Google Translate: Is it worth risking your business’ integrity over?

As your business expands and looks to international customers to boost revenues, the need to have translated websites that they can understand increases. Sharing information about your company’s products and services online is the fastest and easiest way to garner global customers. But, have you considered how you will have your website translated into the myriad of languages that you need to attract international buyers?

When you consider the importance of your company website with these customers, it becomes key that you make it as professional and readable as possible. More and more consumers located all over the world are turning to the internet for information about the products and services that they intend to buy. Having a website that caters to them will only increase your chances of capturing their business and growing yours.

Translating program vs. professional linguist

When it comes to translation, you have 2 central options as to how to get it done. You can select to use a translating program such as Google Translate or hire a professional linguist to do the job. While Google Translate is free and fast, the results can be less than desirable.

The way that Google Translate operates is by using Statistical Machine Translation (SMT). SMT works by indexing the internet for all available documents that have been human translated going all the way back to 1957. Here, it makes a judgment call on what the best phrase or string of text to use to translate your content.

Google Translate: friend or foe?

Here lies the problem, these phrases or translations are not always accurate. Google Translate can make glaring and embarrassing mistakes that can cost your business with your international customers. Google Translate doesn’t take into account the nuances that are a part of every language, and there is no accountability for the errors that occur. You can’t just go back to Google Translate and request that it provides you more accurate translation – what you see is basically what you get.

As disappointing as Google Translate can be, it does have some margin of success, but it is not reliable enough for you to trust to translate your company website for the masses. You certainly don’t want to offend or turn a customer off because you didn’t take the time or care to make sure your website was translated properly and accurately. Think about what this says about your business!

Professional linguist: a better option

You do have another alternative when it comes to having your company website translated into other languages. You can use professional linguist to provide you with a translation that meets the expectations of your customers with complete and utter accuracy. By having your website translated by a linguist that understands what constitutes proper grammar, translation, and language phrases, you can easily create global websites that appeal to customers in multiple countries.

Another benefit of using a professional linguist is the ability to have them adjust content or make changes when you feel they are not hitting the mark with your customer. Don’t try to save time by running your text through Google Translate first and then having a linguist perfect it. It will only make the work harder and cost you more in the long run.

Your linguist can easily translate full websites into a variety of languages so you can get your content out there and reach customers that are located all over the world. You can count on a linguist to provide you web content that appeals to your global customers and is understandable to them as well. Your professional linguist will save you from making a translation mistake that is downright offensive and can send your customers to your competitors without hesitation.

A professional linguist is experienced in handling language translations, and they can easily convert your website into another language by accounting for the nuances that every language has. You also don’t have to worry about placing confidential information into an accessible program like Google Translate as your linguist will adhere to your company’s privacy and keep your information safe as they translate.

Conclusion

Working with a professional linguist is the best way to translate a website so it is error-free and shows your customers that you care enough about them and your business to provide them information that they can understand. When you are in need of translation services for your website, think twice about using a free service like Google Translate as a professional linguist can offer you better results that will help you hit the mark with your international customer base.

Contact Wordminds to get a free quote on your website translation task.

About Wordminds

Wordminds is a close-knit team of language experts – professional translators, project managers, localisation engineers and business visionaries who work closely with global clients, helping them connect with their international audience. Wordminds works with over 3,000 language specialists and subject-matter experts to enable companies to overcome cultural and language barriers, helping them build trust and create long-lasting business and human relationships. Fully certified under ISO 9001 and ISO 17100, the company believes in continuous improvement and so stands at the forefront of new language-technology implementation, smart collaboration and excellent customer service. Find out more about Wordminds at www.wordminds.com.