Translation

To a certain extent, yes. Especially in western countries like Germany, Austria and Switzerland, most people will have gone through English lessons at some stage during their education. And many people do speak it reasonably well.

But do you really want to inconvenience your potential customers and investors by forcing them to read text in a language that is not their own?

Research has indicated:

• 40% of internet users do not want to buy from pages not available in their native language
• 65% of those who speak English well still prefer content in their mother tongue

Translations are not just word-for-word copies of the original text in another language. Far from it! Translation is about both emotion and information.

Emotion: translations should evoke the same feelings the original does, but in readers who have a different cultural background, different values and experiences. This is no simple task as it requires in-depth knowledge of the cultures of both languages.

Information: emotions alone do not usually convince people to buy or invest – core data has to be available as well. Different cultures like their information presented in different ways, and your trusted translator will help you find the right format.

What is your first impression of a badly translated website? Would you buy from that company or trust them to provide you outstanding service? Probably not.

To make sure that you don’t accidentally turn away potential customers or investors because your foreign-language content is not up to scratch, you need the help of a translator with intimate knowledge of your industry. Yes, they are more expensive than other solutions you can find on the web, but also much more reliable. Why pay twice to have something done badly and then fixed when you can get it right the first time?