Why business translation is an ongoing process

Many companies see business translation as a single, fixed task, that can be ticked off a list and forgotten about as soon as it has been completed. However, in reality business translation is much more of an ongoing process, for several reasons. An appreciation of this fact is helpful for those in charge of company translation tasks.

Website translation

Many companies first engage with professional translation services in order to translate their website. This task inevitably includes a plethora of pages and documents, from company and product information to blog posts and contact details. That translation is just the start though. Websites are updated incredibly frequently. This means that, as soon as the source content has been updated, the business in question then needs to update all of the translated versions of the site. 

This is why it’s important to engage a translation agency as part of a longer-term arrangement. That way, when the site is updated, the business can notify the translation agency of the change and ensure that it is replicated across the other versions of the website. 

Living documents

The ability to update websites so easily and frequently also means that they are very much ‘living documents,’ particularly when compared with printed materials, which are far more static. This means that websites can (and should) respond to changing economic and political factors around the world. Localized content needs to take account of such changes not just in the source language, but in all languages. 

An English-language website that has been translated into Arabic for use in Saudi Arabia, for example, will need to be localized to ensure that it respects the religious principles of that country. The localization will need to take imagery into account, as well as copy. However, attitudes in the ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia are beginning to change, as highlighted by the fact that women will be allowed to drive there for the first time from June 2018. Instances like this mean that translated, localized content can need updating, even when the source content remains the same. 

New content

Then, of course, there is new content. Search engines respect and reward the publication of new, relevant content. As such, any company that is looking to move up the rankings will need to keep up a steady flow of high quality content, not just in the website’s original language, but also in the other languages that the site is presented in. 

All of this combines to mean that business translation is not usually a one-off task – certainly not when it comes to online content. That’s why it’s important for companies to be able to forge long-term, productive relationships with professional translation agencies. 

Feel free to contact Tomedes for further details.