The first option is to build a separate website altogether. Here’s the best and most common translation options we recommend: Once you decide that web translation is an important part of your communication strategy, it’s time to choose the best method to serve your multilingual audience. There are many factors to consider and there isn’t a simple, one-size-fits-all solution. So what do we recommend to translate a website? If an engaged non-English speaking community doesn’t exist in your area, spend your time identifying and focusing on your core audience(s) instead. Frankly, you’d expect to have to do some translation yourself.

Would you be disappointed if the Japanese church website didn’t include specially crafted English content? Probably not. A lot of the work is already being done for you!īefore you invest time and money into extra website translation efforts, imagine this scenario: You’re spending a year in Japan and are looking for a Catholic church. If a person accesses a site not in their native language, the browser’s translator kicks in and offers translation assistance. This allows users to set their language preference and surf away. Remember that popular web browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Edge already have language/translation tools built into their settings (or available as an extension). Today's technology largely handles the translation problem itself. You could be creating an expectation online that can’t be met in person. Your website is meant to encourage an initial digital interaction it should ultimately catapult people toward an actual physical interaction with your organization.If you can’t serve an audience’s needs beyond a simple online sentence translation, perhaps translating isn’t necessary. Here’s the first question I always ask them: Do you really need to translate?įirst, evaluate whether you actually need to cater to another audience in their native language. I travel all over the US and have worked with countless parishes, dioceses, and Catholic ministries on the topic of translating websites. I still dream in Spanish, communicate with my family in Spanish, talk to my friends in German, but I have no problem reading in English. However, when executed well, the personal touch of multilingual content can make a noticeable difference in your ministry. And serving audiences that speak different languages can get messy. Want to translate a website or webpage? Unfortunately, translating an entire website can be a big task.

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