Why are commercial translations essential for enterprises?

Commercial translations are fundamental tools for companies operating in international markets. This type of translation is vital if you’re going to ensure suppliers, business partners, employees and customers operating abroad can navigate your website and product pages.

Some readers might be thinking that commercial translations have something to do with advertising. In reality, the term refers to translating content for businesses operating in commerce (both online and offline).

What Is Commercial Translation?

Commercial translations include websites, product pages, and blogs produced by companies operating in multiple markets around the world.

The following could be considered commercial translations:

• legal documents required for trade;
• contracts stipulated with suppliers;
• product/service catalogues;
• business emails sent to customers.

As the field of business translation is so broad, needs can vary significantly from company to company.

For example, legal document translations need to contain accurate terminology. Incorrectly translating even just a single word can have serious ramifications on sales agreements. The use of accurate terms is also essential when translating catalogues, especially when it comes to describing product features.

Both above examples can be categorised as technical-commercial translations.

The use of accurate terms is often a big obstacle when tackling advertising translations. This is where a translator’s creativity comes in. Very often, rather than translating a slogan, advertising translators find it works best to come up with an idea that can bridge the gap between a translation and a totally new concept. This process is technically referred to as transcreation.

Why are commercial translations so important?

Commercial translations give your company a “voice” and identity in the international arena. It is the medium through which your brand conveys its corporate values.

Providing business partners with poor quality translations, or not being able to effectively translate an advertisement, will see you come up against some serious roadblocks, making it impossible for you to establish yourself as an international leader in your sector. Get your hands on effective, high-quality business translations using Eurotrad’s translation services, and be safe in the knowledge that your company will totally avoid the less-than-ideal situations mentioned above.

What sorts of companies rely on commercial translation services?

Generally speaking, all companies that do business abroad should use commercial translation services.

We recommend commissioning commercial translations for all language combinations required for your products/services, or those specific to the markets you intend to target.

Companies operating in international markets might find the commissioning of business translations for all languages pairs to be quite complex. This may be true, but it’s a strategy that will allow you to market your products and services to a specific target audience.

In addition to companies operating in international markets, commercial translation services are very useful to companies with international customers but no base abroad, these might include hospitality and tourist accommodation sectors (hotels, B&Bs, spas, etc.).

Commercial translations: mistakes to avoid

Producing a quality business translation is not that simple. Our advice is to rely on a team of professionals, such as those employed by Eurotrad, to handle the job for you.

Here are a few general mistakes to AVOID when commissioning commercial translations:

• using automatic translation software to produce translations. Although useful in some situations, automatic translators simply cannot convey linguistic nuance in the same way humans can;
• asking in-house employees to do commercial translations for you. Employees who do not have the technical-linguistic skills required to translate complex business texts should not be asked to do so;
• asking a non-professional translator to produce a commercial translation for you; be wary of cheap translation services as they’re often performed by unskilled or inexperienced individuals;
• completing a business translation in-house without having it thoroughly proofread.

We always rely on specialised translators at Eurotrad. Our professionals have the technical and linguistic expertise required to translate all sorts of business texts. In addition, we recommend using our proofreading services to ensure your business translations are perfect from every point of view.