- October 13, 2020
- Posted by: Emeline Jamoul
- Categories: Content Strategy, Translation
As a small business owner, translation-related decisions are hard to make. Most business owners aren’t particularly well versed in the process of translation, let alone how to make it work for your digital marketing campaigns.
So today, we wrote a piece about how to translate your landing pages for lead generation.
We’ll cover:
- What a landing page is
- What the purpose of translating a landing page is
- What a successfully translated landing page should deliver
- How to translate your landing page
Let’s dive in!
What is a landing page?
In digital marketing, a landing page is a standalone page that’s separate from the rest of the content on your website. It’s made for one specific focus or goal: for a single marketing campaign, for a single product, or to download one single PDF.
It’s the place where your visitor “lands” after they’ve clicked on your Google Ad or a link in your email.
Landing pages have a sky-high conversion rate because they’re extremely focused. They serve as a vital step in any sales funnel.
So when and why should you have multiple language versions of your landing page?
Can’t read, won’t buy: the purpose of a foreign language landing page
Let’s look at the data.
Only 25.9% of internet users are native English speakers (source), while 55.5% of all internet content is in English (source). Even though a lot of the world speaks English as a second language, most of them still search in their own language.
There are non-native English speakers who search in English, but that’s mainly due to the lack of available information in their own language. Not because they prefer it.
Studies show that 55% of users prefer to buy in their own language, even if they have a great level of English. We can logically conclude that providing information in their native language, in your landing page, will help your conversions.
Where do landing pages fit into your whole website localization and global content strategy?
Why localizing landing pages is important
Landing pages are a powerful tool on their own, but there are several reasons to consider localizing your landing page into other languages.
For one, it can help you decide whether you should translate your entire website or not. Before investing in translating your whole website, you can translate just the landing page. Then, you can run ads to it to test for demand.
Doing this helps you determine translation ROI and whether the effort is worth it.
Landing pages are critical to lead generation
Most websites aren’t designed to get customers. Well, that’s the goal, but people fail to design them in a way that makes customers give you their information.
They act as business cards or shop windows, but there’s nobody working inside.
Landing pages act as the company representative that takes down your leads’ information. If you’re paying for ads and you’re sending visitors to just your homepage, more than likely you’ll have more bounces than conversions. There are just too many choices for actions to take on a homepage or content page. It’s distracting.
Landing pages guide the customer to take one specific action, and they’ll most likely just take that action if it’s in their own language.
Localized landing pages show your customers you care about them
If you’re pushing ads in their native language and the landing page is in another, that’s a bait and switch technique. It doesn’t make people feel good.
People use landing pages to validate their purchase and make sure they understand the details of what they’re investing in. If they can read it in their own language, they feel better about it.
Localising the landing page shows them that you care about them.
The three main benefits of translating your landing page are showing up higher in search results, improving the user experience, and increasing conversions.
Are you convinced yet?
How to choose a translation partner for your landing page
So now that you know you want to translate your landing page, what are the next steps?
First you need to check that your landing page builder supports multi-language versions. You can localize in most landing page builders using a bit of code or changing the settings. Once you have that sorted, it’s time to choose who will be doing the translation.
There are 4 options, and we recommend 2 of them the most. The options are:
- A boutique translation agency
- A freelance translator
- Machine translation
- A large translation agency
A boutique translation agency for your landing page
Landing page translation requires a combination of SEO expertise, conversion rate optimization, subject-matter expertise, sales copywriting, and cultural nuance. It’s hard to find that all in one person. That’s why a boutique agency works well.
The team is small enough to feel intimate and to work with someone that cares about your success, but it’s also big enough to provide various points of expertise. Plus, if you need to translate your landing page into several languages, you’ll still just work with one touchpoint.
That way, you don’t need to explain your brand voice and goals over and over to each vendor.
A freelance translator
This is one option, and it could be a good one if you find the right translator. You have to find somebody who specialises in all the things we mentioned above, and then you’ll have to find one who works for each language.
You’ll have to manage several different projects at once. It depends on your goals, but this can work well if you’re adamant about working directly with the person translating. You can find freelance translators in translation association directories (we recommend the CBTI if you’re in Belgium or the ITI if you’re looking for mainly UK-based translators) or asking colleagues for recommendations.
Machine translation
We don’t recommend this route, but it’s not just because we provide translation services. As we mentioned above, the whole purpose of localizing a website is to increase conversions and improve the user’s experience.
Machine translation tends to be word-for-word, clunky, and detached from what emotionally drives people to purchase. Additionally, machines don’t do keyword research, and they won’t help you rank your landing page. Machine translation works better when you just need the gist of something or if you just need information.
It doesn’t work to engage people emotionally.
In short, you’d be better off just leaving your landing page in one language than machine translating it, since you wouldn’t be reaping any benefits from a translated landing page.
A large translation agency
This option is best if you have a massive number of languages you want to translate into and you don’t want to deal with several contacts at once. It’s also a good option if you need mass volume done in a shorter amount of time.
Large translation agencies, however, work based on volumes and margin rather than taking the time to help your brand. There’s sometimes poor communication and, frankly, bad translation quality. There’s also little transparency: it’s hard to keep track of who did the translation in case you have any questions.
Need help translating your landing page?
Plume Rouge is a boutique translation agency working in all European languages, specialised in digital content translation. Get in touch to let us know your goals with international expansion, and we’ll see if we’re right to help!