In the current financial environment, your professional success can go hand in hand with the measures you take to expand your service offerings to an international level. Are you the owner of a website recognized regionally, and unfortunately, is the competition in your sector starting to affect your profitability margins? Are you looking for a way to expand your offerings to new countries? In such a case, one of the best things you can do is to utilize the services of a translation agency.

The professional translators you contact will handle the translation of your venture’s legal documentation, adapt your content to non-English-speaking markets, and make your products and services accessible to a new audience keen to discover your offers. By adapting your content to the linguistic preferences of new, international demographics, there is a chance to capture a more consistent market share, thus increasing your profits and making your services relevant to a more extensive array of individuals. However, the translation rates for the services you contact will vary depending on the complexity of your documentation or the languages into which they need to be translated.

Why Is It Worth It?

First of all, sometimes you may not have a choice. Do you want to expand your services into a new market? Are you looking to migrate your venture’s operations from your home country to a new nation? In such a case, the official documentation of your organization will need to be translated by a certified translator. This is not a general rule, as official documentation translations are not required throughout the entire European Union. Are you planning to perform taxable activities in Italy, Spain, Germany, or France? In such a case, your paperwork will need to be translated by a nationally-licensed translator. This way, it will be admissible in court.

However, if you wish to perform commercial activities in Scandinavian countries, and your documentation is already in English, then most often, translations will not be necessary. Nevertheless, regardless of the standard or negotiated translation rates, the services of the specialist you contact will be worth it. High-quality translations can increase your venture’s market share and give you a competitive advantage over industry rivals.

On top of that, they can improve the shopping experience of your customers, enhance your SEO visibility, and positively impact your company’s financial growth. Not least, businesses active at an international level act as a magnet for the most qualified talent pool in the European and Asian markets. Do you want to employ the most talented individuals for your venture’s roles? If so, the services of a translation agency could be the key to your company’s development.

What Determines Translation Rates?

For starters, some languages are more popular than others. Are you looking, for example, to translate a specialized document, such as an engineering manual, from English to Spanish? In such a scenario, the costs will be somewhat reduced because Spanish is an international language spoken by approximately 600 million people. So, finding a certified translator to handle your objectives will be straightforward. But what if you need translations into more obscure languages?

Are you thinking of moving your services to Bilbao? For this reason, do you need to translate your company’s contracts and lease agreements from English to Basque? In that case, you could expect to pay around 10 to 25% more for the translation services of the agency you contact. Ultimately, it’s a simple equation. If there are plenty of native speakers of the language you require in your area, translation rates will tend to be lower.

Plus, you need to take into account the additional costs associated with complex documentation. Do you need, for example, a translation of legal or medical documents? Then, these can only be carried out by certified specialists, who might charge an additional cost of approximately €0.035 per word for their services. Translation rates will be influenced by the technical complexity of the document, the word count, how many documents you require, and the tools used by the translators. Professional translation agencies may use CAT applications in the initial drafts of the translations, which will impact the price. However, the final revision of the document will always be carried out manually.

What Rates Should You Expect to Pay?

The rate you will have to pay for the translation work will depend on the complexity of your documentation, the word count, and the output languages. Since English is the most spoken language on the planet, prices for English translations will be somewhat lower than, for example, from German to Spanish or from Korean to Mandarin. Do you want to translate a document from English to Spanish? Then, you can expect to pay between $0.090 and $0.125 per word. Do you need a translation of a Spanish document back into English? In that case, you will probably have to pay between $0.105 and $0.165. Translations from English to foreign languages are, on average, cheaper than those carried out from these languages back into English.

Let’s say, for example, you want to translate your website’s content from English to Spanish. For a 10,000-word document, at a cost of around €0.080 per word, you can expect to pay around €800. However, the final price will be determined by the proofreading requirements, the speed with which you need the documents and their format. Specialized translations will be more expensive as they require the input of certified translators. Plus, the final cost of the translated documentation can be reduced by using computer-assisted translation applications or by investing in bulk orders.

A Cost-Effective Proposition

High-quality translations must take into account the relevant cultural nuances of your target audience and identify both the tone used in the analyzed texts and the idiomatic expressions that probably do not have a direct equivalent in the target language. Therefore, comprehensive translation work may take a while and thus necessitate a significant financial investment. What translation rates can you expect to pay for your analyzed documentation? This will depend on their content and the language in which you want them to be translated.

Specialized documents that require the expertise of certified translators will fetch a premium. Moreover, if you need translations into languages less commonly used in the business environment, you will have to pay extra. However, ultimately, regardless of costs, the ROI for translation work is significant. When you purchase the services of a professional translator, you pay for the expertise of specialists who possess the necessary certifications and accreditation to justify their translation rates. Certified translations are not necessarily cheap. However, they are the only solution available for legal documents, medical records, or other paperwork required for your professional endeavors.