Wondering which translation service provider is the right one for you? This question can come up for companies planning to enter a new market in a new country or even when a business is looking to change their current translation company.

Whatever the case may be, the decision is a tough one and involves a lot of hard work and planning, especially when you have so many options to choose from! You want to be sure that the company you decide to partner with has the right kind of expertise and resources to carry out your job professionally.

A business that is entering a new market needs to talk to its potential customers in a language that they understand, keeping their cultural sensitivities in mind. Every market, every industry is different and having the relevant linguistic skills to correctly cater to your target audience is important for any translation job to be well executed. This is where a professional translation company can step in and ease the process of entering a new market for you. Other than marketing, there are other aspects like financial and legal too that need to be looked into to ensure that your business does not get into any unwanted hassles.

Now that we have established why it is important to find a good translation agency, here are some of the ways you can successfully find one:

Clarity on Expertise

Check out your translation company’s website to establish their key expertise areas. If the area of specialization is not clear from their website, talk to the concerned person and get more clarity around this. Texts for translation can be divided into a wide range of categories and it is important to establish the translation agency’s expertise in the required subject area. This should clearly be your first step in establishing your requirements and eliminating the translation companies that do not meet your eligibility criteria.

An Overview of the Agency

It is a good idea to enquire about the translation methods of the agency. There are only a few agencies that only employ manual translation methods where the linguists manually, without any software, support the translations. Most of the translations service providers on the market work with database-supported (so-called translation memories) translation tools to assist in the process in order to ensure consistency. Machine translation is a completely different ballgame where documents are automatically translated by an algorithm. A human-powered translation would ensure that there is higher accuracy and fluidity in the translated work. Each and every multilingual translator is an expert with more than one language and would have a strong command of legal and business jargon.

Adherence to Quality Standards

It is a good idea to check if the translation company comes with international quality standards like ISO 9000 or EN 15038. Holding one of these certificates will give you clear signals that the company is serious about quality and has well defined internal procedures and processes. The translation company can be expected to provide efficient, reliable and transparent services.

Team Structure and Company Size

One of the key things to enquire about is the resources available with the translation company. What is the company size and their team structure? Do they have the capability to handle the kind of translation volume your business will be giving them? It is also a good idea to get to know the people who will be working with you and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you avoid unnecessary roadblocks and bottlenecks in the future.

One of the well-acclaimed translation websites is Stoquart S.A. which is based in Mons Belgium. The company has been on the map since 1986, and its main focus is translating documents into French. They are a full-service provider of internationalization projects including marketing translation, transcreation, content generation, and software localization.