Of The 2 Shoe Salesmen In Africa, Which One Are You?
Translating websites is something that many people have tried in an effort to bring in markets from other cultures and other languages, and it has not always worked. Sometimes it has failed quite horribly, costing a lot of money for nothing in return. While this seems to indicate that translation is a bad idea, this is not entirely true. Translation is just the first step. There is more to be done to improve the success rate and make the translation process worth it.
Spanish translations of websites can be expensive and difficult to maintain, indeed, if one has chosen the wrong partner vis-à-vis “the first shoe salesman in the story who said he can’t sell shoes in Africa.” Most website owners believe that translating a website to Spanish will do miracles for them, but this is very far from the truth. They have the website, but then they do not see anybody “wearing shoes,” so they assume that it is not a good business. While, in fact, translating and localizing the website, when justified, is just “buying the ticket to Africa.” Read More »
