Tips to Reduce Website Translation Costs

It can be hard to break into new markets with your business when language becomes a barrier between you and your customers. Website translation and localization are crucial components in business expansion and ensuring that your website is accessible to a wider audience. However, translation costs can be hard to estimate, and even harder to lower to your expected price. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the most effective strategies to reduce overall website translation costs without sacrificing quality. 

 1. Use Translation Memory Software  

Translation memory is particularly useful for website translation because websites often contain a lot of repetitive content, such as branded terms, product descriptions, menus, headers, and footers. By reusing these segments, you'll save time and reduce the amount of new content that needs to be translated. It also detects repetitive or similar segments automatically. This can lead to significant cost savings because you don't have to pay for the same translation twice. According to research by CSA, translating content with the help of a translation memory system can reduce translation costs by up to 40%. 

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In a recent survey, most respondents said that translation memory software had reduced their translation costs. If you're not using translation memory software, you are not making the most of your translation budget, and you could be achieving high-quality translations at a lower cost. 

 2. Get the Best Out of Machine and Human Translation  

Machine translation is a great way to reduce website translation costs. One report by CSA found that machine translation can reduce translation costs by up to 90%. That's because it can quickly translate content into multiple languages at a fraction of the cost of human translation. However, it's important to note that machine translation may not be suitable for all types of content. Machine translation is best suited for translating large amounts of simple, straightforward content such as product descriptions or user reviews. To supplement the rest of your translation, and to ensure quality, you should make sure there are human services available to you. 

Machine translation and human translation each have their strengths and weaknesses. Machine translation is fast and cost-effective, but often produces translations that are inaccurate, incomplete, or lack nuance. Human translation, on the other hand, is slower and more expensive, but produces translations that are more accurate and nuanced. By using machine and human translation together, businesses can take advantage of the strengths of both approaches and produce high-quality translations at a lower cost. 

3. Prioritize the Right Web Pages 

Optimizing your website for multilingual SEO can help you reach a wider audience and reduce translation costs. By using keywords and phrases in your target languages, you can improve your website's visibility in search engines, which can help you attract more traffic and potential customers. This can also help you save money on translation costs since you'll be translating only the most important pages and content. You can focus on translating your most important web pages using human translation, and a company like MP can provide guidance on which pages should use human translation and which can rely on software and AI. 

4. Work with the Right Translation Partner  

Using a translation partner is another way to reduce website translation costs. According to research by CSA, using a translation partner or language service provider can reduce translation costs by up to 10% compared to hiring individual translators. Translation agencies can provide high-quality translations at a lower cost than hiring individual translators. They have a team of professional translators who can work together to ensure that your content is accurately translated. Additionally, translation partners often offer discounts for larger projects or ongoing translation work. Partnering with a concierge-level translation provider like MotionPoint reduces translation costs by 40% on average. Find out why here. 

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Calculating Translation Costs 

It can be difficult to calculate the total cost of ownership if you decide to leverage your internal resources. Between hiring or training personnel and the cost of any technology you use, you could be paying around $400,000 per year just to translate your content. That doesn't include the price of upkeep and maintenance.  

The easiest way to reduce costs and avoid unexpected fees? Outsource your translations to a concierge-level translation partner like MotionPoint that can provide the highest-quality work while lowering costs. We do this all in as little as 45 days, whereas doing the project in-house could take you 12-18 months. It's even easy to switch to MotionPoint from your current provider without the annoying switching costs! 

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Don’t Overpay for Your Translations 

While it can be an expensive process, there are several strategies that businesses can use to reduce translation costs without sacrificing quality. Luckily, MotionPoint’s new Adaptive Translation™ combines translation memory, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic translation to produce human-quality work while saving you up to 60%. Help your business effectively communicate with its target audiences while maximizing your translation budget with the help of an all-in-one solution like MotionPoint.