Stay within Budget with Your Next Translation Project in 7 Steps

Translation is a complex process. This is part of the reason why buying translation and estimating the cost of translation is not always simple. Purchase managers want to know outright what a particular translation will cost. They would obviously want to stay within their allocated budgets.

But, often, not understanding the intricacies of the translation process might result in exceeding the budget. And, no one wants that.

In this post, we’ll talk about the seven critical factors that can impact translation cost. When you are aware of them, it will help you stay within your budget.

1. Source content:

Much depends on the quality of the source content, the text formatting, and the types of files in which the content is nested.

Is it legacy content, authored by different people? If so, you can be sure there will be many different styles. Which style should the translator then adopt?
Is the source content edited, reviewed, and approved for translation? If not, it’s bound to have errors, which might then be transmitted to all the target language content.
Does the source content contain many references to the local culture, have local themes, or consist of colloquialisms? If yes, the content will need to be localized as well as translated. That is, the local references will have to be removed or made intelligible to foreign audiences.
If the text is sitting in different files, remember that it will be added task to extract them from those files, format them homogeneously, and then translate them.

2. Scope of the project:

Have a clear idea of the overall content to be translated. Is it just the help and user documentation, or would you like to translate the product too? Answering this will determine the project volume.

Some companies choose to translate just the user documentation and not the product, that is, the user interface (UI), while others go in for a deeper level of translation. There is a hybrid option where some companies translate the UI, but keep either the translation in brackets or the English term in brackets.

Sit with your translation partner and decide which option will suit you best.

Also, like we mentioned in #1, if your content consists of local-specific content, it will involve another level of translation, which is called transcreation. This applies especially to marketing content.

3. Level of review:

How many reviews do you need, and what is the level of quality you’re expecting? You can have your client deliver the project in batches and review them as they are delivered. You can also ask for a final review of the project.

The reviewers must review the project according to your specifications. For instance, they must refrain from doing preferential changes. That is, changing something that is not inherently wrong. There can be many different ways of saying something, but as long as it is factually correct and adheres to the company style, it should be left unchanged.

The reviewers must also be very clear in their comments. If they ask for a change “from X to Y”, they must indicate whether they want the change done across the document or project, or is it limited to only that instance.

Communicate clearly to your language service provider (LSP) about your expectations. This avoids scope creep and delays in the project, all of which goes towards staying within your budget.

4. Content audit:

What is the content that your target audience will benefit from? Do they really need the translation of blog posts meant for the market of a different country? If a particular feature of your product or service is not going to be available in that market, then you may not need to translate the content for that feature. Does all of your website content need to be translated, or could you do it in batches? And so on and so forth.

A content audit helps you stay on top of your budget because you then have clarity on what it is that you should be translating and what need not be translated.

5. Language selection:

Initially, go for the languages that will give you the maximum reach. Select the number of languages in batches to fit in your budget. Some companies localize in many languages at once, but often the translation is just on the homepage or maybe one click deeper. This is not usually a satisfactory experience to users. You can avoid this problem by going for a more deeper localization with fewer languages than spreading yourself thin over many languages, but yielding no significant returns.

6. Tools to use:

Computer-aided translation (CAT) tools certainly bring down the manual effort required in translation. However, now there is a range of tools you can imagine for every task and this can make the choice difficult. You can discuss your translation requirements with your LSP, and they can suggest what tools to use. Many a time, they already have the tools you need, so you need not invest additionally in tools upfront.

7. Project management:

Executing a translation project involves getting many things to work together like finding the right translators with the required expertise, reviewers, developers, graphic designers, and more, depending on the type of translation that needs to be done. Trying to do all of this on your own can mean that you divert your core staff to these tasks. This can not only mean that they have to take time off their core tasks, but they may also not be able to efficiently manage the translation project, because of a lack of experience.

Working with an LSP is a far better approach when you have to run a project on a tight budget.

Remember, translation cost is dynamic. It changes all the time depending on your business requirements. It is necessary to understand what are the expectations of the internal stakeholders. This makes it possible to satisfactorily deliver translation projects on time and within your budget.

But, often, not understanding the intricacies of the translation process might result in exceeding the budget. And, no one wants that.

In this post, we’ll talk about the seven critical factors that can impact translation cost. When you are aware of them, it will help you stay within your budget.