We translate a large number of websites each year and the most common mistake we find is that client’s don’t think about the flow of data until it is too late.

The single most important question is, “how will I get the text exported out of my site for translation and how will I get the content back in via import?”.

It is incredibly important to think about the potential translation of your site early in the design. If you feel that there is any chance that you will translate your site, please share this with your developer or webmaster as early as possible in the process. If you decide on this too late in the process you run the risk of having a site that is very rigid in terms of  implementing new languages.

The goal is to have an easy way to export the site into XLIFF, XML or HTML format. If the site is data driven or hooked to a content management system like Umbraco you will be able to use a plugin or workflow to achieve this goal.

You should also get a clear understanding of how much embedded text you have in your site. Embedded text would be text that is placed in images or in animations or video and even in downloaded PDF documents. A decision needs to be made whether that content will be translated and if so, how will that be accomplished. If you decide to translate this material just consider that highly complex animation and art with a text layer will have to be modified in each language. So your costs will increase by the same factor as your number of languages.

Next, your translation provider should be able to translate the contents of the site without corrupting any of the tags that are important to the structure of your site. After translation there should be a way for you to import the translated content back into the site/database.

Having a clear understanding on how translated content will flow in and out of your website is the most important thing to consider before even beginning the search for your translation supplier.