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Help! My Website Translation Administration is Giving Me a Headache!
Is your website translation management system giving you a headache? Are you spending more time than you can afford managing your localized websites and not enough time on your other responsibilities? If so, there’s a better, more efficient way to manage this process. In this article, I’ll describe three ways to manage localized websites, introduce Net-Proxy, describe the localization process including translation tools and workflow, and highlight how Net-Proxy can support your multilingual and international search engine optimization (international SEO) efforts.
The Evolution of Website Localization
There are three typical ways to manage a localized website:
Website replication with manual updating – The English website is reproduced and published in the different languages, resulting in multiple websites. Website content is handled manually, meaning if you create a new webpage, you’ll need to manually upload the foreign-language versions. The process looks like this: the content is sent to the translation vendor via email or an FTP site, they send it back, IT uploads it to the website, then the vendor reviews the translation on the website. It can be difficult to manage content when you have multiple websites with no way to control the content between them.
Website replication plus a Content Management System (CMS) – This is the same scenario as website replication except you use a CMS to manage the content on your English and multilingual websites. A CMS provides an automated way to handle content which makes it easier to manage.
Proxy solution – A proxy solution is a cloud-based website translation management system. It’s like a layer that sits on top of your website, detecting the right foreign language to display via the proxy. The foreign language versions aren’t separate websites. You only manage one website because the proxy solution, which is hosted on our servers, manages the multilingual websites. All you need to do is update or create content on the English website, and Net-Proxy detects the changes and kicks off the process, which includes translating content by our expert, in-country translators.
The video below provides a quick overview of how Net-Proxy works:
The Net-Proxy Localization ProcessWe use the same processes for translating website content using Net-Proxy as we do with other types of content. The major activities include translating content in context, proofing content by in-country reviewers (ICRs), performing QA and publishing.
We only work with real human, highly-skilled translators. Localization involves more than translation; it requires someone with regional knowledge to adapt the content to the locale. Our translators can accomplish this more efficiently by seeing the content in context, meaning they can see what’s on the webpage as they localize. This process enables better accuracy up-front, reducing time to market and providing a better customer experience.
Translation Tools
Translators use certain key tools to maintain consistency and speed up their work. One of the tools is a glossary, which is a database of terms such as product, industry or other standard terms that are used consistently throughout your content. The terms are extracted prior to translation so that the translators can develop these terms and have them approved by your ICRs. The glossary ties into one of the other main tools called a translation memory (TM), which is a database that stores all the translated sentences. Every time a translator translates a sentence, it gets added to the TM.
When a translator starts to work on a project, the TM will pre-populate the content using the sentences it has available so the translator doesn’t have to start from scratch. The glossary and TM enable translators to use consistent terminology and reuse previously-translated content, saving you time and money. These two tools are used in all of our translation processes.
Translation Workflow
We’ll describe how the process works using a fictitious scenario.
Let’s say Webmaster John at ABC Company adds a new webpage describing the latest product and modifies a few other pages to add the product information. John’s now done with his part and he’s off working on website analytics.
Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre, a French translator, and Eduardo, a Spanish translator, get an email stating that a new webpage and two other pages are ready to translate. Jean-Pierre and Eduardo log into their Net-Proxy account and begin translating the content using the pre-populated content from the TM. Simone, the Project Manager at Net-Translators, is notified that new content has been uploaded to the ABC website.
Since Jean-Pierre can see the changes on the web pages as he’s translating the content, he can see that one of the text boxes needs to be expanded to fit the new content. Jean-Pierre adjusts the box and continues translating the content.
When the translations are done, Net-Proxy notifies two of Net-Translators’ independent proofreaders to proof the job.
When the proofreaders are finished, Net-Proxy emails Jacque and Camila, Marketing Managers for ABC Company in France and Spain, to let them know they have content to review. Jacque and Camila check the work and close the jobs.
Andrea and Benjamin receive an email to do a QA check, looking for things like linguistic and cosmetic errors. Net-Proxy then emails Simone, the Project Manager, to let her know the work is done. Simone publishes the content.
John receives an email that the translated content in French and Spanish is live. Great! He hasn’t had to think about the project at all and he goes back to his other work.
As you can see, John had no involvement in the translations other than to be notified when the work was completed. He didn’t even have to contact thetranslation company to kick off the project or send files back and forth. French and Spanish customers were able to see the content as soon as it was available – they didn’t need to wait for John to finish his analytics presentation before he had time to add the content, fix issues and then publish it. With Net-Proxy, you can focus on developing the content and all your other responsibilities.
Multilingual and International SEO StrategySearch Engine Optimization is the process of altering a website’s location in natural, or “organic,” search engine results (SERPs). Businesses want to rank higher in search engine results because it gives you more visibility, more traffic and hopefully more sales as you convert website visitors to prospects and customers. With millions of search engine results for any word or combination of words, you want to land near the top because people don’t usually search beyond the first page on Google and other search engines. SEO is an art and a key component of a digital marketing strategy.
Keywords, or words that you use in your content management strategy to help you land higher on SERPs, are the foundation of an SEO strategy. By researching what words people are using to search for items related to your business, you develop content (e.g., website copy, blog posts, articles, white papers, case studies, press releases, etc.) to include the keywords. If it’s high-quality content that search engines “like,” your content should rise in ranking.
Transcreation is the process of taking the English keywords and applying the same research principles to generate translated versions of the keywords. This process is part of a larger international SEO strategy. With an SEO and international SEO strategy, you can reach a lot of potential customers and increase your business. If you’re trying to break into a foreign-language market, it’s critical to place as much value and effort on an international SEO strategy as an SEO strategy. For more about international SEO, watch our webinar called, “How to Use International SEO (ISEO) to Boost ROI from Multilingual Websites”.
Net-Proxy Provides Built-in International SEO Support
Net-Proxy has a built-in SEO feature to support an international SEO strategy. The feature allows translators to isolate meta tag content and then the keywords can be transcreated into the applicable target language. When a translator adds the foreign-language keyword, it’s stored in the translation memory for use whenever the English keyword is used, thereby increasing consistency automatically. When new keywords are added, the translators simply follow the same process. This feature helps you with your content and SEO / international SEO strategy, which ultimately creates more visibility in foreign-language markets.
The screenshot below shows the isolated keywords in Net-Proxy:
Conclusion
Net-Proxy is an efficient, cloud-based translation management system that removes the headache of managing website localization. We employ skilled and professionally-trained translators to localize websites. All we need to get started is the target URL of the website that you’d like to have translated; Net-Proxy and our team of localization professionals do the rest. If you’re looking to expand into foreign markets but would like to keep your website translation involvement to a minimum, then Net-Proxy may be a great fit for you. Interested in learning more? Contact the office nearest you for additional information or to schedule a demo.
Website replication with manual updating – The English website is reproduced and published in the different languages, resulting in multiple websites. Website content is handled manually, meaning if you create a new webpage, you’ll need to manually upload the foreign-language versions. The process looks like this: the content is sent to the translation vendor via email or an FTP site, they send it back, IT uploads it to the website, then the vendor reviews the translation on the website. It can be difficult to manage content when you have multiple websites with no way to control the content between them.
Proxy solution – A proxy solution is a cloud-based website translation management system. It’s like a layer that sits on top of your website, detecting the right foreign language to display via the proxy. The foreign language versions aren’t separate websites. You only manage one website because the proxy solution, which is hosted on our servers, manages the multilingual websites. All you need to do is update or create content on the English website, and Net-Proxy detects the changes and kicks off the process, which includes translating content by our expert, in-country translators.
We use the same processes for translating website content using Net-Proxy as we do with other types of content. The major activities include translating content in context, proofing content by in-country reviewers (ICRs), performing QA and publishing.
We only work with real human, highly-skilled translators. Localization involves more than translation; it requires someone with regional knowledge to adapt the content to the locale. Our translators can accomplish this more efficiently by seeing the content in context, meaning they can see what’s on the webpage as they localize. This process enables better accuracy up-front, reducing time to market and providing a better customer experience.
Translation Tools
Translators use certain key tools to maintain consistency and speed up their work. One of the tools is a glossary, which is a database of terms such as product, industry or other standard terms that are used consistently throughout your content. The terms are extracted prior to translation so that the translators can develop these terms and have them approved by your ICRs. The glossary ties into one of the other main tools called a translation memory (TM), which is a database that stores all the translated sentences. Every time a translator translates a sentence, it gets added to the TM.
When a translator starts to work on a project, the TM will pre-populate the content using the sentences it has available so the translator doesn’t have to start from scratch. The glossary and TM enable translators to use consistent terminology and reuse previously-translated content, saving you time and money. These two tools are used in all of our translation processes.
Translation Workflow
We’ll describe how the process works using a fictitious scenario.
Meanwhile, Jean-Pierre, a French translator, and Eduardo, a Spanish translator, get an email stating that a new webpage and two other pages are ready to translate. Jean-Pierre and Eduardo log into their Net-Proxy account and begin translating the content using the pre-populated content from the TM. Simone, the Project Manager at Net-Translators, is notified that new content has been uploaded to the ABC website.
Conclusion
Net-Proxy is an efficient, cloud-based translation management system that removes the headache of managing website localization. We employ skilled and professionally-trained translators to localize websites. All we need to get started is the target URL of the website that you’d like to have translated; Net-Proxy and our team of localization professionals do the rest. If you’re looking to expand into foreign markets but would like to keep your website translation involvement to a minimum, then Net-Proxy may be a great fit for you. Interested in learning more? Contact the office nearest you for additional information or to schedule a demo.
