Many companies with an international presence have moved to a single site with subfolders for each country.
At Web-Translations, we started with a .co.uk domain in 2003, and as we grew, we added a .com domain, then a .jp domain, and over the next 10 years we purchased domains for many different markets including .es, .it and .pt. It began to get expensive and complicated! In 2014, we moved our primary site to a .com domain, with subfolders for different languages.
Previously, we would have advised against this. Top-level domains, such as .de and .jp, are automatically picked up by search engines, and are therefore good for in-country SEO. However, with newer geotargeting techniques, a single site with subfolders (also known as subdirectories) can be as effective as a ccTLD.
There are exceptions to this, such as the .fr domain; French internautes still prefer seeing a .fr domain. Perhaps this will change over the next few years, but at the moment, if France is your key market, a .fr domain is the best option. (In the past, it could be tricky to get a .fr domain without residency in France, however many domain registrars now offer a “trustee” service which allows non-residents to purchase a .fr domain.)
In terms of SEO, subfolders (e.g. shop.com/es) may be preferable to subdomains (e.g. es.shop.com). Subfolders pass on some authority from the root site, whereas subdomains may be seen as a separate entity by Google in terms of ranking. However, John Mueller from Google said in 2016 that Google is smart enough to know what you are trying to do with subfolders and subdomains; there isn’t much of a difference between the two in terms of SEO (watch the Youtube video).
A single international site with subfolders made it easier for us to manage localised content, and was much more cost-effective. We would certainly recommend this approach!
Hi everyone,
I have recen
tly joined the Web-Translations team as a Project Coordinator, having just finished my Masters in Applied Translation Studies at the University of Leeds. Prior to this I graduated with a first in Russian and Spanish, again from the University of Leeds. During my MA we studied a module on CAT tools which was geared towards preparing us for the world of translation and the language services industry. I particularly enjoyed this module; especially when we took part in simulated localisation projects which allowed us to mimic a ‘real life’ translation project and workflow. It was these projects which actually introduced me to the role of a project manager and piqued my interest in wanting to pursue a career as one.
I am originally from Liverpool, so I’ve been a football fan since birth, and a red – obviously. I love Liverpool as a city but after moving to Leeds for my undergrad I have completely fallen in love with it here, and Yorkshire as a whole too, so I’m not quite ready to leave just yet! Therefore, when I saw the opening at Web-Translations I thought it’d be the perfect opportunity for me to start my career.
During my undergraduate degree I was fortunate enough to spend a year in Moscow studying at Moscow State University. This was an incredible experience which certainly opened my eyes to Russian culture and their traditions. During my time in Moscow I attended Russian language classes, taught English privately and worked as an English language proofreader/editor for a television broadcaster. My time there not only allowed me to improve my language skills considerably, it also heightened my interest in languages in general, allowed me to make friends from around the world and create some unique memories (seeing bears outside of the university seems to stand out!).
I have also spent time in Granada, in the south of Spain. Granada is an exceptionally beautiful city with so much culture and life; it has most definitely become my second home! It has so much to offer, including the Alhambra and Albaicín, (not to mention the free tapas!!) so I try to encourage everyone I talk to about it to visit and explore its wonders.
I am very much looking forward to seeing what working as a part of the Web-Translations team has in store for me and being able to use the skills that I have learnt throughout my time at university.
Believe it or not, one of our most popular questions from clients is which languages they actually need to translate their materials into. This may seem obvious on the surface, but it can often bring up the least obvious of answers. Take a look at our top recommendations for getting your language choice right:
Even if there is only one official language, there may be a number of co-official regional languages to consider, as in the case of Spain. You may be missing a trick if you are launching a marketing campaign in Spain and neglect to provide a translation in Catalan, for example, which is essential for capturing the imagination of a Catalan audience, particularly when considering that all important hub of Barcelona.
As a company specialising in website and web-based translation, Web-Translations likes to keep its finger on the pulse when it comes to translation technology. This month we upgraded to Trados Studio 2017; here are some of the new features we’ve experimented with since the move, along with some of our thoughts about their relevance to our day-to-day workload.
The first thing we noticed when firing up Studio 2017 was the changes in aesthetics. Whilst we were relieved to see that the basic user interface has changed very little, we did notice some brighter hues, as well as a new colour-coding system on file completion bars, which is a nice touch.
We talk a lot about quality in the translation community.
Or rather, we debate a lot about quality, especially as it relates to grammar and style. What is considered to be ‘correct’ grammar or usage by one person may be viewed differently by someone else.
The Guardian recently published an article listing “the 35 words you’re (probably) getting wrong”. (more…)
Thinking about a career in translation? Read through these top tips from Web-Translations’ qualified and experienced translators.
Guest post by Georgina Cornforth
1) Master your mother tongue
According to Web-Translations’ linguists, the best way to start is by mastering your mother tongue as much as possible. Translations should have smooth, uniform and consistent usage of language, which is not possible without a good foundation. If you will be translating into English, bear in mind that the English language has over 170,000 words currently in use! (more…)
Endangered language
Guest post by Georgina Cornforth
With an estimated 6,000 languages already being spoken around the world in 2017, it’s surprising that there are enough speakers of the tens of thousands of dialects which we often don’t even realise exist. Although it is believed that languages and dialects are becoming extinct at a rate of around 3-5 each year, new ones are slowly evolving such as ‘Textspeak’ or even ‘Emoji’. If ‘Emoji’ were to one day be officially recognised as a language, it would certainly facilitate communication between people from all over the world and break down language barriers, however simple that form of communication may be. Nevertheless, dialects are extremely specific to certain regions and villages, so therefore maintain a great deal of culture within them which a possibly universal language such as ‘Emoji’ simply could not. (more…)
As the ever-expanding translation industry brings people more content in their native language, and on the eve of talks aiming to set out Britain’s exit from the European Union, it has been suggested that English is starting to diminish as the world’s lingua franca.
This blog post seeks to establish if there’s any truth to this idea.
In English, we say 1 pig, 2 pigs, 3 pigs and so on.
So, does it follow that in another language it should be
1 [insert translated word for pig], 2 [insert translated plural of pig], 3 [same again] and so on?
Nope!
Earlier this month we worked on a project for one of our clients, a customer review network, which reinforced the fact that plural usage can vary greatly between languages. For this particular project, the translation source text included two snippets of text, one of which had a variable:
1 review
Showing {{number}} reviews
As the translation was into 27 languages, we saw many different patterns. We found this really interesting, and wanted to share them with you.
Reports last week claimed that 40% of jobs would be replaced by machines by 2030, and that they will be able to ‘translate and interpret text quicker than humans’.
Many companies already use machine translation to provide quick and free translations of their websites and other materials, so it is down to us as language service providers along with our team of trusty translators to explain the added value of human translation.
But where do we start explaining to a company with their eye on the bottom line why they should invest in professional translation? Here are a few of our suggestions:
In a world where machine translation (MT) is on the increase, it’s no surprise that someone might wonder whether they could save some money by having their text translated automatically. A performance comparison of machines vs humans is one factor in the debate, and is something we’ll touch upon soon. For this week however we’d like our clients to consider: what are you paying for when you hire a professional translation agency? Or to phrase this differently: what do you forgo when you choose to put your translation into a machine? (more…)
Have you been sent a MemoQ .mqxliff file to translate, but you work with Trados Studio instead? Don’t worry, we can help you work with the .mqxliff file in Trados.
Ever contemplated a multilingual marketing campaign that uses SMS messaging to contact your customers? Or simply wanted to practise a bit of French with your latest foreign speaking acquaintance? Then you may want to have a serious think about size. Because when it comes to texting, it really does matter.
As English speakers, we are lucky enough to be given a grand total of 160 characters per text message. These days, our mobile providers generally allow us to exceed these limits and will concatenate multiple messages into one long message, billing us for the equivalent number of messages. UK mobile networks use GSM encoding, which supports a character set consisting of the Latin alphabet, numbers, many other symbols, and some support for non-English accented characters. ‘Extended’ GSM character sets are also provided in some countries and offer additional characters, but this can vary depending on the mobile provider and handset. Often, using these characters will also subtract more than one character from your precious 160 character allowance. In fact, even using your favourite smiley or salsa dancing emoji will instantly convert your message to Unicode and reduce your character limit to 70. And if you send a special character to someone with an incompatible handset, which is tricky to know beforehand, it may simply appear as a ☐.
(more…)
Job applications can be daunting in any profession; not least in the language service industry, with most agencies operating a rolling recruitment process for new talent across various languages and specialisms. What does it take to stand out in a crowded inbox? The Web-Translations Projects Team weigh in on what they look for when hiring new translators.
In the translation world, we talk a lot about quality. The first building block of a top-quality translation is a quality source text.
Writing source content with translation in mind is critical. In addition to the standard rules for well-written English, there are specific guidelines to follow when creating source content for translation.
Keep reading to find our Top 10 Guidelines for writing for translation.
The London-based author Kazuo Ishiguro writes with translation in mind. ‘I want my words to survive translation,’ he says. ‘I know when I write a book now I will have to go and spend three days being intensely interrogated by journalists in Denmark or wherever. That fact, I believe, informs the way I write – with those Danish journalists leaning over my shoulder.’
Ishiguro concedes that the process of globalisation, of appealing to and ensuring that one is understood by audiences around the world, may lead to a ‘greyness’ of language: ‘There are a lot of things I don’t write now. I stop myself writing certain things because I think, for instance, that it wouldn’t work once it’s translated out of English. You can think of a line that’s brilliant in English — with a pun or two, you know — but of course it becomes nonsense once translated into a different language, so I don’t use it.’
DIT funding worth £6.7 million is now available to businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber
The Department for International Trade (DIT), known as UK Trade & Investment until it was rebranded last September, has 9 English regional DIT branches, as well as Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish branches.
The DIT Yorkshire and the Humber will deliver a programme of £6.7 million of funding for its Enterprise for Growth programme.
Funding for the programme comes from the EU to strengthen the region’s businesses. Targeting both first time exporters as well as businesses already exporting, companies can access matched financial support to develop exports and create jobs.
To qualify for the funding, companies in the Yorkshire and the Humber region must work with the DIT, who will help them to develop their international trade plans. Funding provided will support a company’s export strategy, which may include translation of marketing collateral for international visits, website localisation to improve positioning in target markets, translation of product packaging, and more.
If you are interested in the programme, please get in touch and we can facilitate contact with your local International Trade Advisor, who will help you get started.
Happy New Year! We have had a great start to 2017, and would like to announce
Web-Translations’ Most Valuable Translators for 2016.
We’re extremely grateful to our network of linguists, whose extensive talents allow us to offer translation services across a wide range of industries. We’re privileged to work with many exceptional translators;
our MVT awards showcase just some of these. (more…)
I awoke this morning to find…
I woke up this morning and found…
When I woke up this morning, I found…
When I awoke this morning to find…
When writing original English copy, there are multiple options for conveying an idea. Similarly, there is almost certainly more than one way to translate a particular idea from another language into English. The same is of course true when translating from English into other languages, to varying degrees.
You can probably think of other ways to express the idea of waking up this morning and finding something. Imagine how many variations there are in a full sentence, a paragraph, or a page of text. (more…)
Ours is! You can easily check with Google’s Mobile Friendly Test.
Visit https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/, pop in your URL, and Google will analyse your site. Having a mobile-friendly website is incredibly important, not only because so many people rely on their smartphones for internet access, but because Google uses mobile friendliness as a ranking signal. (more…)
English
