How Website Design Agencies Can 3x Revenue By Teaming Up With a Translation Agency

You’ve just finished designing a website for a client, and they’re over the moon with the result: great visuals, compelling messaging, a job well done.

Traditionally, this might be where your part of the journey ends. With the website created, you may not have any additional services to offer. Yet you’ve built a good relationship with this client, and it would be in both your best interests to continue working together. It’s time to think about what additional value you could offer your client.

One such avenue for growth could be in providing translation services to your website clients, enabling them to scale their website for new markets without needing to find new suppliers and giving you a way to increase your revenue.

If your client is an international brand, they’ll eventually need their website translated. You’ve probably been asked before if you could help with this next step. But the problem is you don’t have the time or expertise to manage translators and you’re not sure if it would make financial sense for you to go down this route, preferring to stick to your core competencies. After all, you didn’t get into website design to become a translation agency.

But what if you could work with a translation agency partner to provide reliable multilingual services to your clients, while you focus on designing websites without any extra hassle? By teaming up with a translation agency, you can supply multilingual websites and even triple your revenue in the process.

After all, why create just one version of a website for your clients when you can provide them with three?

In this blog, we’ll walk you through how this could work, from examining what your cost breakdown could look like, what the benefits are, and how to go about teaming up with the right type of translation agency.

The Model to Follow

The cost of a website translation is based on word volume and level of expertise among other factors. Keep in mind that the below is an example and that prices may vary, both for you and your translation agency.

Let’s say, as a rough example, you charge €1,000 for a 1-page portfolio website, broken down into:

• €700 for the website design and technology involved.
• €300 for the copy (approx. 600 words) in one language, e.g. English.

Now, how much could you make if you offered a broader, multilingual service to your clients? 

Let’s say you charge €1,475 for a bilingual website. 

You keep €700 to design the website and €300 for the copy.

The additional €475 that you charge breaks down into €300 for the extra language + €175 for the extra website work (25% on top of the original website, i.e. €700).

Next, you pay your translation agency €125 to have the existing web page translated into another language, e.g. French.

This leaves you with a profit margin of €175 for the copy on a bilingual site – taking €125 off of your €300 fee. Depending on the agency you partner with, and their rates for adding additional languages, you may even find that your profit margin increases as you scale up.

Caption: By working with a translation agency you can get more value from the website you’ve already designed for your client.

Benefits of a web design agency working with a translation agency

Aside from the increased profit mentioned above, what can you gain from working with a translation agency? Let’s look at the benefits together:

Some translation agencies also write copy

Coming up with compelling website copy can be challenging for brands. Especially “internet newbies” (such as former high street shops now selling online) may struggle here. Writing copy may also be outside of your area of expertise as a website design agency.

This is where a translation agency that also offers content creation like Plume Rouge can step in. If you let the multilingual copywriting experts take this task off your hands, you’ll also end up having more time to design – and isn’t that where you really shine?

Offer more services to your clients

Translation agencies can help you cover many additional language services besides translation:

• International SEO: Most businesses want their website to rank high on search engines, but how do you get there? Some translation agencies specialise in SEO translation or even international SEO. What does this mean for your international clients? It eliminates the need to hire an SEO specialist for each target language and puts their website on the (world) map.
• Transcreation: This service blends translation and copywriting into one. The point here is to localise copy into not only another language but also another culture. This way, you’re avoiding embarrassing cultural faux pas and ensuring content keeps its intended meaning. Especially when dealing with creative marketing copy, it makes a lot of sense to consider transcreation.
• Content consultation: If you’re dealing with clients who are expanding globally, then global content consultation is exactly what they need. Translation agencies work with a multitude of languages every day. As a result, they have a vast amount of knowledge when it comes to multicultural marketing. Who better to ask for advice? 

Streamline your workflow

If the idea of broadening your services with the help of a translation agency sounds great to you, then you’re probably wondering how complicated it would be to make it happen.

The good news? It’s not complicated at all.

Translation agencies are already used to dealing with several freelancers for multiple languages and coordinating jobs, deadlines, and rates. They can find the right translator for your clients’ needs while providing reliable and fast service. 

You have 2 options for how to work with a translation agency. Either:

• Have the agency charge your clients directly for each individual service.
• Or incorporate these services in a package deal for your clients, i.e. you sell the web design as well as the translation services.

 With the second option, your clients can get everything they need from a single source: you!

The easiest process to follow is so-called white label work. In this case, that would mean your client gets a website with copy in however many languages necessary, while the translation agency remains “behind the scenes”. From their perspective, you are the sole provider.

This also removes complications should you decide to switch to a different translation agency in the future.

A great side outcome of this collaboration method is that you and your translation agency can refer clients to each other and become a go-to service provider for multilingual branding needs.

So, how do you get a translation agency on board?

Finding the right translation agency for your clients

Keep the following pointers in mind when looking for a translation agency partner.

Need some guidance? Get in touch! We’re here to help.

Niche industries

Depending on what type of brands you design websites for, you’ll want to cover at least a niche or two. Let’s look at an example.

Let’s say you’ve worked with brands in the luxury goods industry before and had a great experience. In the future, you’d like to create more websites for consumers of similar goods. In this case, you might want to find a translation agency that has done a lot of work within this area already, translating for designer a handbag brand website.

Partnering with a translation agency whose niche matches your client’s is a great way to ensure a perfect synergy between your offerings.

You can find out about a translation agency’s specialisations on their website. Most will have one to several specialisations that are clear and listed for the public.

Core values

Your clients will feel more deeply understood if the copy you provide reflects their values. Imagine an ecological fashion brand asks you to create a website for them and sustainability is one of their stated core values. 

In this case, creating copy that’s focused on the environment is key here. For instance, at Plume Rouge we care about environmentalism, and we work with translators who do too. You can find out about a translation agency’s values by having a look at their About us section or case studies.

Take a look at the core values of your clients and compare those with those of the translation agencies you’re considering partnering with.

Caption: Reflecting the core values of your clients is important to you – so you’ll need to find a translation agency that understands those values.

Required languages

Let’s say your client’s goal is to address the western European market. They’ll need to have their website translated into many European languages such as French, Dutch, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish. Can you make that happen for them?

If so, that’ll be a great way to differentiate yourself against other agencies and to offer your clients increased value. They’ll be willing to pay more for this level of convenience. Plus, the style and TOV will be more consistent coming from one source. Check the available language options to cover your bases when browsing translation agencies to work with. 

Start expanding your services today

If you want to offer more to your clients than pure web design and increase your revenue in the process, without straying too far from your core competencies as a business, then pairing up with a translation agency is a great way to do that.

With the right type of translation agency by your side, you’ll possibly be able to offer copywriting, international SEO, and content services that you currently can’t provide in-house. Your clients will appreciate the convenience of an all-in-one solution that saves them time and headaches while you’ll appreciate the extra profit that comes your way.

Speak to us to find out how we can help you easily expand your service offering.Are you a website design agency that wants to offer more to your clients? We help you expand your current offer and keep your clients happy. Get in touch today.