As more businesses go global, more of them are starting to realise the importance of translation services. These services can help craft product descriptions, marketing material, websites, and apps that are not only translated properly but culturally accurate as well. That is not something all translation services can master. Verifying the quality of a translation service can also be difficult when you only speak one language. The only thing you can do to ensure that you’ll get good service is to vet translation companies thoroughly. Here are a few tips for hiring the best translation service.
Company or Freelancer
First of all, you have to assess your needs and see if you should hire a translation agency or a freelancer for your project. If you only need to have a brochure or website translated into another language, then you could work with a reputable freelancer. You’ll be able to cut costs and freelancer sites have the benefit of allowing you to quickly check the reputation of any person you’re thinking of hiring.
But, if you need something more serious like legal translation, product descriptions in multiple languages, or translation for a large multilingual website, it would be much wiser to go with a translation service like Global Voices. A reputable translation agency like this can translate content in over 150 languages and can work on virtually any type of project. This translation company can do everything from medical transcription to voiceover work, which is ideal for business purposes.
Ask for Pricing
As you’ll notice, there are huge price differences between translation services, so you’ll need to get this out of the way very quickly when speaking with companies. If a company gives you a flat per word fee, beware. Projects vary greatly in complexity, so they should be asking you exactly what the nature of the project is and come up with a unique quote. You might also want to ask them how much they would charge for adding more information or modifying the content to reflect different market realities.
Look at their Experience
You should check what kind of experience and credentials the translator has. If you hire an independent translator, then it would be nice if they had a degree that is related to linguistics or literature. If you go for a service, look at how long they’ve been in operation and ask them if they’ve done work similar to what you need.
You should also ask for samples and if they have some references. A company that claims to have been in operation for a while should be able to give you both with no problem. Have the content double-checked by someone proficient in the language and ask their references how working with them was.
These are all things that should allow you to find the best translation service for you fast. We suggest that you give a few companies a look and give a small trial to those you feel are closer to what you need.