Welcome to the final installment of our Go Global 101 blog series! We've walked you through what an international strategy is and the importance of website translation services, but now we want to give you more insight into how to choose which website translation option is right for you.
When it comes to website translation for global marketing, companies can lean on some effective best practices for seamlessly integrating into a new market. We've explained how implementing an international strategy allows you to reach new audiences more easily, as there are few barriers of entry, no local laws to abide by, and no need for global integration.
A well-translated website not only attracts a wider audience but also fosters trust and loyalty towards the brand. But it isn't as easy as deciding to translate your website and then starting the project on your own. Choosing the right website translation technology for your global business is the most important step, but it can be a daunting task. But we're here to help! Read on for the various options for translating your website, including machine translation, human translation, and hybrid approaches, and how to make an informed decision that aligns with your business goals and priorities.
Machine Translation: Speed and Cost Efficiency
Machine translation (MT) has come a long way, thanks to advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Neural Machine Translation (NMT) technologies. MT offers quick results and continuous improvement based on how you train it, making it an attractive option for quickly translating content on a large scale without significant overhead costs. There are a few options when it comes to machine translation:
Proxy
Proxy translation is a specialized approach used for localizing content in multilingual markets, particularly for websites or software applications. It involves the use of a translation proxy, which acts as an intermediary between the end users and the original website or application. The translation proxy generates translations on-the-fly and replaces the original content with its translated version when a global user accesses the website or app.
Adaptive Translation™
Adaptive Translation™ is a website translation solution comprised of three components: translation memory, algorithmic translation, and artificial intelligence. With an additional layer of human review, Adaptive Translation™ optimizes the website translation process by reducing both cost and speed-to-market. You can get a new multilingual website in 60 days less and save up to 60% on human translation costs. When it comes to machine translation, it doesn't get much better or easier than this!
Translation Integrations: Connectors and APIs
APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) allow developers and website owners to add translation functionality to their websites or client applications seamlessly. These APIs utilize machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to dynamically translate language pairs and provide accurate translations for different languages.
How Translate APIs Work:
- Language Translation: Translate APIs use AI and machine learning algorithms to perform translations between various languages.
- Access to Translation Data: These APIs provide access to translation data resources, enabling developers to retrieve the necessary information for translation purposes.
- Integration: Developers can integrate the translate API into their applications using the GET request method to retrieve translated content on-the-fly.
Connectors for website translation are pre-configured integrations that facilitate the seamless transfer of localized content into a content management system (CMS) for websites. These connectors enable organizations to manage and assign digital content to linguists or translation vendors for translation, making the website localization process more streamlined, scalable, and customizable.
Pros of Machine Translation:
- Cost-effectiveness: Overall, using machine translation can save you up to 60% on human translation. By relying on machines for translation, businesses can save costs associated with human translators. This makes MT suitable for high-volume, low-priority content like user reviews, comments, or social media posts.
- Speed: Machine translation tools can quickly process vast amounts of content in a short time, making it an efficient solution for meeting tight deadlines.
- Automation and AI Integration: MT leverages AI to automate basic translation tasks like assigning jobs, reviewing and revising content, and making content acceptability decisions, streamlining the translation process.
Cons of Machine Translation:
- Linguistic Limitations: Machine translation may lack the ability to capture the nuances, idioms, and cultural relevance present in human-translated content, resulting in translations that might be contextually inaccurate or sound unnatural.
- Lack of Context: MT often fails to understand the context of the content being translated, leading to potentially incorrect or misleading translations.
Machine translation is an excellent choice for businesses looking to translate content that does not require the utmost linguistic accuracy or cultural context, and where budget and speed are primary considerations.
Human Translation: Accuracy and Cultural Relevance
Human translation involves professional linguists who understand both the language and the cultural nuances of the target audience. This option ensures contextual accuracy and provides a personalized user experience for each location the content is being read in.
As we mentioned above, our Adaptive Translation™ features an optional human layer of review, which we get into more below. The goal is to use it in conjunction with machine translation to keep costs down while prioritizing quality. The use of AI makes the process quicker, but human editors can ensure you get the quality you need.
Pros of Human Translation:
- Contextual Accuracy: Human translators can delve deep into the content to understand its true meaning and effectively convey it in the target language, ensuring cultural relevance.
- SEO Benefits: Human translators can optimize translated content for international SEO, enhancing the website’s discoverability in search engines.
Cons of Human Translation:
- Cost: Human translation can be more expensive than machine translation due to the expertise and effort required by skilled translators.
- Time-Consuming: Human translation may take longer than machine translation, especially for extensive content.
Human translation may seem like a good choice for businesses prioritizing linguistic accuracy, context, and brand consistency. But machine translation can be trained to provide nearly the same quality as human translation at a fraction of the cost. For those who want the cost efficiency of machine translation with human review for accuracy, you may want a hybrid approach…
Hybrid Approach: The Best of Both Worlds
In certain scenarios, businesses may find a hybrid approach to be the most effective solution. This method, which we hinted at earlier, is called Machine Translation Post-Editing and combines both human and machine translation to optimize costs and ensure quality translations. This method relies on MT for the initial translation and employs human editing to ensure the best quality possible.
With the right website translation service, human training of your Branded NMT will mean better quality from your machine translation and less need for human intervention. What does this mean for you? You get:
- Cost Optimization: Over time, a well-trained NMT will save you money as it will reduce the amount that humans need to translate.
- Efficiency: The hybrid approach allows businesses to achieve fast and cost-effective translations without compromising linguistic accuracy and cultural relevance.
This approach is the most ideal when going global because it combines the advantages of speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of machine translation with the accuracy, contextual understanding, and cultural relevance provided by human translation. Using a combination of machine and human translation allows businesses to leverage the advantages of each approach, ensuring accurate, culturally relevant, and high-quality content.
By striking the right balance between these two methods, businesses can effectively communicate with and cater to diverse international audiences, thus positioning themselves as successful global players in their industries.
Choose the Right Translation Partner
So, at the end of our series there are some major points we hope you take away from us:
- For many businesses, implementing an international strategy can help you break into new markets without integrating globally and simply investing in the best website translation services.
- Your digital business tools are crucial to the buyer journey. Make sure your multilingual customers can make purchases in their preferred languages with ease.
- Prioritize localized SEO and building a presence in your new market.
- Make sure your digital marketing efforts are translated and localized for each new audience, like on social media, in email campaigns, and in video content.
Selecting the right website translation technology is a crucial decision for your global business website. Consider your business goals, content priorities, and budget constraints when choosing between machine translation, human translation, or a hybrid approach.
Remember, the success of your global business website depends on providing an exceptional user experience to your diverse audience, and high-quality translation plays a pivotal role in achieving that goal. MotionPoint's website translation technology and expertise will ensure that your business is in the best position to succeed. Learn more about our MP Core and how we provide fast, high-quality translations with concierge-level service that is dedicated to you.
For a limited time, we want to give you two languages for the price of one to help you go global with your business! When you buy one language from us, we'll help you test another new market for free for 14 days. Don't miss out on this BOGO offer—it won’t last long!
Last updated on August 07, 2023
