6 Things You Should Know Before Hiring App Translator
“According to Common Sense Advisory, a language industry consulting firm, 73.4% of global consumers prefer to use their native language while shopping online”
73.4% is a large number – especially considering the amount of consumers shopping online! If your app already in English, adding a few more languages increases your chance of reaching more than half the globe. Apps like Facebook, Twitter and Gmail are available in over 30 languages. These apps are all customized and translated into local languages. These apps were also not translated by a machine, they were done by professionals who know what they are doing and don’t always come at a cheap, low rate.
However, before you decide to jump into the ring and take on translation for your app, you need to have an idea on what you are walking into.
- Why does your app need to be translated?
Simply put, consumers would rather browse an app in their own language. Products and services offered to people in their local language are more likely to be purchased – this allows the consumer to have their questions answered, a better understanding of their product, and a better likelihood of recommending this to others in the future.
Studies conducted in Europe show that 90% of internet users in Europe would prefer to go with their own language. 9% of Europeans said they would never browse another language other than their own, and 42% said they would no opt for a product not presented in their own language.
Language is important, especially for mobile apps.
The architecture and design of your app
If translating the app is a part of the strategy you’re going for, you should also consider customizing your design. Text becomes longer or shorter, depending on the language you translate your app into – this should be taken into consideration.
Languages like French, Italian, and Spanish expand by 20%, and Chinese, Korean, and Danish contract 20%. Languages like Arabic, Hebrew, and Farsi also read from right to left – which is important when it comes to design.
The level of translation your app requires should always be considered depending on the app you are building.
- Type of Translation
Have a solid idea on who would be completing the translation process. This is how one of the main costs is determined. It also can affect the element and effectiveness of your app.
A few options to consider are:
In House Translation
You could hire a group of translators to work for your company. This allows for clear communication of app developers, design teams, project coordinators, and the marketing team. While it is an investment, it is worth your money if your company needs a high volume of translation completed.
Crowd sourcing
When your base of users is diverse this could be the best option. Crowd soursing is actually the practice of obtaining information/ input of a task or project by enlisting the services of a large number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the Internet. This allows you to interact directly with your clientele, since they would be the best at knowing their native language after all.
Outsourcing
You could always keep your mind clear, and hire a professional company to take care of the translation of your app. This guarantees you an error free translation, and high quality control. While you would have to pay for the translation – this could almost ensure any deadline you have set for completion would be met.
- Localization
App localization would be translating all of the elements of you apps into the language of a specific country, while also localizing the meaning or business logic to laws and guidelines of the specific county.
Localizing your app would make your apps presence limitless. It boosts downloads by 128% and increases revenue by 28%. A few recommended countries for the app market are Chine, Russia, Japan, and India.
Start with keyword translation for you app, then move to app description. Then in the future you could move to things like translating your website.
- SEO
App SEO is a way to ensure your app meets the ranking criteria and helps rise your app to the top of the search page. Considering things like the Apps Name and the Keywords are two very important elements.
Keywords: This could be done in Google to keep your costs down, however, and accurate translation is always recommended. Getting your keywords translated will help boost your apps ratings as well as move you higher on the search engine.
App Name: This is one of the first things your customer sees along with the icon. Human translators should always be used to translate the apps name. We recommend this because a direct translation is not always the proper translation. To see how this failed just a few major companies, have a look at our article “5 Worst Translation Mistakes That Almost Risked the Brand.”
Description: Translating the app description will highlight the main benefits of the app.
Screenshots: Most developers leave this part out, not on purpose but because it is overlooked. Translation the screenshots will give a great impression to your client base. 70% of users download apps based on the screenshots.
- Content
English, Spanish, and Chinese cover more than 50% of the online population. That means that 9 more languages account for the other 30% of global users.
Visual Translation
Ideally the quality of the translated app and the quality of the original app should match up when completed. Context is always important as well.
Code
Separating content from code should be one of the beginning steps before translation. Underlying codes mostly do not need to be translated.
These are a few great things to keep in mind when making the decision to move forward on translating your app and making sure you have the right person for the job!
