Get The Buyers Guide to Translation

How do you choose a translation agency?

With so many translation agencies to choose from how do you decide which one is best for you?

The translation industry has its own terminology. Companies use different methods and processes to deliver translation. How can you tell which process is right for you?

As a professional translation company we’re often asked about our services and how things work. The more you know about the business the easier it is to make decisions on who to choose and why. To help we’ve compiled the answers to the most common questions we are asked about translation, how it works and how to buy professionally.

Summary
The book covers four distinct sections.

Chapter 1: Quality
How is translation quality delivered and how important is it to you? Everyone will tell you they deliver a quality product, but what does that actually mean? Do they use 1 translator? 2 translators? How is the text proofread? Are they using machine translation to delivery or is everything completed by human translators?

Quality is subjective and often you need different types of translation. If you just need to read general correspondence machine translation may be good enough. However for machinery documentation it has to be 100% accurate. Accurate translation requires professional proofreading.

Learn how companies produce and deliver quality.

Chapter 2: Time and Costs
How long will a translation project take and why?

Professional translators deliver about 1200 words a day. Companies that use machine translation can deliver upto 10,000 words. The average A4 page has some 300 words, so a professional will deliver about 5 pages a day. Knowing this and more helps you budget time and resources to your projects.

Did you know a professional proofreader can read about 6000 words a day.

How are translation projects costed. Companies use different methods from hourly rates to price per word. Learn the differences and what model is appropriate for your projects.

Chapter 3: Translation Process
What processes do you need to think about?

When you get a quote from an agency they’ll detail some of the steps for you. OCR, DTP, Sanity Checks, File Preparation etc. What are these process and why do you need to know about them? We explain the key terms in detail in this guide.

Chapter 4: Technical Questions
Specific answers explaining some of the technical terms that impact your translation projects.

Depending on your project you may need technical advice. How do you translate a WordPress website, or a Joomla one. Do you know how to translate XML or HTML? Most translation companies will use cat tools and technology that will allow them work on different file types – so they can translate most content for you.

They will help you along the way in making your website translatable and getting your site live in your target languages. Often its worthwhile discussing your website plans with your agency before you even start thinking about translation. Some website plugins don’t translate well. Picking the right plugins at the design phase of your new website will save a lot of money.

If you want to improve how you are buying translation services, this guide is for you.