Translating Websites: Is it worth it?

（Edited by freelance Chinese translator li – English to Chinese or Chinese to English translation services）

The simple answer is: it depends.

The real answer involves evaluating your needs and plans to provide services and products, as well as information, to readers in other languages. If you company does business in different countries, chances are that you want to translate your website into the local language. On the other hand, if you are promoting a product locally it is probably not worth it.

Years ago companies debated whether building a website was worth the trouble and expense. How would a website pay for itself? Now, Companies by in large discovered that investing time and resources in a website is worth the effort and many times it represents a mayor portion of their business. With the worldwide reach of the Internet, many are now wondering how to expand beyond their regions and borders.

If the Company is seeking to sell, promote, and educate non-local language markets, there is little option but to translate their website and documentation.

It is estimated that to reach 80% of all Internet users in the world, a website would need to support a minimum of 10 languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Italian, Russian and Portuguese.