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Benefits and Tips of Website Translation
Many American companies, especially small businesses, have realized the benefits of having a website to expand their potential market from just local customers to anyone in the world with Internet access. Unfortunately, many of these otherwise savvy businesses have yet to fully tap the potential of online sales simply because of the language barrier. In an age where information travels at the speed of light and potential buyers can view your products and services around the world without ever leaving their seat, business is still hampered by an inability to communicate. That is where website translation comes in.
Case in point is Japan. Not only is Japan an expensive country to advertise in, making online advertising through a company website even more sensible, but also, only a small percentage of Japanese people read and understand English well enough for a website in English to be of any help. Website translation helps defray the cost of advertising globally, as well as creates a direct link to Japanese businesses and consumers.
According to Global Reach, an online resource that tracks Internet use by language and country, 65% of web surfers live in non-English speaking countries. More pertinently, 10% of Internet users are Japanese. Japan's population has one of the world's largest percentages of consumers and companies with Internet access.
Interestingly enough, while 10% of worldwide Internet users is impressive in itself, Japanese purchasing power could be much more. According to a report published by the World Bank, the GDP of Japan in 2002 was nearly 4 trillion U.S. dollars, making Japan second only the U.S. That amount is more than the combined GDPs of the third and fourth ranked countries of Germany and the U.K.
Total GDP 2002
Ranking (in millions of U.S. dollars)
- United States 10,416,818
- Japan 3,978,782
- Germany 1,976,240
- United Kingdom 1,552,437
- France 1,409,604
- China 1,237,145
- Italy 1,180,921
- Canada 715,692
- Spain 649,792
- Mexico 637,205
Furthermore, according to the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, even in a slow economy, 17 million Japanese enjoyed overseas travel in 2002. Almost 82% are sightseeing. The number increased by 10% over the previous year. 30% of Japanese travelers visited the United States.
Overseas travelers 17,818,590 in 2002 (16,216,000 in 2001)
United States 5,073,600 in 2002 (4,120,000 in 2001)
Purpose
Sightseeing 81.8%
Business 15.0%
Other 3.2%
With such market potential, as shown by the nation's international travel, GDP, and Internet use, much opportunity is lost by American companies simply because of the language barrier. Freelance translator and director of the Japan Translation Federation, Shozo Kyutoku purports "It is wasteful for American companies who spend substantial amounts of money for their websites that cannot be read by Japanese." Keeping in mind that only a small percentage of Japanese speak English, American companies could increase their marketability by having their websites translated into Japanese.
One industry in particular that has already taken advantage of the potential Japanese market is the Hawaiian hotel industry. Hotels such as the Sheraton Waikiki, the Halekulani, the Pacific Beach Hotel, and dozens of others have increased their Japanese guests by simply providing Japanese pages on their websites. With nearly 82% of Japanese international travelers going abroad for leisure, this is not surprising as businesses in the travel and tourist industries stand to benefit from website translation, but with a growing percentage of Internet users and one of the richest nations in the world, the Japanese market has an untapped potential waiting for any company with a website.
This raises the question, how does one go about having the company website localized. Although larger corporations usually have people who specialize in localization, almost always projects of this nature, which include Japanese translation, are outsourced. With the right translation company, the process can be surprisingly simple.
Because most translation companies network with other translation companies, as well as freelance translators, in order to handle a great deal of localization projects, simply researching and finding a few companies can suffice for making contact with someone who either can localize a website into Japanese or at least knows someone who can. However, going the extra mile and contacting those companies who actually handle Japanese localization directly can usually save on the bottom line as well as result in better communication with the linguists and engineers who perform the actual localization.
Another way to save money when having your site localized is doing the string extraction yourself. Many businesses copy the text of their website into a spreadsheet, using such programs as MS Excel, for easy reference between the English text and the target language. From there, linguists using Translation Memory (TM) software can translate the strings. TM software, such as TRADOS, not only provides consistency between linguists, but also allows translators to directly access various formats, including spreadsheets or even html, php, xml, rtf, and other types files that use tags, saving the step of extraction and compiling.
As with string extraction, once extracted strings have been translated, you can either choose to have the translation company compile the translation, or insert the translated text yourself. The question on the need for string extraction and compiling depends on the TM software used by the translation company, project requirements, and client preferences. Some businesses want to just give the translation company html files in English and get them back in Japanese, while others want to have more control over the text by extracting the strings into spreadsheets. In general, using TM software that eliminates the step of extracting and compiling, such as TRADOS, can move localization along more quickly. At the same time, having extracted strings available for future site maintenance may be preferable in some cases. A translation company with the right software and expertise should be versatile enough to handle projects either way.
Once website text has been translated by linguists and compiled, whether manually or automatically by the TM software, the all-important QA check is a step that is all too often neglected. Make sure from the start of any localization project that you not only have a QA check of the translated site included, whether by the same translation firm or an independent linguist, but also work out a plan with the translation company about what to do with characters that need to be edited. A QA check is an invaluable part of making sure the localized site comes across as it should, without any terms that are out of context. For example, sometimes terms that appear by themselves can be translated incorrectly because the translator does not have the context. One example of this is the word "date"; in most cases, if this term were to appear by itself, linguists would translate it as the day of the month. However, if the website is an online dating service, it could have a different meaning. This underscores the importance of the QA check.
In addition to a QA check, since no one knows your product or service better than you, open communication through a designated contact person during translation to answer questions translators may have is essential to ensuring the website translation reflects the same meaning and tone as the English site. Providing linguists with information, such as terminology lists from any previous translations done for the company or a temporary username and password for sites that require login so that they can view the source text as it appears on the website, can also help produce higher quality translation.
A good translation firm should also be able to consult you concerning the culture of the market and warn against any conventions used on the site that would not be appropriate. With that in mind, remember that depending on your target audience, not all of your content on the site always needs to be translated. Not only may there be pages that are irrelevant to the potential Japanese viewer, but also sites that contain industrial data and terms often only need partial translation for Japanese engineers to understand them. On the other hand, if the site includes an order form or customer support area, in order to make the same services available on the localized site, those pages should be translated.
Other issues of localization to be addressed include text size and fonts. Due to the intricacy Japanese characters, Japanese websites tend to have larger text sizes than those of their English counterparts. You will want to take into account that Japanese text will thus take up more space than English text, as sections of the site may have to be adjusted accordingly. Although the Japanese language several fonts, traditional serif fonts should be avoided in favor of more modern sans serif fonts, such as MS Gothic or MS UI Gothic. With an already complex written language, serif fonts can make Japanese text difficult to read on a computer monitor, whereas sans serif fonts are not only more legible, but also lend a stylish look to the site.
Beyond the text of the website, site colors and graphics can be either the life or death of your localization project. Although you want your website to look trendy and eye-catching for the Japanese market, you should steer clear of using shocking colors, such as bright red or yellow, for the dominant colors on your site. Less glaring shades in smooth patterns tend to be popular among Japanese users. For getting the attention of your Japanese web users, animated graphics, rather than static images, are standard on Japanese websites.
Examples of companies whose websites already feature pages translated into Japanese include CNN, Google, MSN, and Yahoo!. As the percentage of Japanese consumers and companies with Internet access grows, we can expect this trend of website translation to continue. After establishing the wonderful medium of a website by which people anywhere in the world can learn about your company, website translation is the next step in breaking down communication barriers between your business and your customers.
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To learn about Pacific Dreams' website and software localization services, please contact Mayumi Smith, Project Manager, at pacific.dreams@viser.net or call her at (503) 783-1390. |
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