There’s been a lot of talk among our clients about capturing a different demographic through content in a different language on the website (mostly Spanish, largely because of one of our locations being in south Florida and its prominence around the country). While you can integrate a translate button on the website to provide the content in another language, since it is done on the fly, it isn’t technically a dedicated page on the site for that language. In a quick Google search such as “abogado de familia en miami”, you’ll notice to the right that all of these pages are completely dedicated to that keyword and aren’t relying on a page in English for translation.
It is arguable that every eligible keyword that is desirable technically has its own competitive market in every single language. Individuals obsessed with a national keyword may strive to optimize for their core KPI in Spanish, German, French, Italian, and 47 other languages. So the next questions becomes, is it worth the effort and if so, how can I actually translate this effectively?
In regards to it being worthwhile, I would personally say yes. We often times create either subdomains and microsties in the top three languages the clients’ prospective leads speak. We’ve had success implementing this strategy and intend on continuing – the concern afterwards simply becomes “where do we get the content now?”. Here are a few options:
- Have an employee/friend/family translate some pages for you
- Find a freelancer to translate for you
- Use Google Translate/another online translator
Since the title of this blog concerns Google Translate specifically, let’s start with this one. It may not come as a surprise that automatic translators aren’t perfect. They may pull off a few simple sentences, but when you start dropping industry jargon, local vernacular, and commonplace colloquial slang, there will be problems. Let’s just say Google Translate may be viable if you aren’t 100% concerned about grammatical errors and awkward translations. Let’s look at a few where we write in English, spin to Spanish, and translate back to English (with semi-generic marketing blurbs):
English (from Me): “Our marketing experts are dedicated to putting together customized, unique and effective campaigns to maximize the results of every marketing dollar spent.”
Spanish (from Google): “Nuestros expertos en marketing se dedican a la elaboración de campañas personalizadas , únicas y efectivas para maximizar los resultados de cada dólar gastado comercialización .”
English (translated back from in-house Spanish Speaker): “Our Marketing experts dedicate themselves to the elaboration of personalized campaigns, unique and effective for maximizing the results of each dollar used in commercialization.”
English (from Me): “Whether you’re a small business owner, entrepreneur, or in a specialized field such as a lawyer, we’ve covered the full spectrum of marketing for almost every industry you can think of.”
Spanish (from Google): “Tanto si eres un pequeño empresario , empresario, o en un campo especializado , como un abogado, hemos cubierto todo el espectro de marketing para casi todas las industrias que se pueda imaginar.”
English (translated back from in-house Spanish Speaker): “Whether you are a small business owner, business owner, or a specialized business like a lawyer, we have covered the entire spectrum of marketing for almost any industry you can imagine.”
English (from Me): “Every plan we put together for a client is completely specific to their needs and goals, and we’ve never implemented the same strategies exactly the same way for more than two companies.”
Spanish (from Google): “Cada plan armamos para un cliente es completamente específica a sus necesidades y objetivos , y nunca hemos implementado las mismas estrategias de la misma manera por más de dos empresas.”
English (translated back from in-house Spanish Speaker): “Every plan we make is completely specific to your necessities and objectives, and we have never implemented the same strategies for same method for more two businesses.”
As you can see, the subtlties in each sentence are enough to make most readers wince. If these grammatical and syntax instances arose in every single sentence of a 500-750 word page, the likelihood anyone would bother reading past the first paragraph is slim. So what can we do from here?
Of course if you have any employees or friends/family members/significant others that speak and write in another language, that’d be a surefire way to get translated content quick and for free (or perhaps after a small token of appreciation) but what if you don’t have those resources?
At this point, you can find a freelancer, and our “go to” in this instance would likely be Fiverr for a smaller gig or possibly eLance or UpWork if you plan on making it a long term project. Keep in mind that eLance may be good if you want the person to actually write the content from scratch as well instead of simply translating – it depends if you plan on translating your own content or want the topic to be altogether brand new.
Fiverr is very reasonable for translating small batches, from 300 to 500 to 1000 words at a time. Just look at the following results for instance:
Have any questions about implementing a content strategy in a language other than English? Call us today and we can chat during a no obligation consultation and see if we’d be able to assist. Market My Market works with a variety of clients helping their target audience regardless of their location. Contact our team at (800) 954-9441 to learn more about how we can help you.