How the benefits of using professional translation services far outweigh the costs

The increase in globalisation over the past few decades has created numerous opportunities for the average individual to set up a business that is able to serve and compete in global markets, a luxury that only the large corporations or the wealthy were able to reap the benefits of in the past. Running a business today is something one can achieve from the comfort of their homes with just the help of a computer and an internet connection and with access to professional translation services. Internet businesses have been thriving and have shaken things up when it comes to the traditional way of doing things, whether it is the way we purchase groceries or how we decide to book holidays.

An example of this would be when looking for a holiday package, you would either visit a travel agency at their local office or call one over the phone to find out what was available. Now with sites like lastminute.com it is easy to see exactly what is on offer and compare in order to achieve the best deal and simply book at the click of a button.

The ability to reach a wider audience has posed a challenge for businesses to communicate effectively with all key target audiences as language barriers surface. With research including a survey conducted by Common Sense Advisory showing that consumers substantially prefer to view and digest information about products and services in their mother tongues. Findings like these are extremely imperative to businesses that provide services or are looking to grow in areas such as France, China or South America where native languages are used primarily before the English language. With that being said it is clear to see that using a professional English to French translation service or English to Chinese translation will ultimately increase your exposure and as a result have a positive impact on your sales as well as brand awareness.

Another benefit to using professional translation services for your business is that the end user feels valued that you have taken the time to communicate to them in their own language in which they communicate best.

For many businesses especially SME’s the value of time and resources is very crucial in determining efficiency. In cases where your company is too small to hire in-house translators an alternative solution is to use a professional translation agency which can manage the entire translation process for you from sourcing a suitable linguist to perform the translation, to performing quality checks ensuring that your message is portrayed in the way in which you intended.

It is tempting to use free translation tools when it comes to administering your message in other languages. When you decide to use free translation tools you must consider this; firstly the content translated by machines is a literal translation of the source language. Now as humans we do not process information in quite the same way as machines and different languages and cultures communicate differently so what might make sense in English may not in Italian when translated word for word. This is where the use of qualified and experienced translators comes into effect. Investing In website localisation services in clearly would achieve more benefits to you and your business than the costs incurred.

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