Website Translation and Localization

Your company decided to enter the international market or simply to win new foreign language speaking audience in a country you live and for this reason you need translation of website into English or other language.  Except website translation it is necessary to think also about translation into English of manuals, advertizing manuals, portfolios, etc.

Many consider that at the entrance on the foreign market English translation will be sufficient since it is the second language for a considerable part of population in many countries. But it is misinterpretation since buyers will trust you more if you speak their language.

And very often when translation of websites the word localization is encountered, and very few people understand what this word actually means. Some people understand that concept of website localization (software, etc.) is much broader than concept translation. In layman's terms, localization is a process of sophisticated translation where the main objective is to render precisely the source language message through the target language system. Moreover, when it is a matter of text localization, here one cannot do without knowledge of culture which should harmoniously supplement excellent knowledge of the target language. For instance, in English it is quite normal to address the other person on "you" while in Russian or Ukrainian such address can be considered as familiar. Though on the other hand the concept of localization does not mean that it is necessary to copy all the text completely. This is precisely why the translator should be extremely attentive while working with projects on localization and should be clearly aware how to deal with this or that part of the text. Properly executed website localization will help your business to move ahead actively in the foreign markets. As the phrase goes in the business world:" Reason globally, behave locally".

Market researches show that customers trust more to those suppliers, whose websites provide information in language of the customer. This is precisely why a high-quality website translation is a key to success in the new market. You should not believe that everybody speaks English abroad – one should define accurately the focus market and translate a website into this language. To speak with the client one language is a key to success in the market.

Earlier (about about ten years ago) about 70% of data on the Internet were in English, now the situation changed and only 30% of data on the Internet is in English. This means that the situation in the market changes and now everybody tries primarily to use for a website not English, but the language the potential customer speaks. Considering the competition in the various markets, the high-quality translation becomes one of the most important factors of business. After all times when people used only yellow pages and were focused on signages fell into oblivion long ago. Now the Internet rules everything. If you want to win new customers thus provide your presence in this endless source of information.

For exact and accurate translation of websites, localization services should consider language style, uniqueness of these or those language phenomena peculiar to specific area. Besides it is necessary to keep navigation on a website and to execute adaptation of the ready text. In addition, it is necessary to keep text formatting so it corresponds to drawings and images used in target language. During website localization the necessity may arise as for reconfiguration of scripts of the menu – Java, Javascript, Flash/Shockwave applications. Put another way, localization is a process of changing of an existing website so that it was available, easy-to-use and suitable in the culturological plan to target users. Website localization is the multilevel process which requires both abilities and knowledge of the programmer, as well as linguistic/culturological skills.