How to get quality translations on a budget
Whether you’re expanding across borders or growing your customer base by targeting non-English speaking Americans, there’s typically upfront costs, which includes translating materials. When it comes to critical translation projects, you need to receive quality deliverables, while staying within your budget. Although quality must always come first, you should also employ cost saving when you can. This strategy enables you to get the best translations at the best possible price.
To help you stay within your budget and receive quality translations, here are seven strategies that you should use.
1. Have a plan and follow it.
Before your translator even begins working on your project, you need to have a plan in place. This requires that you incorporate the translation project into your workflow. Be sure to take into consideration the total amount of content that requires translation, the editing process, and the images you will need.
Your deadlines and budget will come from this plan. By optimizing the process from the start, you’ll also be optimizing your budget.
Have an outline of actions needed, who is responsible for each task, as well as start and end dates. Be sure that the most important tasks are listed first, deadlines are assigned and that the tasks are evenly divided among the team. This will ensure that you’re not overwhelming one person with an unrealistic amount of work during one portion of the project.
2. Consider machine translation when appropriate.
Not every translation needs to be done by a professional translator. For repetitive text or when you just need the gist of a document, consider machine translation to reduce costs and save time. After all, time is money, so if your language service provider (LSP) takes less time to return your translated document, you’ll save there too.
3. Keep documents consistent.
Translation projects consist of a lot of players. For example, a single piece of text changes hands multiple times, and each time it does, it runs the risk of losing consistency from the rest of the project.
Nothing breaks a budget faster than a document that requires small adjustments at the end of the project. This can happen because of one mistranslated phrase or a few awkward paragraphs. Your plan needs to take into consideration that the content will go from translators to editors, and editors to publishers.
To keep the documents in your translation project consistent, avoid repetitive phrases and always use the correct terminology. At the conclusion of the project, have a single proofreader review the content looking for grammar, typos, and a consistent flow from one document to another.
4. Have a plan for last minute updates.
No matter how well-prepared you are, last minute updates to your translation project can and do happen. These updates may include additional text, gaps in content, and larger word counts than expected.
Even if you encounter last minute updates, you can still stay on budget by only involving the necessary parties. For example, you may not require an editor or designer if only minor changes are needed. You should be able to make these changes directly in the code. Remember the fewer hands that touch the translation, the lower your costs will be.
5. Opt for Summarization Translation.
When you don’t need a verbatim translation, consider summarization to cut costs without cutting quality. This option can and should be used when you don’t need an exact word-for-word translation.
6. Take into account formatting.
The length of your text will often expand when you translate from English to other languages. For example, if you were to translate the acronym FAQ into Spanish, the translation would be preguntas más frecuentes.
To save money on your translation project, be sure that your pages are formatted in a way that will accommodate text expansion. In addition, use standard formatting, such as letter, legal, executive, and ledger/tabloid paper for the US, Canada and parts of Mexico, or ISO 216 standard paper for other countries. By adhering to the standard paper sizes of the country, your documents will be easier to print, more affordable, and you’ll have an easier time adjusting for varying lengths in text.
7. Keep future translation projects in mind.
When you proactively plan for future translation projects, you’ll find that your overall costs will be lower. Although you may not see the decrease right away, you will as you do more translation projects.
At the conclusion of your translation project, document the entire process. Then, before you close out the project, outline what you can do differently or better for the next translation. With these notes, you can streamline your future projects, making them more affordable.
Conclusion
As tempting as it is to cut costs, this is not an area to skimp on quality. Remember, the quality of your translation reflects your brand. Without a skilled team of translators working to localize your content, you risk losing customers and putting your brand in jeopardy.
Also, keep in mind that the cost of low-quality translations will far exceed a slightly higher upfront investment. To get started on the right foot, partner with a language service provider you trust.
If you’d like to learn more about how BURG Translations helps you ensure high quality translations, contact us today.
