Tips to Reduce Your Translation Budget
Due to economic instability the world is facing in present times, it is no wonder that every individual or company out there is doing their best to cut down costs in an effort to increase their earnings. The exact same thing happens in the translation industry.
Clients are worried about their translation budget and try to adjust their needs in order to cut down expenses as much as possible. While some might be inclined to use cheap services thinking they could get more work for less money (which is not a good idea), there are quite a few ways one could spend less for a quality translation. Here are 11 tips to help you reduce your translation budget without making compromises on quality.
1. Does your document contain repetitive text?
Revising your document before translation, looking for repetitive text and removing it will decrease the number of words to be translated, thus reducing your translation budget.
2. Use plain English
Going into detailed descriptions of your product or service might not be necessary. Try to remove extra content that is not needed to reduce word count.
3. Make sure your document is in its final version before sending it to translation
It is not a good idea to make changes to your source document during translation as this wastes translator’s time and could cause errors. It can also lead to phrases being translated twice and extra revisions which will translate in higher costs for your translation.
4. Provide reference materials or documents translated in the past
Providing a glossary or a document that has been translated in the past will save both translator’s time and yours. The translator does not have to waste his time with research or yours when contacting you to clarify certain terms used in the source document.
5. Avoid images containing text
Images containing text will cost you more to be translated. The translator is not a designer, so the translation manager will have to add a designer to the team in order to recreate the images with translated text. This will surely put more pressure on your translation budget.
6. Make sure you use editable documents
The translator can only translate editable documents. If you use documents that can not be edited, the translation manager will have to ask their DTP team to transform the source into an editable one and this will reflect on your translation budget.
7. Plan ahead
Don’t wait until the last minute to send your document to translation. Some may charge you extra for this.
8. Ask the project manager to make use of CAT tools
By using computer aided translation tools such as translation memory you will be able to cut down your translation budget as repetitive words will cost you a lot less.
9. Provide a comfortable deadline
A good translator can translate up to 2000 words per day. If he has to do extensive research for some terms in your source document he will only be able to translate half of that. Providing a comfortable deadline will allow the translator, editor and proofreader enough time to give a quality output.
10. Give credit to your translator for his work
If you have to translate your website, it might cost you a bit less if you provide a link back to your translation company. Just ask your project manager about this, he might be able to give you a discount for this.
11. Always use the same translation company
By using the same translation company for all your projects you will be able to cut down on your translation budget especially due to the use of CAT tools. Your next translation project will cost less due to using existing translations saved on the company’s translation memory tool.
If you use the tips outlined in this article you will be able to cut down costs without compromising the quality of your translations. Need more tips? Use our live chat support to ask any question about our translation services or for a quote, we are here to help.
