Reasons You Shouldn’t Use Auto Translate Tools

April 12, 2021

There are many different ways that you can go about translate a piece of text today. For example, you could pay for someone to translate the text for you. You could opt to have the text translated via the use of software. Or, you can even use the free translation services that are available on the Internet. 

A lot of people overlook professional translation services in favour of using auto translate tools, such as, Google translate. This is, of course, because such tools are free, and all businesses want to reduce their expenses wherever possible. But, this is not something you should be cutting back on, and below we reveal the reasons why. 

You are not guarantee accurate results if you use auto translate tools 

First and foremost, there are accuracy problems when using auto translate tools. This is to be expected. After all, technology cannot match up with human skill when it comes to something like this. There is always the risk that the translation is going to be unnatural or simply incorrect. And, you have no way to tell if it is accurate or not, meaning you could put something on your website that makes no sense. This would be very embarrassing and show a lack of professionalism. 

Remember, quality will differ from tool to tool and there is nothing that can compete with using the services of a native speaker 

Moreover, the quality of these tools is going to vary from language pair to language pair. Therefore, if you need document translation for a rare language pair, you may find auto translation tools completely useless. You also need to consider the fact that professional translation services will implement careful quality control. Native speakers will review the document to ensure that everything makes sense and reads naturally. 

You cannot achieve that natural, conversational style when you are using auto translate tools 

Do you plan on using the content for online purposes? If so, using an auto translate solution could actually decrease your SEO ranking. This is something that Google themselves have admitted. This is because the content will sound unnatural and robotic, and this will decrease the quality of your website. However, if you go for a professional service you can expect your ranking to increase considerably.

When you consider all of the points above, it is not difficult to see why translation services are a must if your business is to maintain a professional brand image. There are many drawbacks and concerns that are associated with going down the automatic translation route, which is why it makes the most sense to not cut corners. 

Instead, you should make sure that you take the time to look for a professional translation company with plenty of experience in the industry and a good reputation. You want to be sure that they have handled many requests like yours before and that they have a good reputation for their quality and reliability.

Mark Asquith

That British podcast guy, Mark is co-founder of Captivate.fm, the world's only growth-oriented podcast host. A Harvard, TEDx, Podcast Movement and Podfest speaker (amongst many more!), he's a wildly approachable Brit and Star Wars/DC Comics geek.

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