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Measuring The Impact of Multilingual Content

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Various international flags placed on a map of the Americas to indicate multilingual SEO and internationalism

Measuring The Impact of Multilingual Content

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Here at Managed Language we tend to bang on about the importance of multilingual content a lot. But just translating your content into the new target language isn’t going to be enough to see a positive impact. As with any campaign or marketing strategy, monitoring, analysing and adapting your multilingual efforts is just as important. Of course, it’s not as easy when the content has been translated into a whole new language, though. Especially if you don’t have an in-house team of multilingual marketers set up in your office!    

Before we take a deep dive into how to monitor your multilingual projects, let’s briefly recap the benefits of translating your content for other regions and cultures:

  • Break language barriers and communicate effectively with diverse customers and learners.
  • Expand their reach and impact to new and emerging markets and regions.
  • Build brand credibility and trust by showing respect and appreciation for different cultures and languages.
  • Improve customer experience and satisfaction by providing personalized and relevant content.
  • Increase conversion and retention rates by engaging and motivating their audience to take action.

Metrics to Measure the Impact of Multilingual Content

This is all sounds super, right? But it’s only going to be effective if you monitor the outcome of you multilingual content too. That way, you’re able to get a genuine idea of how your audience is responding and reacting to the work you’re putting out there (and spending your hard-earned pennies on). So first things first, what basic things, or metrics, should you be looking at once you’ve set that all-important copy live?  

  • Reach: Shows just how many people have viewed your content, whether it’s on your website, social channels or even via email. With the right tools, you can track the number of visitors, views and clicks for each language and market too — and negative or positive, it’s always educational. Even if this shows you that the piece of content that took linguists, proofreaders and editors months to create went nowhere, you can pivot your strategy for next time. (We get it though, that’s highly frustrating!)
  • Engagement: This metric takes your analysis a step further by tracking how people interact with your multilingual content in terms of liking, commenting, sharing or even rating it. You can also measure the engagement rate, ie. the percentage of people who have interacted with it out of those who viewed it, to evaluate the performance across different platforms.
  • Conversion: When it comes down to it, all marketing efforts should lead to sales or leads, right? It’s that all-important ROI. Whether it’s a purchase, a download, a subscription or a registration — you will need your visitors to make an action that drives your business goals. So tracking conversions of your multilingual content is vital.
  • Retention: An effective marketing strategy, multilingual or otherwise, should value returning visitors as much as conversions or ROI. So, measuring retention should be high on your list of metrics. If your customers or clients keep coming back to your content, then it’s safe to say you’ve piqued their interest or solidified their relationship with you as a brand, and are more likely to open those purse strings more than once.
  • Satisfaction: All of the above will tell you how your visitors are responding to your multilingual content with numerical data, but it also helps to know how they really feel about it. The best marketing content will create an emotional response of some kind — like humour or happiness — and this is far more likely to bring about a conversion and repeat custom. Although more tricky to measure, you can track customer satisfaction through feedback requests, reviews/testimonials or even analyse social reactions on your channels.  

The Tools to Measure The Impact of Multilingual Content

It’s all well and good to know what to measure and track once you’ve set your multilingual content out into the wild, but how is equally important. Whether you want to analyse the content on your site, or copy you’re pushing out there via email or social media, there will be a tool to help. 

  • Web analytics: Let’s start with your website — this is where you want your customers to come at the end of the day anyway. Depending on your CMS, you’re likely to have some sort of analytics function built in, like YoastSEO for WordPress. These tools will automatically track metrics like reach, engagement and conversions, giving you a well-rounded view of how your site is going down with your visitors. External tools can give you a deeper understanding too, like Google Analytics or Bing Webmaster. These will give you the option to segment the data and help you build out your audience profiles, which is particularly handy when you’re looking to grow your multilingual strategy.
Google Search Console graph. Users: 1.2K (+435.4% increase) Conversions: 1.1K (60.0% increase) Event Count: 6.5K (249% increase) New Users: 1.2K (438.5% increase)
  • SEO tools: There’s an ever-growing list of online SEO tools these days, paid and free to use, which can take your content and multilingual strategy from just OK to stratospheric. With tools such as Ahrefs and SEMrush, you’re able to track your onsite content in terms of reach, but also measure the performance in terms of keywords, backlinks and domain authority — and that’s just the start. Once you really get stuck into the SEO elements, you’ll be able to optimise everything from the content to your site structure so that it doesn’t just do well in your current market, but outperforms your competitors in your new one(s) too.
  • User feedback/Surveys: Although more difficult to measure, both user feedback and surveys are super helpful when it comes to measuring the impact of your multilingual content. Whether you have a small test group from your audience to beta-read your copy, or you send out blanket surveys to all users, you’ll glean actionable insights that can transform your marketing efforts. Whether it’s a pun that doesn’t translate (please see our Transcreation experts for that one!) or a user accessibility issue, you’ll find out much more from real people than just relying on the numerical data. Once again, there are a number of survey tools online you can use, or reach out to some of your most loyal customers for reviews.

What’s Next? 

Once you’ve collected your data from various sources, metrics and channels, what are you going to do with it? You can stare at those numbers for hours on end, but if you don’t revisit both the content and the data regularly, then you may as well have ignored the above! All good marketers love a spreadsheet, so that’s the best place to start. Create a content calendar for all your multilingual work — include publish dates, platforms/channels and metrics so you’re able to compare and contrast your recent output. Perhaps some pieces did better on your socials whereas others may have thrived via email rather than onsite. This is what will inform your strategy moving forward, and that’s how you’re going to dominate your new market. 

Final Thoughts

In a blink and you’ll miss it way, we mentioned Transcreation, ie. ensuring the content isn’t just written in the target language, but the intent and meaning have also been transformed to vibe with your new audience. You’ll see far better results from any of your multilingual output if you’ve thought about the entire journey and your audience, because at the end of the day, anyone online is likely to spend their hard-earned pennies with a company that understands them. And please, stay away from Google Translate. 

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Why Do We Charge A Minimum Fee For Translations?

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Our Policy

Why We Charge A Minimum Fee For Translations

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We’re often asked about our minimum fee policy when talking to new clients, as some of our competitor translation providers don’t always include one in quotes. It may seem frustrating to have to agree to a minimum fee, even if you’re only after a few short translations, but we’ve found that it benefits everyone involved. From ensuring quality to upholding our core values, there are a number of positive reasons that we stick strong to our minimum fee — even if it could put some potential clients off.

But first, let’s have a quick look at what impacts the overall costs of your translation projects.

The cost of translation

Costs will always differ depending on the type of translation you need. There are different levels of quality and complexity depending on the purpose and audience of your text. For example, a legal document or a medical report might require a higher level of accuracy and expertise than a casual email or a social media post. 

Another factor that impacts cost is the language pair or combination. Some languages are more common, so there’ll be more translators available than others. For example, translating from English to Spanish might be cheaper than translating from English to Icelandic, because there are more Spanish speakers and translators in the world. The supply and demand of translators for each language pair will determine the price per word or per hour.

Learn about some of the rarest world languages.

A third factor that influences the cost of translation is the deadline. If you need your translation done quickly, you might have to pay extra for a rush service. This is because translators might have to work overtime or prioritize your project over others. On the other hand, if you have a flexible deadline, you might be able to negotiate a lower price, or get a discount for bulk orders.

The final factor that impacts the cost of translation is the quality of the source text. If your text is clear, well-written and free of errors, it will be easier and faster for translators to work on it. However, if your text is poorly written, ambiguous or full of mistakes, it will take more time and effort for translators to understand and correct it. 

So while rates and costs will differ for each project, we always include a base rate, or minimum fee. This might mean we’re priced out when competing with other LSPs, but it’s something we will always stick to. 

What is a minimum fee in translation?

Usually, a minimum fee is put into a contract to cover all and any small or adhoc project, but this will differ between translators and LSPs. Most translation agencies will use this minimum fee to cover any administrative work that comes alongside the linguistic project. Think emails, invoicing, discussing timeframes or edits, etc. 

A pot of coins with a plant shoot 'growing' out of it to represent the importance of a minimum fee

For us here at Managed Language, we will build in a minimum fee to every project. It’s never a set fee — we base our costings on each individual piece of work, rather than offer a package model to ensure we’re making the process as easy as possible for our clients. But this gives us, our linguists and you, our client, flexibility when it comes to the scope of work while ensuring the translations are still tip-top quality. 

Why do we charge a minimum fee?

Quality Assurance

When it comes to translation, quality is paramount. By having a minimum fee, we can ensure that our team of native linguists can dedicate more than enough time and effort to deliver high-quality translations. Rather than stacking their days with multiple projects due to low-paying jobs, they can take their time to research your brand/the subject and check (and re-check!) that the work they’re producing is the very best.

This means that you, our client, will receive accurate, engaging and culturally appropriate translations that convey your message.

If you need to be reminded about how quality is vital in multilingual content, check out this blog post. 

A person writing in an open notebook to depict quality in content services like translation

Expertise and Specialisation

If you’re here, you probably already know that translation is not just about converting words from one language to another! It requires expertise and specialisation to ensure the messaging is on brand, culturally sensitive and adds value for your own customers. By setting a minimum fee, we can (and do!) attract and retain top-tier translators who are native to your new target market, and experienced in specific industries or subject matters. 

This means you can be confident your translations are handled by professionals who understand the nuances and terminology of your field and the new audience.

Investment in Technology

In today’s digital age, the significance of translation technology can’t be overstated. It serves as a valuable asset in improving both efficiency and accuracy (luckily something we have years of experience in!). By implementing a minimum fee, we are able to allocate resources towards acquiring cutting-edge translation tools and software. These state-of-the-art resources work seamlessly to streamline the entire translation process — from internal organisation to file engineering — enabling us to deliver translations with remarkable speed without compromising on the quality that our clients deserve.

Final thoughts

We have a minimum fee for translations because we value quality over quantity. We don’t want you to settle for subpar translations that can damage your image and credibility, or cause you legal or cultural troubles. Our prices reflect our high standards and results, as we collaborate with professional linguists who are native speakers and experts in their fields. We also treat them with respect and dignity, and pay them fair fees that go beyond the industry average. We believe in creating a sustainable and ethical language industry that rewards excellence and passion. 

Our minimum fee is not just a number; it’s a guarantee of outstanding quality, expertise, and personalised service. At Managed Language, we love what we do and we do it with care.

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Unusual and Rare World Languages

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Notebook with translation notes depicting a dedicated translation partner

Rare Language Facts

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The world is full of diverse and fascinating languages and dialects, each with its own history, culture, and features. And although we here at Managed Language like to think we know everything there is to know about…well, language, we know that’s not true! Every day there’s another fascinating fact or figure about local dialects. So we thought, why not share some of the more surprising ones?!

Silbo Gomero 

Silbo Gomero is a whistled language used by the inhabitants of La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands. The exact history is a little hazy, but it’s widely accepted that it was being used long before the Spanish settlement in the 16th century, by the Guanches, the indigenous peoples of the Island. It is said that this whistled language can travel to a distance of 3.2K due to the landscape of steep ravines and deep valleys. Far more effective than shouting, and easily more efficient than travelling to “talk”, this was used right up until the early 20th century, having been adapted to Spanish when they settled there. 

Its usage began to decline as more and more whistlers had to move away to larger islands for jobs, so by the 1950s and 60s, there were few speakers left to pass it down to the younger generations. But this is not a story of loss — due to the concerted revitalisation efforts on both a community and governmental level, it has been taught in schools since 1999. And, in 2009, UNESCO declared it a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. 

Pirahã 

Pirahã, spoken by the indigenous group of the same name living in the Amazon rainforest, is an amazing language. It’s seen as one of the simplest, and most restrictive, languages in the world because it has only 8 consonants, 3 vowels, no numbers, no colours, no recursion, and no abstract concepts.  

Instead of numbers, they use comparative terms such as “bigger” or “smaller.” To them, two fish are “bigger” than one fish, just as one large fish is “bigger” than a minnow. They also don’t have words for colour! Like with numbers, the Pirahã think of colours in relative terms. So, something can be “darker” or “like blood.”

Lastly, the Pirahã language also lacks phatic communication, which is a fancy word for small talk, like “how are you?” or “thank you”. Instead of expressing thanks, they tend to reciprocate the kindness at a later date. Perhaps the most important fact, though, is that most speakers of Pirahã are monolingual, so can only speak this language — meaning, it’s not going anywhere any time soon!

Rotokas

Another language with a tiny alphabet is Rotokas — spoken by about 4,000 people on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. With just 12 letters (6 vowels and 6 consonants), it is the smallest alphabet in the world, and only has 9 possible syllables! In fact, the nasal ‘n’ is only ever heard when the inhabitants of the island are mimicking foreigners. 

It has a very simple phonology too, with only 9 possible syllables. But perhaps what is most interesting is that speakers don’t use tone or stress to distinguish words or phrases. For example, an English speaker would use their tone to express incredulity or surprise, while Rotokas speakers use the same tone for everything. Despite this, it’s said to be one of the easiest languages to learn!

Bird in a tree in Alotau, Papua New Guinea

Taa

In direct contrast to Rotokas, the Taa language system has the largest number of phonemes (ie. distinct sounds) in the world! With over 100 consonants and over 40 vowels, it’s one of the most complex languages discovered. And, if we’re being specific (which we always are when it comes to language!), it should be considered a ‘dialect continuum’, rather than a language, as there are a range of variations depending on where it is being spoken. 

Primarily spoken in Botswana, but also found in Nambia, it is used by roughly 4,000 people. It’s famous, however, for its extensive use of click sounds — in fact, one study found that 82% of the base vocabulary begins with a click!  

Sentinelese

The Sentinelese is spoken by an isolated tribe on North Sentinel Island, a part of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. It’s actually one of the most mysterious languages in the world, as the tribe has very little contact with outsiders, and resists any attempts to communicate. To make things even trickier, the population of the said island is around 200~ but again, we’re not entirely certain due to their lack of interest in socialising with the outside world. 

We think the language is related to other Adamanese languages, but it isn’t mutually intelligible with any of them. There are so few friendly interactions with the inhabitants of this island that we know virtually nothing about this language. So, unfortunately, this is all the info we have about this language — but that’s still cool, right?!

These are just some examples of the most interesting and unusual languages in the world. There are many more that we could explore, like as Klingon (yes, it’s an accepted language!), Esperanto, Elfdalian or Nushu. Each has its own story and charm and deserves to be appreciated and preserved. 

 

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The Ultimate Guide to Multilingual SEO (Part 2: The Challenges)

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Hand holding a small globe with a mountain in the background to indicate multilingual SEO

The Ultimate Guide to Multilingual SEO (Part 2: The Challenges)

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We’ve waxed lyrical about the benefits of multilingual SEO, but, of course, challenges do come with the many moving parts involved. It requires a deep understanding of language nuances, cultural differences, and search engine algorithms. In this blog post, we will explore the challenges of multilingual SEO and provide tips and strategies for overcoming them. Buckle in, it’s a long one! 

Choosing The Right Language(s)

If you’re forging ahead with a new international business strategy, you might think that targeting all the major languages, and countries, will maximise your opportunities for new customers. Wrong! Opening the net too wide means you lose focus and are less likely to be able to implement strategies or monitor results effectively. 

There are a multitude of different factors to consider when zeroing in on the languages to target, including language popularity, competition and cultural differences. But most importantly, dig down into your analytics and see where users are currently browsing your site from. This tells you there is already potential for growth in that country or region, and adapting your site for their language and culture with multilingual SEO will encourage them to return again and again. 

URL Structure and Domain Strategy

Once you’ve picked the languages you want to focus on, next comes deciding on the site structure itself. Depending on the size and scope of your website and brand, you have the following options:

A subdomain can be seen as an entirely different site from your original — this means any authority you’ve built up with Google via backlinks or content will not transfer to the subdomain. The URL structure would look like the following: fr.yoursite.com. 

  • Pros: Easier to organise the new translated pages; international users are clear with which area of the site is directed at them; it’s easy to monitor results with separate analytics.
  • Cons: Any page or domain authority on the original site will be lost, so you are essentially starting from scratch; you will have to double your SEO monitoring and implementation as they are two different entities. 

Think of this like a folder on your desktop where you save all related content and files. If you were thinking of branching out into the French market, the URL would look something like this: yoursite.com/fr and any additional pages would be tacked on after ‘FR’, like so: yoursite.com/fr/product-page. 

  • Pros: All content and backlinks sit under your primary site, meaning all authority remains within the original website; you need only to implement SEO strategies on the one site.
  • Cons: Having separate directories, or folders, for each language means you’re likely to end up with hundreds of similar pages which risks duplicate content; optimising each section for the local search engines is more difficult as you’re working on just one site overall. 

This is similar to the subdomain in that it is seen by Google to be a stand-alone site, however in this case the URL structure will be entirely unique, for example: www.yourFRsite.com or www.yoursiteFR.com 

  • Pros: All content and backlinks sit under your primary site, meaning all authority remains within the original website; you need only to implement SEO strategies on the one site.
  • Cons: Having separate directories, or folders, for each language means you’re likely to end up with hundreds of similar pages which risks duplicate content; optimising each section for the local search engines is more difficult as you’re working on just one site overall. 

You should take into consideration the size of your site and the scope of your business before making a final decision — alternatively, get in touch for a chat and we can talk through your best options for implementing your multilingual SEO strategy. 

Hreflang Tags and Sitemaps

When it comes to multilingual SEO, one of the challenges of implementation comes from hreflang tags and sitemaps. It is absolutely vital to ensure they are consistent and accurate. Quick SEO lesson: hreflang tags are used to tell Google which language and region versions of a page are available, while sitemaps are used to list all the URLs of a website. Both of these elements help Google index and rank the right pages for the right users.

But , if the hreflang tags and sitemaps are not aligned or updated, it can cause confusion and errors for Google, and your potential customers. For example, if a page has a hreflang tag for French but is not included in the French sitemap, or if a page has a hreflang tag for German but the content is in English, Google might not be able to crawl or display the page correctly. This can result in poor user experience, lower rankings, and lost traffic.

Here are our top tips for implementing hreflang tags and sitemaps for multilingual websites:

  • Use different URLs for different language versions of a page, and avoid using cookies or browser settings to change the content language dynamically.
  • Use the correct language and region codes for each hreflang tag, and make sure they match the content and target audience of each page.
  • Use XML sitemaps to specify each page’s alternate language versions while also using hreflang attributes.
  • Keep the hreflang tags and sitemaps updated and consistent whenever you add, remove, or change pages on your website.
  • Validate your hreflang tags and sitemaps using tools such as Google Search Console or third-party validators.

Keyword Research and Content Optimization 

As with any SEO project, keyword research is vital. No matter what tool you use, it’s important to remember to take search intent into account when curating your keyword list — it’s no longer just about the search volume anymore. But the biggest bit of advice we can share for your multilingual SEO project is: GET A LINGUIST. Not only will they be able to highlight the keywords that will work best for your new target market, but they’ll provide valuable insights into the local area, cultural references and the tone.

Of course, you can’t just slot some keywords into your website and call it a day. All of your content will need to be adapted to the new language, and culture, while utilising the keywords found in the research and also maintaining your original marketing messaging. Again, your linguist is going to be your best friend for this job, so make sure you’ve found someone who prioritises quality and creativity over anything else.

*Side note, we have so many top tips for choosing the best linguist or translator for your project, we’ll have to write a blog on this shortly, so keep an eye out for that!

Remember, when we talk about content in this sense, we don’t just mean the articles and landing pages — we’re talking title tags, meta descriptions, headings, images, links, and schema markup too. This attention to detail shows Google and other search engines that you’re dedicated to providing your international users with a tip-top experience, giving you trust and credibility. 

Various international flags placed on a map of the Americas to indicate multilingual SEO and internationalism

Avoiding Duplicate Content Issues

We’ve already mentioned rewriting the content on your site, and we know this sounds like a big job. But other than tailoring the content to your new audience by adapting the cultural references, tone and (obviously) language, it’s also important to avoid putting out duplicate content across the internet.

Having duplicated content, either on a subdomain, subfolder or separate domain, will hurt your rankings — and likely your reputation. Firstly, search engines won’t know which page to rank if there are two (or more) pages with the same content, so they’re all at risk of being ranked lower in the SERPs. But that’s only the best-case scenario! If Google suspects it is word-for-word duplicated, there’s a chance you could face a manual action from Google. 

Having said that, if you’ve correctly implemented the hreflang tags, Google will be able to identify the content is aimed at a different audience — but it is explicitly stated in their guidelines that AI-translated content is seen as spammy. Like us, Google believes that, at the very least, translated content should have a human editor. And, as we keep banging on about, this means your linguist can infuse the copy with local insights, meaning it’ll be far more engaging for your new audience. 

You can read more about the pitfalls of relying on AI for translation here. 

As you can tell, there are a lot factors when it comes to multilingual SEO which can seem overwhelming, but each step is vital for a successful international business strategy. We can’t stress enough, however, the importance of working with a talented linguist (or team of!) to push you ahead of your competitors. 

Luckily, here at Managed Language we not only have a huge roster of creative and top-quality translators, linguists and copywriters, but we also have a fantastic team of project managers who can take the stress of multilingual SEO out of your hands. Get in touch today if you’re interested in learning more! 

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The Ultimate Guide to Multilingual SEO (Part 1: The Benefits)

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The Ultimate Guide to Multilingual SEO (Part 1: The Benefits)

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We talk a lot about the importance of translating your content and marketing messaging to reach a global audience. But if you really want to take your brand global, you’ll want to look into multilingual SEO too. This includes everything from the coding and structure of your website to the words used in image descriptions, and of course, your main content. 

By optimising your website for different languages you’re showing your customers that you care about their online experience. In fact, a 2020 study showed that over 75% of consumers would be more likely to buy a product, or service, from a site written in their native language. 

But where there are opportunities for growth, there are also challenges you’ll face when optimising your site for international users. Luckily, we’ve created an ultimate guide to multilingual SEO, including any potential pitfalls. 

Some Language Stats

Before we take a deep dive into the world of multilingual SEO, here are some stats to open your eyes to the opportunities of international search engine optimization.

As of April this year, there are 5.18 billion internet users worldwide, which is around 64% of the global population. But that’s not all — this number has grown by 147 million in the last 12 months and it’s estimated that by 2025, there are likely to be 7.5 billion global users. Just think about the potential growth for your brand if you could tap into that! 

With Asia being the top continent for internet users worldwide, it probably won’t come as much surprise that Chinese is the second most used language online after English. That’s followed by Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Indonesian, French, Japanese, Russian, and German. So while your brand could get by on just using English, there’s a whole host of international, potential customers waiting for a company to go that extra mile.

Quick note: over 50 countries have more than one official language, like Isreal, Belgium and Switzerland. Multilingual SEO is meant to explicitly target users where the content in the native language really matters.

The Benefits of Multilingual SEO 

We’ve touched on some of the benefits of multilingual SEO already, but let’s take a closer look at how implementing it can propel your brand internationally.  

Reach New Markets

This is the most obvious, but as the above stats show, these new markets are not only huge but offer a vast amount of potential for your brand. Revenue is always going to be the bottom line for a business, but expanding into new markets will bring a whole new element to your brand awareness campaigns too. 

If you optimize your website correctly for these new markets, languages and regions, you’ll see increases across the board for international search engines. Although Google is the most prominent almost everywhere in the world, there are others that you should keep an eye on — Bing is becoming more widespread with its new AI chat tool, for example. 

Stand Out From The Crowd

Another great benefit of Multilingual SEO is the competitive edge it’ll give you within your industry. Although more and more brands are beginning to see the value in investing in this marketing strategy, it’s still not as widespread as you might think — unless we’re talking big name brands like ASOS or Amazon, of course. 

Many companies will opt only for translation of their sites, so going that step further by implementing localization, transcreation and multilingual SEO will not only show your customers you care, but it means you’ll be ahead of the curve. 

Improving User Experience

These days, most search engines — especially Google — are all about user experience (UX). This encompasses everything from how easy it is to navigate the site to the tone of voice used in the content. And as we mentioned, three-quarters of internet users would prefer to search, and shop, in their own language, but this extends to how the site is set out too. 

When implementing multilingual SEO, it’s more than just the language that is important. We’re talking currency (an obvious one for e-commerce sites), localized external links and imagery that resonates with the new target region. 

Various international flags on poles against a blue sky to indicate multilingual SEO and internationalism

This all works together to offer your users a relatable experience, meaning you’re likely to see increased engagement and drastically reduced bounce rates. 

*Bounce rate: A measurement showing the number of users that viewed only a single page on your site. 

Building Trust and Credibility  

Not only will implementing multilingual SEO help with user experience, but it also proves to your new target audience that you care about and appreciate their country and culture. Localization is a huge part of multilingual SEO — it means adapting not just your marketing messaging, but the brand itself, to be culturally appropriate to this new market. 

This attention to detail will help you build trust and credibility with international customers — something Google is particularly hot on these days. But never mind the search engines, this leads to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, meaning you’re far more likely to see returning visitors to your site. So it’s a win win!

Hopefully, we’ve shown how optimizing your content for different languages can help you tap into new markets, drive more traffic to your website, and, ultimately, boost your conversions. But before you dive in headfirst, it’s important to understand the challenges that come with this strategy. How do you select the right keywords? What about duplicate content? And how do you handle technical issues? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In part two of this guide, we’ll focus on the challenges of multilingual SEO, and how best to overcome them. 

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How Machine Translation and Human Editing Can Work Together

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Computer switchboard depicting machine translation

How Machine Translation and Human Editing Can Work Together

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With all the discourse around AI tools such as Bard, ChatGPT and Bing Chat at the moment, you’d think it was a completely new technological advance. 

But no! Here at Managed Language, we’ve been using similar tools for years. Our post-editing machine translation service combines the speed of technology with the creativity that comes from human insight. Meaning we’re able to deliver high-quality, engaging content in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional methods.

Read on to find out more about PEMT, its benefits, best practices, and how we implement it in your translation projects.

What is post-editing machine translation (PEMT)?

Post-editing machine translation (PEMT) is a process where human translators review and edit machine-translated content to ensure its quality, accuracy, and suitability for the target audience. PEMT can help you save time and money by reducing the amount of human effort required for translation, while also improving the quality and consistency of your localized content.

We believe the human element is vital. Our linguists compare the translated text that the software has churned out with the source copy, checking grammar and clarity while infusing it with cultural insight. The AI software is ideal for high-volume projects, such as product descriptions for e-commerce clients.

Machines can assist translators by providing accurate and quick translations, but they can’t replace them. Human translators have the skills and knowledge to ensure that the translations are faithful, clear, and stylish. Technology is advancing, but we still need humans to oversee it.

Why use PEMT for your localization projects?

PEMT can offer several advantages for your localization projects, such as:

Faster turnaround times: Using AI tools or translation software is an ideal choice for large volumes of text as they can produce the translated copy in minutes, meaning you can meet tight deadlines and scale up your localization efforts as a result. 

Lower costs: PEMT regularly reduces the cost of translation projects as it reduces the amount of time highly-skilled linguists need to be working, especially when used for low-priority or repetitive content. But don’t skip the linguist element all together! 

Higher quality: The linguists will ensure that the machine translated content meets the quality, standards and expectations of your new target audience, by correcting any grammatical errors, inconsistencies, or cultural nuances that the machine is likely miss. 

Greater flexibility: You can choose between different levels of post-editing depending on your needs and budget. Our service, in particular, is bespoke — our project managers will work with you to determine the level of input your project needs from the machine and linguists. 

How to implement PEMT in your translation projects?

To implement PEMT in your translation projects, you need to consider some key factors, such as:

The source text: Your source copy must be clear, concise and well-written to ensure the accuracy of the machine translated output. 

The machine translation engine: There are many, many translation tools to choose from, especially with the rise of ChatGPT etc, so it can be tricky to pick the best one. We’ve created our own software that we constantly review and update to ensure the quality is as high as possible. 

The post-editing strategy: Work closely with your project manager(s) to determine the scope of post-editing needed for your content as this will ensure you get the best results and the most engaging copy. Style guides and glossaries are incredibly useful at this stage, as well as a clear feedback structure between yourself, the project manager and the linguists. 

 

Ready to try PEMT for your localization projects? Contact us today to find out how we can help you achieve fast and accurate content delivery with our PEMT service.

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