develop with a total stranger, provided he or she speaks your language? The comfort level established so easily is hard to replicate with any marketing tool or strategy. True that German tourists visit places to enjoy the novel locations, culture, art and history. But it is also true that without translation services available at hand; they are unable to derive the maximum pleasure of their holiday trip.

A foreign trip can be exciting, thrilling and adventurous, but lack of understanding of local language can also sometimes result in unhappy surprises that can potentially ruin the holiday mood. Have you not heard of travelers experiencing situations like loss of baggage in transit, or being misguided to a wrong location or facing law and order enforcement agencies for having unknowingly breaking a rule that they were not aware of? All such agonies and worries can be simply got rid of, by using a translation agency to help visitors. In addition to providing a translated version of all website content and documentation, a translation agency can also provide services on request at a help desk. Whether it is enquiring about making a choice between two holiday spots or which place to visit in a limited time, German translation can go a long way in assuring excellent quality of service to German tourists.

Filed Under: Industry