Lost in Translation

Walmart Employee: "Hello 'dis Walmarts, how can I help you?"
Suzanne: " I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week."
Walmart Employee: "What you want on the cake?"
Suzanne: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that "We will miss you".

(Source: email from a friend)

I could not stop laughing when I read that dialog and saw the picture! :)

Have you heard about the phrase "Lost in Translation"? Well, if this "lost in translation" occurs between people who are communicating with each other using the same language (in this case English), just pause for a second and imagine all that may get "lost in translation" in a message when there's an actual translation from one language to another (for instance, from English to Spanish or vice versa)!

If you like this blog post, please bookmark/share:

How many times or cases have we seen or heard when the translation does not properly address the target market? To remedy this situation, when translating your English website to Spanish, choose a partner that has expertise on that business. Otherwise, the added sales and profits from a Spanish language website could be lost.

Having your English website translated to Spanish requires the consideration of colloquial phrases and grammatical interpretation that is unique to an area. Many machine translation services will produce a generic result that gives the basic idea but misses the finer points. By using a language translation website that provides personalized service with individuals who look at each word and phrase, the smaller details are considered and the translation is focused on the targeted market. Spanish idiomatic expressions are not consistent across Latin America. Sometimes a small misinterpreted phrase or message can cause a potential customer to reconsider completing a business transaction.

So remember, as a small business owner who gains sales through the Internet, a good question to ask is whether translating your English website to Spanish will increase your sales potential. Most likely the answer will be yes particularly if the services offered by a reliable language translation website are employed.

For more information: Identifying your audience and delivering localized web content

How to Translate your META Tags from English to Spanish

The world of search engine optimization has now forced itself into the life of the internet. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is now considered something nearly everyone owning a web page or online business must consider. The theory of SEO is to try to increase the amount of key words in the body of your website so when those using a search engine type in those words, your site will be among the ones being listed. The simple fact is SEO is a form of advertisement. By changing your website to fit future customers’ interest, it’s possible to lure them to your page and convince them to use what you have to offer. There are thousands of web sites out there exactly like yours, and it is imperative to use SEO to enhance your website.

Once your website business becomes useful, it may be time use Spanish SEO. In other words, translating your META tags to Spanish will help Spanish search engines list your site along with other Spanish web content. This is because, like every other search engine, when a word is typed in the search engine looks through every website containing the Spanish on-page content. This means that translating your META tags to Spanish properly will undoubtedly expand your diversity, bringing in more leads and more customers.

Landing page testing for better performance and conversion rates

Some people say you have to be willing to suffer through the short term pain of landing page testing in order to get the long term gain of a better performance and better conversion numbers. If you don’t understand the point in taking the risk or you don’t understand the point at all, you may want to consider taking the risk. Your landing page is essentially your home page, or the page that appears when a consumer clicks on your link. It takes practice to achieve perfection, and you may need to try different Spanish SEO strategies in order to achieve that higher conversion number you’ve been searching for. Taking the pain of landing pain testing allows you to find the right landing page to attract your consumers. If you don’t try new things, you may always be stuck with the same number with no new results. Without a change in results, you may never see better results.

Of course, translating your entire body text to Spanish will result in a better Spanish SEO. Nevertheless, for some websites, this may not even be necessary in an early stage. Maybe simply translating the META tags and having a few entry pages in Spanish can do the trick. Of course, until having the entire site translated to Spanish and fully optimized makes more economic sense.

For more information about writing and maintaining a Spanish blog, feel free to contact Hispanic Market Advisors.

Connect with Hispanic Market Advisors
* Follow Hispanic Market Advisors on Twitter
* Get updates from Hispanic Market Advisors on Facebook