Types of Translation Services: Which One Is Right for You?

Communicating and exchanging thoughts and information are crucial to developing and expanding our global economy. But if you’re sharing content in a new or non-English market, choosing the right types of translation services is key to ensuring the content, tone, imagery, and overall message resonate with the reader.

Specifically, by choosing the right approach from the start, you can:

Save time
Lower costs
Avoid mistakes
Connect faster with new audiences

So if translation services aren’t all created equal, how do you pick the best fit for your business and project?

This guide breaks down the main types of translation services, ranked by when they work best, how accurate they are, and what they cost.

Types of Translation Services

1. Machine Translation (MT)

Fast and affordable, but not always accurate

Machine Translation (MT) is an automated process that uses software to translate text from one language to another.

MTPE combines MT with a professional editor who reviews and corrects the translation.

Why do people use MTPE?

Faster than fully human translation
More accurate than MT alone
Often cheaper than full translation

MTPE is a good fit when

Speed matters
“Good enough” is acceptable
The content isn’t brand-critical

More than MT alone may be required if your project demands high-quality, culturally sensitive, and technically precise translations.

Not ideal for

High-stakes documents
Content that needs strong cultural adaptation
Public-facing messaging where tone matters

If your business needs a customized MT engine, talk to an expert at BURG about a custom MT engine for your enterprise.

The Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) workflow combines machine translation with human editing to improve quality while decreasing costs. In this process, a professional editor reviews the machine-translated content and corrects any inaccuracies, ensuring it meets quality standards.

When to Use Machine Translation (MT) or Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE)

High-volume content often requires a quick understanding of the information, such as in legal discovery, where a general idea of the content is needed without requiring perfect translation accuracy.

Internal documents or cases where a fully accurate or culturally adapted translation is unnecessary, such as informal team updates or preliminary data reviews.

While MTPE can enhance productivity and accuracy, knowing when a fully human translation is essential, especially for content that demands high precision or cultural relevance, is essential.

2. Direct Translation

Literal translation with human oversight

Direct translation is a word-for-word approach that keeps the text as literal as possible, without altering its structure or meaning. Unlike machine translation (MT), professional human translators perform and review direct translations to maintain accuracy and precision. However, this approach often fails to convey the original document’s full meaning or cultural context, leading to misinterpretation.

Good for

Simple, structured content
Repetitive documents
Content where exact wording matters more than style

Examples

Basic data sheets
Warranty documents
Insurance claim documentation

Limits

Can sound unnatural
May miss the implied meaning
May not match cultural expectations

Keep in mind that a Translator + Editor (T&E) workflow can improve clarity, tone, and consistency—especially in technical fields.

When Direct Translation May Be Suitable:

Simple data sheets with straightforward information.
Warranty documents where the content is repetitive and does not require extensive cultural adaptation.
Claim documentation in industries like insurance, where precision in terminology is essential.

3. Localization Services

Beyond translation for cultural fit and better engagement

Conversely, localization is a comprehensive translation process that addresses cultural and non-textual components when adapting a product or service for another country or locale. Rather than simply translating the text, localization focuses on all aspects of local culture — transforming the entire experience to give the user a sense of familiarity and delight.

Localization of content considers elements such as:

Tone and messaging
Graphics and design
Monetary currencies and units of measurement
Payment methods

4. Transcreation Services

Adapting your brand for emotional and cultural impact

Eliminating cultural and language barriers is vital to the success of global marketing or advertising strategies. Multilingual content reproduction is required to keep brand messaging consistent across all channels. Unlike a word-for-word translation, transcreation is a meaning-to-meaning translation of content, requiring the translation to have the same emotional impact on the reader as the source text on the original audience.

Examples of source text include:

Slogans and logos
Social media posts
Email newsletters
Website text
Marketing content

In conclusion, by combining translation, copywriting, and, in many cases, localization, professional linguists create culturally sensitive adaptations of your original content that speak to your target audience. Because it blends translation and copywriting (and often localization), it helps your brand stay consistent across markets.

5. AI Translation – Automated Real-Time Language Solutions

AI Translation, powered by advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, is a versatile tool that can translate text and spoken language in real-time across various contexts, such as business meetings, webinars, and live conferences. Unlike traditional machine translation, AI Translation is adept at adapting to contextual nuances and industry-specific terminology, providing a more accurate and culturally appropriate outcome, thereby reassuring the audience of its adaptability.

Why it’s useful

Works instantly
Supports many languages at once
Often offers text and audio
Scales well for large events
Lower cost than full human interpreting

For example

Business meetings
Webinars and remote events
Conferences with mixed-language attendees
High-volume, fast communication needs

Choosing the Right Types of Translation Services

To narrow it down, there are two key factors to consider when determining the right types of translation services for your project: the content’s cultural impact and its value to you and the user.

Cultural effect
Content value

Cultural Effect

Cultural effect is the impact that cultural differences play in the interpretation of content.

Ask: Does this message change meaning across cultures?

High cultural impact (needs adaptation):

Marketing copy
Web content
Storytelling or emotional messaging
Idioms, humor, cultural references

Choose: Localization or Transcreation

Low cultural impact (needs precision):

Legal contracts
Scientific writing
Technical manuals
Standard operating procedures

Choose: Direct Translation, T&E, or MTPE

Content Value

The second factor in determining how to translate content is value.

Higher value = more human involvement

Public-facing content
Brand messaging
Compliance and legal exposure
High-revenue pages
Materials reviewed/approved by many people

Lower value = lighter workflow

Internal updates
Early drafts
Background research
Content used for quick understanding

Where Does Your Content Land on the Spectrum?

Whether you’re:

Launching your website in new countries
Translating legal or insurance documents
Preparing clinical trial materials
Sharing installation guides
Publishing a book

In conclusion, define the cultural impact and content value to decide which types of translation services you need.