Did you know that there is one medium of exchange in the world that can act as a common point between people of different cultures, nationalities and countries? This one medium, that makes the world go round—literally—is language.
The importance of language as a medium of communication cannot be undermined. It is the ultimate tool to exchange ideas, thoughts and reflections with one another. However, at the same time, this language can be the biggest barrier to communication—when it is not common.
This is where translation comes in.
Translation is by far the most effective way of making communications between individuals and communities possible. While innumerable translation services might exist to aid you with the translations if you wish to go global, you have to be willing to invest time in choosing the most suitable translation partner for yourself. A good translation job can open doorways to international success for you, a bad translation can make you lose your current standing.
Translation—looking at the costs!
When it comes down to choosing a translation partner, translation rates is one of the top concerns of a business. But how much does translation really cost?
It is a question that might seem simple, but is quite complicated, especially if you are a business in need of a translation for your content.
A recent survey showed that the prices charged by translation companies vary widely for the same product. But a common ground of comparison is required. You cannot compare oranges with apples, after all.
If you are seeking to buy a reliable translation services you will first have to go through the translation expertise your translation agency holds, along with the costs that come with this translation partner. Although there are many ways a translation is prices, translation rates per word is by far the most popular, common, and easy method. Let’s take a look at this method and explore why translation rates per word matter in translation.
Pricing of translation per word
The most common method in localization and translation agency is pricing translation per-word, and it is also the most effective one.
This method is easy to track for the people who execute this translation job—the translators and linguists. They view this pricing model as the one that is fair and justly priced. This is because translators get paid for the time and effort they put in. That depends on the length of the translation document and the word count. A 10,000-word document will obviously require more effort on the part of translator than a 500-word word document.
However, there is one catch to this type of translation pricing model—it does not keep the language in perspective. Some of the languages are more difficult and tough to translate into, which is why they require more effort and time such as Mandarin Chinese. The translation-per-word pricing model does not take into account the complexity of translating into a difficult language, making it difficult for the translators who dedicate time and resources to translate the document.
Another drawback of this pricing model concerns the subject matter of these documents. A document of technical nature, belonging to the engineering discipline or industry is obviously harder to translate than a promotional document specifying the marketing material of a company. When this subject matter is not taken into consideration, it poses a problem for the translators who are seeking to get the job done within the assigned rates and time.
Why pricing-per-word matter?
By this time you might be wondering why translation rates per word matter in translation? And we have the answer for you.
Even though translation pricing-per-word may pose some downsides, it is essential for a translation agency to use this model as it comes with its own set of advantages. Translation pricing per word is the most common method to be adopted by translation agencies and also one of the first one that many companies opt for when choosing a model for pricing for their translation projects.
One of the main reasons for choosing this model is fairness. Other methods of translation pricing such as pricing per-hour and per-page are disadvantageous and could cost valuable time and resources for the company. Another advantage is the transparency, where there is no room for extra charges as this method focuses on a fixed rate per word. Likewise, it is also easy to manage for a translation agency that can assign the projects to its translation experts for an efficient and quick translation.
The Last Word:
Translation rates per word might just be one of the methods by which a translation agency charges its customers, but no one can deny that managing costs is one of the top concerns of a company when it decides to take its operations and processes on the global front. Translation services is the end product, and it is also the means to establish global connections with the international audience. All that is needed is a little foresight, planning and insight to choose the right translation partner.
