Website translation advice

damiensw

Can someone please advise where is the best place to get a website and its service translated into Dutch. It may be a bit complex because it will include the SpaceWorks website functionality, the terms and conditions and the legal contracts for the service.

I have seen many websites that are translated into different languages but I do not know where to go to get the translation done. If you can advise a rough price for this service, that will be great!

Thanks,
Damien

Hillybilly4

Try posting the project on the freelancer website maybe - ensuring you request that only native Dutch speakers bid for the job and weed out all the rest!

P_1

There's a rake of translation companies that'd be happy to give you a quote on it I'd say. They tend to charge on a per-word basis but discount based on repetition and the like. I think dutch works out about 20cent a word. Your best bet is to phone a few of them up in the morning and tell them what you want.

pedronomix

https://translate.google.ie/ I have used this on several sites and nobody complained!! It is worth a look!

thesteve

pedronomix wrote: »

https://translate.google.ie/ I have used this on several sites and nobody complained!! It is worth a look!

Using machine translation on a website is a really, really bad idea.

mneylon

If you're looking for freelance translators try http://www.proz.com/ - it's probably the biggest marketplace for translation services out there.
Avoid using Google translate - it's "ok" for giving a reader the "gist" of a text, but it's not good enough to handle full texts that are going to be read by native speakers.

damiensw

Thanks to everyone for the very sound advice! That's why I have my domains with Blacknight. What a great reply to my query. Everything I needed to known in one post.

Thanks to all for responding.

I may need to remortgage to get it done though :-)

Joey99

Just two thoughts:

1. If you're selling into NL, should you launch it and see how it goes before getting the whole translation thing done? So many Dutch people speak great English that you're still going to have a meaningful addressable market even without getting it translated.

2. I buy quite a bit of translation as part of my job but it is expensive. If you could get a bright and engaged University student or grad with experience in your area that might be the way to go. You can look on Elance and similar but what about putting some feelers out to the Dutch equivalent of Boards.ie and see what you get by way of response?

Definitely do not go with machine translation for what you have in mind.

damiensw

I had considered going down the road of a student. This is probably the way that I will end up going.

Fair point also on leaving the site in English to see can we open up the marketplace first. From a business point of view this is what I should be doing but I have been asked to get the service translated. I will need to see if there is grant aid available to me (in the Netherlands) for translating the website.

I have a little scope to play around with, I need a graphic designer with CSS and HTML so I might look to recruit in the Netherlands. UCC have a strong connection with Utrecht university so I will have a look down this avenue.

The translation is only one element of the process as the design work will also need to be costed.

Please keep adding your thoughts on this matter!

Thanks,
Damien

pedroeibar1

I wonder if you are asking the correct questions? A new product in a new market without deep local experience is destined to fail IMO. However, if you are expanding into the Netherlands there’s slightly more to it than a simple translation. That culture, while very international, is quite different to ours and needs a specific targeted approach. About three quarters of the population speak English (and about half speaks German), so an English version of the site would be passable at first for B2B but for B2C (particularly if it is a low-tech mass-market) you really need it in Dutch. Will it be a simple ‘translation’ version of the existing site pages or will it be a site dedicated to the NL market? That matters, because if viewers see a series of language flags across the top banner they are more forgiving of errors. For a .nl site it must be right.

How experienced are you with the product/site analysis in your existing markets? Have you been able to tweak both product and the site to respond to the product’s market perceptions and needs? Have you defined and set measurable benchmarks? How often do you review them?

These are critical because if you do not have benchmarked criteria you will have nothing to measure your results against and will not know what is right or wrong, and why or where. Whether the site is in English or Dutch will then be of a secondary consideration.
If you have your ‘act together’ and a serious business proposition I’d suggest an approach to an international university like RSM http://www.rsm.nl/home/ and try to get one of their student teams to adopt your NL launch as a case study project, not just the donkeywork stuff.

My 2c, good luck with it.

PS. I don’t understand why you think the Dutch authorities would give you a grant for your translation costs?

pedronomix

OP PM me. I have a very good friend who is a senior exec and investor in Hailo. They have rolled out their platform in several languages... I will give you an introduction

OK clearly the Google Translate is not suitable for most consumer focussed sites but it can and has worked very well for me on several occasions in specialist B2B site applications!!

damiensw

Hi Pedroeibar,

Thank you for your very detailed 2c worth!

Just in relation to the mention of grant aid, I was thinking along the lines of an innovation voucher with a university. It would be worth asking the question to see would this be an option.

I just want to clarify that it was not my intention to launch into the NL market. This topic arose after having a discussion with a person in the NL. We were asked was it an option to translate the website and the service.

Our main interest is seeding out the Irish market first.

Believe me this query is very early stage. I just had no clue about where to go to get pricing done for a translation, hence my post here.

I would be interested to hear what your view is on sites like Airbnb and 9flats using English only sites throughout Europe. They do not seem to experience much difficulty with it.

I would be very interested in having a conversation with you. Would you be available for further discussion? I would like to know what your background experience is in. Please PM if you are interested in a chat!

Many Thanks,
Damien

Idbatterim

here you go Op...

http://translatorsassociation.ie/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,64/

Alternative is getting a student or a native, depends on the complexity and terminology involved...

In relation to pricing, do you know what the word count is in the source language i.e. English?

If you google translation service Dublin or use the golden pages, you can phone up, give them the word count and they will give you a price...

wordperfect.ie
http://dculs.dcu.ie/translation-services/

pedroeibar1

Hi Damien,
From what you have written I’m assuming that you will be selling in this market a service similar to a booking service? If so, I would build the site in English, grow the business and when it has achieved critical mass then consider having the site translated into the language(s) of your main foreign customers. Translation at this early stage is moneyburn. I have a gut feeling (no proof) that buyers of that type service tend to be return visitors, are more sophisticated and have enough English to make a booking. There are many such sites here already, dreamireland is one. A good foreign one (with translations into Eng/Fr/Es/Ge) to look at is http://www.gites-de-france.com/
As the business will be operating in Ireland, it will be subject to Irish law so I would avoid the complications of translating legal language T’s & C’s (mentioned by you earlier.) When you get further along the route I’d be happy to meet/talk, it’s very early days yet. Feel free to PM me if you have a specific query.
If it is an accommodation service, bear in mind that many of the house booking sites also have a property management string to their bow, whereby they check in / out guests, provide linen and cleaning services, etc. That is critical in getting houses on the books (just as important as customers for them), as many second home owners would be more prepared to rent if that type of service were offered.
Rs
P.

damiensw

Thanks P, I greatly appreciate your input!

Many thanks,
Damien