Multilingual communication is gaining importance in today’s competitive world, where every business and industry is willing to go global. This growing demand has increased the need for translation services in order for different industries to meet their customer and partner expectations in a foreign country. By hiring a professional translation company, individuals and businesses will be able to positively influence the optimization of cost, which can further improve their multilingual processes.
With the growing need for translation and localization, there are a plethora of translation companies in the market, and choosing the best one to suit your needs can be quite intimidating. Hence, we have curated a brief guide on how to choose the right translation company that suits your needs.
Tips for choosing a translation company
Identify your translation needs
Translations can be done for various purposes and for various documents – legal, business, film script, etc. Hence, you need to identify your needs before you start looking for a translation company. You can answer the following questions to get started with your hunting process:
- What is the target language?
- What kind of translation do you need?
- How urgent is the project due date?
- What is your budget for translation?
The answers to these questions help narrow down the options and make it a bit easier to find the company that suits your needs.
Ensure the company offers translation and localization
Once you have landed on a company that can cater to your translation needs, ensuring they also offer localization services is important. Without localization of the text, it is almost impossible to get the text’s right intent across to the target market’s audience. For instance, people from Brazilian Portuguese backgrounds will have different types of phrasing than people from a European Portuguese background, hence emphasizing the need for localization.
Check for the quality of the translation
If you wish your message to be accurately delivered across the audience, it is important to ensure the transition meets a certain standard of quality. According to Espresso Translations – a London translation agency, a mistranslated text often leads to legal sites and miscommunications among different groups of people. Hence, the delivery of high-quality translation content is of utmost importance to the translating agency.
If you wish to gain insights into their quality, you can always request their sample translation works in your target language or enquire with their past clients and ask about their experience. In addition, you can also request to present their certificates like ATA and ISO 17100. These certifications are proof that the translation company adheres to all the industry standards and can produce quality translated pieces according to tot client’s requirements.
Look for companies that have linguistic and subject matter experts
Translation from one language to multiple languages is a complex task involving translating words, emotions, and the intended meaning of different cultural nuances. Therefore, it is important to choose companies that have linguistic experts on their team and can rightly translate the target language into the required industry.
It is a no-brainer that translators are not well-versed in everything going on around the world. However, a good and reputed translation company will have the right experts with proficiency in different subject matters and the terminologies used in that particular industry. You need to look for such industries that are also native speakers of the language.
Consider the company’s turnaround time
Turnaround time refers to the time the translation company takes to deliver the translated copy or document. It is one of the most crucial factors to consider, which people often miss out on during their hunt, especially if they have a tighter deadline. So whether you have a project deadline, are applying for a visa, or have all the time in the world, you need to consider a transition company that gets the job time effectively and quickly.
In order to right the company which matches your timeline, you need to request a quote once you submit the requirements. This quote will comprise the estimated delivery time. Many companies will also demand extra fees for faster delivery options. You need to hire the ones based on your needs.
Evaluate the translation process
The translation process refers to all the methods used by the translation company to translate the materials and documents effectively. This process is important because it ensures that the translated document is culturally appropriate, consistent, and accurate. Therefore, it is important for you to choose a company that offers a robust and structured translation process. It should include processes like error-free writing, proofreading, editing, and translation by native speakers.
Look into online reviews and references
Suppose you have researched everything and still wish to gain real-time clarity regarding the right translating company. In that case, you need to need the reviews, ratings, and references on their website or other review-generating websites. You can also check their website for testimonials and case studies to get an idea of the kind of translations they offer. You can also do a quick Google search on what kind of work they are into or if they have been featured in any magazines or news articles.
Bottom Line
Translation from one language to multiple languages is gaining popularity in recent times. Thanks to the globalization of services which have helped consumers and industries in general. However, one of the major challenges faced during globalizing is the language barrier which mostly hampers the general, legal, and business communications between two different countries.
In order to get this of this ambiguity around language, there are many translation services and freelance translators in the market. However, with so many options lies confusion in choosing the right translation company. It is intimidating to find a translation company that ticks all your boxes. However, by following the steps mentioned above, the chances of landing on the right translation company increase. This helps in delivering the most effective and accurate translated material.