This is the ultimate guide to choosing a translation company based on the highest quality industry standards for translation and localization best practices and how to avoid potential risks for your business.
Do you need your brand’s content translated into a different language, but you’re not quite sure how to choose a translation partner? Without native language skills, verifying accurate translation and brand fit is difficult.
At Interpro, we’ve been doing this for a while (since 1995 actually), so we know the many seen and unseen pitfalls that can occur with translation. Even more importantly, we know what works and what doesn’t.
This article covers the four must-haves of any translation company you choose:
- Localization + Expertise
- High-Quality Standards
- A Process that Mitigates Risk
- Transparent and Secure AI Translation Services
We will break each of these must-haves down so you know exactly what to look for when choosing the translation agency that’s right for your language goals.
Must-Have #1: Localization + Expertise
Ready to learn all about translation and localization? This section covers:
- Translation vs. Localization
- A Localization Example (from a real client)
- Common Elements that Need Localization
- Localizing for Language Access and Multilingual Inclusion
- Native In-Country Translators
- Subject Matter Experts for Your Industry
- Planning for Future Languages
Translation vs. Localization
Do you know the difference between localization and translation?
But at a high level, translation will take your message word-for-word and simply transate it into the target language with no additional context applied. Have you ever seen the Google Translate fails? This is an example of translation without localization.
Localization will adjust and change the words, taking into consideration the target audience and message’s context while keeping the original message’s intent.
Localization Example
For example, English phrases don’t always translate perfectly into another language. If you get it wrong, your message may be offensive or inaccurate.
We had a client who needed the informal translation for “bus” which is very different depending on the Latin American country:
- Peru and Cuba: Guagua
- Argentina: Bondi
- Chile: Micro or Liebre (a much older term)
- Ecuador, Panama and Colombia: Chiva, but only for rural transportation
To complicate things further: Sometimes these words have a different meaning in other countries. Like in Chile, “Guagua” is “baby“, and “chiva” is a lie, whereas in Guatemala, “chiva” is a blanket.
Clearly, we need our on-the-ground experts in each language to find the best possible term that would make the most sense while still conveying the spirit of the message.
Think of it this way: How you’d communicate to kids would be different than how you’d communicate to adults. You wouldn’t use overly complex words or phrases, and you might instead opt for more colloquial phrases. An expert translator is going to take this into account when considering the best word choice for your business.
Common Elements that Need Localization
Lastly, it’s important to consider how culture can vary from one country or region to the next. In America, if there’s an emergency, we call 911. But other countries have different emergency numbers. Translating “call 911” to help someone in an emergency situation in Italy would be wrong. An expert localization agency and translator service would do the legwork to adapt your materials to include the right emergency number for your target country or region.
Here are some elements that commonly need to be localized:
- Language nuances, jokes, slang, idioms
- Date
- Time
- Measurement units (metric vs. imperial)
- Currency
- Phone numbers
- Websites
- SEO, keywords, metadata, tags, product descriptions
- Graphic Text
- Icons
- Colors
- Legal compliance to laws and regulations
- Right-to-left (RTL) language support
- Space and formatting
- Non-English script support (Russian, Japanese, Greek, Hindi, etc)
Localizing for Language Access and Multilingual Inclusion
Some organizations want to take localizing a step further by making their translated materials inclusive. There are a couple of different approaches to this highly complex concept:
Localizing for DEI and Language Access
Many associations, nonprofits, government organizations, and inclusivity-driven companies aim to build a truly multilingual and inclusive organization. They want to elevate their localization efforts for their state-side multilingual or English as a second language (ESL) audience.
However, DEI looks different everywhere. The way we think about inclusive language in the States is very different from how other cultures approach the concept of DEI.
Creating inclusive, neutral content for various languages and cultures can be daunting. Here we go in detail to what multilingual language access means for an organization and how Interpro breaks down language barriers to bridge cultures.
Multilingual Accessibility for ADA Translation Compliance and Section 508
Section 508 and ADA compliance is something entirely different when it comes to multilingual inclusion. These are compliance requirements driven by regulatory bodies to ensure equal access to information, no matter the language you speak.
In simpler terms, it means that translated materials are accessible to those with disabilities. One common example is ensuring the translated material can be read by screen readers. We cover Section 508 and ADA Translation Compliance in this article here. But it’s always important to seek legal counsel and work with your compliance team to understand what legal requirements you need to meet. Interpro can then help you meet those requirements.
Native In-Country Translators (the key to localization success)
Did you know that Spanish spoken in Mexico can be different than Spanish spoken in Spain? For the most accurate translations, you’ll want native speakers who live in the country of that language. They must also be professional translators with expertise in the subject matter of your content.
If this seems very specific, it is. But the right translation partner should have this kind of specificity in their arsenal. Interpro, for example, is a localization agency with a network of trusted translators on the ground in countries all over the world.
Using Native In-Country translators helps our clients succeed by enabling them to know each country’s language and culture at a level that only those native to that country can. This includes knowing what is appropriate for different audiences.
Subject Matter Experts for Your Industry
When selecting a translation agency, one of the most critical factors to consider is their use of subject matter experts (SMEs). Initially, translators are chosen based on their proficiency in the target language. However, within this pool of language experts, it’s essential to find translators who are also SMEs in your specific industry.
Industries with technically advanced jargon (like medical, legal, and manufacturing) require translators who understand the language and have in-depth knowledge of the field. This specialized expertise ensures that the translations truly mirror the original English message rather than just converting words from one language to another.
For example, in the medical field, a translator who is a subject matter expert will be familiar with the latest terminology, regulatory requirements, and industry-specific nuances. This knowledge is crucial for maintaining the accuracy and integrity of medical documents, which could impact patient care and compliance.
Planning for Future Languages
While you may only need your work translated into one language now, plan for the future if you can. You might start out looking for English to Spanish translation services, for example, but you could need more later.
Find out which languages the translation service handles beyond that. And be sure to check if the company offers what may be considered “dialects” even though they are distinct languages to the people in those regions. For example, Cantonese and Mandarin are both Chinese languages but are distinct enough to require different translators who specialize in each one.
At Interpro, we offer certified translation services for any modern language. You can check out our complete list of supported languages as an example for your search.
Must-Have #2: High Quality Standards
Is the company you’re considering or currently working with transparent about their quality standards? Quality across translation companies varies – not all translation agencies are created equally.
To ensure you’re receiving the highest quality translations, you need to be aware of these different quality standards:
- ISO Certified Translation Company
- Certified Translations
- Notarized Translations vs. Certified Translations
- Workmanship Guarantee
- Proven Work Experience (with client references)
Let’s unpack these one by one.
What is an ISO Certified Translation Company?
An ISO Certified Translation Company is a language service provider that adheres to internationally recognized quality management standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
According to the ISO website, ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization that brings together global experts to agree on the best ways of doing things. They award certifications to the top translation companies worldwide.
You want your translation partner to hold ISO certifications because it shows they are paying attention and keeping up with the best industry standards available.
At a high level, we recommend choosing a company that holds ISO Certifications for Translation and Quality Management.
Learn more about Why ISO Certifications Matter When Choosing a Translation Company.
What is a Certified Translation?
If a translation company offers ATC certified translations like Interpro, it means that translation company adheres to ATC guidelines and ISO standards to ensure quality and reliability in their services.
If a company says it offers certified translations, it means your translation projects will come with an official stamp from the translation agency guaranteeing that the work was completed to the ATC’s standards.
ATC stands for the Association of Translation Companies. According to the ATC website, it’s a professional membership association representing the interests of language service companies around the world. The ATC defines standards of excellence for language service companies by promoting quality-driven services and best practices.
To receive a certification from the ATC, a translation agency must demonstrate that they have followed rigorous quality guidelines in their work and commit to staying ahead of the curve with translation best practices.
If you think your company needs certified translations, you can learn more about them and read the common certified translation FAQs.
What is a Notarized Translation?
A notarized translation is not the same as a certified translation, so let’s unpack how they are different.
Certified translations include a signed statement from the translator affirming the translation’s accuracy, and are typically used for official documents.
Notarized translations involve the translator swearing before a notary public that the translation is accurate, with the notary verifying the translator’s identity rather than the translation’s quality.
The difference? To offer certified translations, the language service provider must apply with a regulatory body and prove they have the processes in place to provide translation services that meet industry standards. Any language service provider can provide notarized translation services by visiting their local notary public.
Interpro can provide certified or notarized translation services, but we recommend choosing a company that offers certified translations.
What’s a Workmanship Guarantee?
A Workmanship Guarantee means you can be confident you are always receiving the highest level of quality. It’s rare that an agency following ISO and ATC guidelines would have issues with their work once it’s delivered. But, in the rare chance it happens, a Workmanship Guarantee means the agency will fix the issues right away and redeliver the work.
At Interpro, we proudly offer certified translation for any service and back all our work with a Workmanship Guarantee.
Proven Work Experience (with client references)
Just like hiring any other external vendor, you want to know, “Can this company provide the services I’m looking for?” and “Have they provided these services before successfully?”
Don’t be afraid to ask translation agencies you’re interviewing for a sample translation, examples of previous work with clients, or even client references. A translation agency that is confident in their skills will provide all the reassurance you need, including putting you in contact with one of their clients and examples of their work.
Must-Have #3: A Translation Process that Mitigates Risk
You have files to translate, but don’t speak different languages. Or maybe you don’t know what difficulties and barriers you’ll encounter during the translation process.
This section is broken into two parts:
- Different Types of Risks When Working with Language Service Providers
- A Translation Process that Mitigates Risk (5 Step Process)
Different Types of Risk When Working with Language Service Providers
Risk can present itself in many ways during the translation process and it’s important to be aware of how you can protect you and your company when choosing a translation partner.
Relying on one person for translation, proofreading, and revision. This is can cause potential biases, missed errors, and maintaining the message’s integrity. The best translation agencies surround you with a team of MVPs; not just one person who completes the entire translation process.
Layering complicated steps to maintain your brand and voice. Some projects need multilingual desktop publishing, or to reference brand style guides and a glossary for brand consistency. The best agencies handle these complexities seamlessly and have robust workflows and experienced teams dedicated to managing branding intricacies across languages. This ensures that your brand’s voice and visual identity remain consistent and high-quality, no matter the language.
Failing to take proper security measures for proprietary, sensitive, and confident information. Translation projects often involve sensitive information and you want to protect you and your company from public exposure or hackers. Look for agencies that operate with an NDA before your project begins, use secure file transfer methods, and operate using secure, private servers while they store and work on your projects.
The ideal translation company should have a dream team with individuals who specialize in these areas, plus processes in place that protect the integrity of your work.
A Translation Process that Mitigates Risk (5 Step Process)
You should expect this translation process (or something similar) from a localization agency. This is the translation process that Interpro follows to ensure consistent translation quality and on-time delivery for every project:
- Localization Strategy
- Delivering File Formats
- Kickoff Call
- Service Match and Translation-Revision-Proofreading (TRP)
- Personalizing the Translation Process
Localization Strategy Session
During this call, you will likely meet with a sales or business development person. You will share your project needs, languages, budget, timeline, and any concerns you have about the translation and localization process. The agency representative will want to answer any and all questions you have to ensure the partnership will result in a satisfactory translated product.
This is also the discovery stage to ensure the agency has the right translators and subject matter experts on staff to provide the exact services you need. They should be asking you about your brand, including what it stands for, it’s tone of voice, and what is and isn’t considered to be on-brand when communicating.
If these initial conversations go well, the next step is file exchange for a quote. Ideally, you will provide all the materials you need translated and receive an accurate, exact amount quote before the project even begins. This is also the stage where you’ll sign NDAs and provide translation memories, glossaries, and style guides if you have them.
Be sure to ask if the translation company will assign a Project Manager (PM) to your business. This is key and you will work with your PM for the remainder of the process.
Delivering File Formats
A quick note about file formats before we move on.
Some agencies will require you to copy and paste your existing content into a Word document, for example. This is true even if it’s already in a design file. Keep in mind that this adds more risk for error not just in the translation accuracy, but in the formatting of the file as well.
Interpro does not require this. We take your content in whatever format you provide it to us in—whether it’s a JSON translation, InDesign translation, or Storyline Translation—whatever it may be! And we deliver it back to you in the same format, so it’s ready to go. We find this is the best way to ensure you are receiving the most accurate translation by eliminating steps for you and leaving it to the professionals.
We also find that providing original source files before the project begins will give you the most accurate cost (and avoid budget surprises later in the process once work has already begun).
Kickoff Call
Next, you should meet your PM who will host a kickoff call.
A PM will work as if they are an extension of your team. They are essential for organizing, tracking, and communicating the progress of a translation project. They work with the translators, confirm project details, and ensure the final product is delivered on time and meets quality standards.
If you are regularly launching new translation projects, they may suggest a Multilingual Style Guide or Glossary.
Lastly, they will confirm your files, provide you with a project timeline with a final delivery date.
Service Match and Translation-Revision-Proofreading (TRP)
Generally, a good translation company will follow a method of translation, revision, and proofreading. Some companies will have this entire process completed by one person, but Interpro believes each TRP stage should be completed by a different individual.
At Interpro, we take TRP a step further. Your TRP team will be selected based on the following criteria:
Service Match: Based on the information above, the translation agency should then recommend the best fit for you. This is dependent on if you need just document translation, or more complicated eLearning courses with a website. It could be human translation or AI machine translation. (More on that later on in this post!) If you’ll be using an expert translator, then they should do a translator match.
Translator Match: This is where the agency should find the right translator for your project. The translator should meet the criteria we mentioned earlier in this post: a native speaker, who lives in the country where the language is spoken, is a trained translator and subject matter expert in your content.
The agency should update the translator on everything you shared early in the briefing. They’ll need this information to translate your work accurately.
Once your TRP team is selected and the initial translation is complete, your project will go through the following steps:
Revision: Just as you might miss your own errors when writing in English, the same applies to other languages! It’s difficult to proofread your own work, regardless of the language. To err is human, after all. (Alexander Pope)
Proofreading: The agency should also match the translator with another native speaker who’s a trained proofreader. This will ensure your content is as accurate and on-brand as possible.
Finalization: Once the content has been translated and proofread, it’s ready for final delivery to you in the same file format you delivered to our team.
Personalizing the Translation Process
Keep in mind, this is a general process. Translation agencies should have a process like this in even greater detail based on your unique needs, the language, and the translation services needed. Check out our Interpro translation processes as an example of how the process will be changed based on the translation service needed.
Must-Have #4: Transparent and Secure AI Translation Services
Since you’re reading this article, you’ve read about the value of high-quality translations for your target audiences. There’s no better way to do that than with expert, human-written translations. But cost, time, and efficency can come into play. If you’re on a tight timeline or budget (or simply want to stay ahead of the curve on technology), Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based machine translation might be the right option for you.
However, in order to take advantage of AI translation services that are right for your company and choose a partner that will deliver quality AI translations, it’s important to understand the risk associated with AI translation and the different types of AI translation services that are available (and which ones actually we recommend).
This section covers:
- The Current AI Translation Landscape
- AI Translation vs. Human Translation
- AI Translation Services (what is AI actually good for?)
The Current AI Translation Landscape
AI machine translation is best if your content is technical rather than emotional. For example: directions, technical specifications, and how-to manuals would all be great for AI machine translation. A persuasive marketing piece targeted to a specific audience with a particular set of wants and needs would need a human translation process.
When considering AI machine translation, it’s important to know that not all translation companies approach it the same way.
Free apps and web-based machine translation services come in handy when you need to know how to order a sandwich in a foreign country. But machine translation has serious limitations with language accuracy, complex topics and professional localization.
Additionally, using free, open-source platforms like ChatGPT for translation doesn’t protect your data. They can (will) use your inputs to further train the AI, which could, in turn, help competitors down the road, who might also use those tools.
Using AI for translation is another complicated topic with many risks. While there is potential to save time and money, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. In this article, we cover AI translation methods, FAQs, and what you need to know more about.
AI Translation vs. Human Translation
It’s worth noting that Interpro offers AI Translation Services that use a blend of secure, industry-standard AI translation software and human linguist review. We’ve found that this mix delivers the best quality language solutions that are the most time and cost-efficient.
The standard Human Translation Process with TRP is completed entirely by humans, with high levels of localization and personalization during the process. We find an accuracy rate of 99.8% according to our recent client surveys and feedback.
AI Translation is completed with proprietary AI translation tools or by building a custom learning machine translation engine. The average cost savings is 30% – but this really depends on the type of project and volume of work. There is little to no human editing, accuracy varies, and localization levels are low to non-existent.
Machine Translation Post-Editing involves sending an AI-generated translation to a human translator for further quality assurance and localization. This solution is offers greater flexibility, allowing you to determine the degree of AI involvement vs human review and editing in your translation workflow.
AI Translation Services (what is AI actually good for?)
If you are seeking time and cost savings, as of right now we can recommend AI translation services for:
- AI Interpreting
- AI Captioning
- AI Voice-Over Recording
- Machine Translation Post Editing
Other AI services may become available as technology develops. AI Translation will be a constantly revolving landscape for the foreseeable future. Working with a translation partner who stays on top of available translation technology will help ensure you receive the most cutting-edge, accurate services as they become available.
Ready to choose your translation partner?
The right partner for language translation services should be able to work with you across document translation services, legal translation services, medical translation services, marketing translation services, online translation services, video translation services, technical translation services, business translation services, and other professional translation services.
Choosing the right translation partner is crucial for effectively communicating your brand’s message across different languages and cultures. Evaluate each agency candidate carefully, and if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Other blogs about choosing a translation company:
Section 508 and ADA Translation Compliance: A Guide to Accessibility
What is a Certified Translation? Everything You Need to Know
Creating a Style Guide for Translation: A Step-by-Step Guide
What is Localization? A Comprehensive Guide to Localization and its Benefits