How to translate a website into English
English is, without a doubt, one of the most important languages in the world. How to translate a website into English? It is the preferred language for diplomacy, international trade and technology.
English is the dominant language on the internet, with nearly 54 percent of the content on the web in English. While 27% of the top 1 million websites on the internet are in the English language.
20% of the world’s 7.5 billion population speak English – that is, 1.5 billion or if you like, one out of every seven persons in the world speak English. However, the number includes both the native and non-native speakers.
There are 378 million native English speakers residing mainly in the U.K., the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada while non-native speakers are found in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana and most former colonies of the British empire.
Now, as you can see, translating your web content into English, not only makes your website more accessible to the world, it also opens up new, profitable markets.
So, what other things do you need to know before translating your website into English?
First, understand English has different dialects
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you to know that there are slight variations in the type of English spoken in different countries. If you haven’t heard, there’s the American English, British English, and there are the Canadian English, New Zealand and even Indian English. The good thing is, all the different dialects are mutually understandable.
However, that’s not to say; you shouldn’t take into considerations the little differences in language when translating for each country.
So, for instance, if you’re translating your website for a U.K. audience, words like “favor” and “favour” or ‘labor’ and ‘labour’ are crucial differences to consider – where the words with ‘u’ are U.K. variations, the ones without the ‘u’ are American.
Aim to localize your content instead of merely translating
Here’s the thing and it is especially true for non-native speakers to think simply translating the website is enough. If your target audience is in Britain but the English on your website is American, your audience might feel like they are not personally addressed. This is a precursor to lost businesses.
Hence, when planning your web content translation project, ensure that the local culture, preferences and nuances of the particular audience you are targeted are satisfied. This extra effort will go a long way to make your readers feel personally addressed, it will build trust and ultimately, they would be willing to buy from you.
Keep your focus on SEO
While you strive to provide the best experience for your customers, all your efforts would amount to nothing if they are not able to discover your website. Here’s where having an SEO strategy comes into play.
Let’s face it. You want traffic to your website. You want your ideal customers to find you when they search online for related services, right?
Conclusion
It is essential to the success of your website and business to hire an agency with a proven track record. They should have the know-how to translate your website into English while also optimizing it for relevant keywords.
A best practice is to determine most of the suitable high-ranking keywords specific to your target country. Then have the translation agency work them into the content as they progress with the translation job.
