Looking to spread your wings and reach more people? Well, you’ll need localization, and it’s a bit more complex task than a flashy ad or a viral tweet. You need a trusted partner, a professional, and someone who can help your product chat fluently with your target audience. Want to get the key to finding your perfect match? In this article, we will try to explain what to pay attention to when choosing a localization company.
Helpful Insights: How to Spot a Pro Translation Agency
Here, we’ll highlight what to focus on when choosing and searching for a translation agency. We understand that finding the right supplier can be challenging, but as seasoned professionals, we’re here to guide you on what to look for and the questions to ask. Don’t mention it!
Website
This is the first stop. Probably, this is where you land first after hitting the Search button in Google. And it’s all about the words! A translation agency’s website is its online face, and it speaks volumes about its professionalism. First, check if the website is available in a language you understand, and take a close look at the content. Is it well-written, free of language errors, and clear in its messaging? These are all green flags. Don’t just scroll past—dig deeper. A good website should also give you plenty of information about the services they offer, their areas of specialization, their experience, and even their processes. If they’ve taken the time to make their site informative and polished, it’s a sign they’ll likely do the same for your project.
Sharing Expertise in Social Spaces
Next, move beyond the website. How do they present themselves on social media, LinkedIn, and professional platforms? Are they actively engaging in industry discussions, addressing common localization challenges, and sharing practical tips? Do they shed light on pressing industry issues and provide insightful commentary?
If it’s just ads, ads, and more ads, they probably don’t have much to show off. But if their blog and social channels are packed with case studies, real-world insights, and, most importantly, helpful articles, that’s a sign of a pro who’s got something to say. A company that openly discusses trends, best practices, and problem-solving strategies demonstrates confidence in its expertise and a willingness to contribute to the field. Consistently sharing knowledge isn’t just good marketing—it’s a sign of a true industry player.
Language pairs
Boring industry standard requirements are quite straightforward: translators usually translate into their native language and have specializations, meaning they won’t take on legal translation if their expertise lies in technical content. So, remember, translations are to be done by target language native speakers or, in case of challenging language pairs, proofread by native speakers, and ask if your potential agency works with native speakers. It’s the golden rule, everyone!
Company size
Don’t get hung up on the agency’s size or if they’ve got a swanky office. It’s a classic pitfall. What really counts is the who and the how, not the where. There exist multiple language suppliers and single language suppliers. Both can be either reliable or not. Both will involve target language native speakers, who reside in the target country. So what difference does it make where the manager sits? Bigger companies hunt for corporate clients, smaller ones value every client—big or small.
Pricing
Translation costs can be a mixed bag, depending on a bunch of stuff like language pairs, how tricky the text is, and how big the job is. For instance, translating into Hindi can be less costly compared to Finnish. It’s all about the local rates, which should not vary significantly from one language service provider to another. So understand the market rates on the language pairs you require and choose a company that you would be comfortable working and communicating with, who has proper processes in place.
Pro tip: Watch out for suspiciously low rates. They might come with hidden costs like poor quality, missed deadlines, or extra charges for revisions. Quality localization is an investment, not a discount hunt.
Test Drive
Got a big project on the horizon? Ask for a test run. It’s totally cool to want a sneak peek of what you’re getting into. How to estimate the result? It is a complex question, and we will definitely speak about it. But long story short, ask for a third-party review in any other linguistic company, and competition will do the rest.
Communication
If your potential agency actively asks questions and requests additional materials (i.e., term bases, translation memory, etc.), take it as a good sign. It shows they care about the details and want to give you the best.
Pro tip: Clear and responsive communication during the initial stages often reflects how smooth the collaboration will be down the road.
Scope of work
Be clear about what you’re after, create a roadmap for large-scale projects, and spell out your results. It helps nail down the exact cost and to avoid additional tasks later. Remember, translation isn’t just about words; it might include extra goodies like SEO optimization or layout checks.
Ask Like a Pro: Key Questions to Ask Your Potential Partner
Ask them 1: What are your workflows for different content types?
How it should be: Normally, а professional agency adapts their workflow based on the type of content you have. Simple document translation might involve translation and proofreading, while a more complex project, like website localization, could include additional steps such as marketing translation (sometimes called transcreation), SEO, linguistic and functional testing.
Why it matters: Understanding the agency’s processes helps you predict timelines, costs, and overall quality. If they don’t have a structured approach, it may lead to inconsistencies, missed deadlines, or extra costs down the line.
Ask them 2: Who will be working on my project?
How it should be: A reliable agency assigns a consistent team that typically includes a project manager, translators, reviewers, and sometimes additional specialists like localization engineers or DTP experts. A project manager is your main point of contact and oversees the entire process. And the linguists they choose should be either experienced in your required subject matter or have relevant education.
Why it matters: A well-structured team with clear roles is a sign of a professional and reliable agency. Having a dedicated project manager ensures smooth communication, accountability, and streamlined workflows—so you always know who to contact and never have to chase updates.
Ask them 3: What software and tools do you use?
How it should be: A professional agency will leverage industry-leading tools such as SDL Trados, MemoQ, XTM, Smartling, Wordfast, or Phrase. These tools ensure translation memory storage, terminology consistency, and, ultimately, faster turnaround times.
Why it matters: In professional translation, CAT tools are essential—not optional. They help maintain consistency, improve efficiency, and reduce costs by leveraging previously translated content. Without them, projects can become slower, more expensive, and prone to inconsistencies.
Ask them 4: What is your quality assurance process?
How it should be: Quality control goes beyond simple proofreading—it’s a structured, multistep process. A professional agency ensures accuracy through separate editing and proofreading, automated QA tools, and consistency checks with translation memory. For high-visibility content, third-party validation may also be involved.
Why it matters: A solid quality control process safeguards your brand’s reputation and minimizes costly revisions.
Ask them 5: Are you certified or compliant with industry standards?
How it should be: A professional agency follows ISO 17100:2015, which sets strict requirements for translator qualifications, project management, and quality control. If not certified, they should have QA policies aligned with these standards.
Why it matters: Industry standards ensure structured workflows, quality assurance, and accountability. This standard outlines comprehensive requirements for all aspects of the translation process, impacting both the quality and delivery of translation services.
A truly professional agency will be transparent about its processes and willing to adapt to your specific needs. The more confidently they answer these questions, the more likely they have proper processes in place and are to deliver top-tier results. And remember, a great translation won’t come cheap—it’s a team effort, after all. If you plan wisely, your budget will not suffer too much, but the final result will be overwhelming—most Fortune 500 companies put localization as the primary strategy at the earliest stages of their development.
What Our Clients Usually Ask
After you’ve waded through the labyrinth of evaluations and ready to move on to the task at hand, here’s a bunch of inquiries our clients made and the answers we have to them:
How much does it cost to localize a website?
To estimate the cost and turnaround time for website translation, we require the text files. The pricing depends on the word count, the source language, and the target languages. However eager you may be to get the cost of the translation, it is impossible to answer those questions without having your text content exported, or website access granted for us to evaluate its volume. With websites, there is always a lot of repeated text, as well as content hidden from the eye that also needs to be taken care of. But it doesn’t have to be difficult or very time-consuming for you. If you see no choice but to copy and paste text from every page into a Word document, you’re most certainly doing it wrong. Reach out, and we will help you export your content, depending on the content management system you have on your website.
I need to localize subtitles. How do you do it?
Subtitling is a complex process and requires the involvement of people with different expertise. If you believe that a translator sits down to the computer, listens to the video or audio, and writes down the text in the target language, we’ll disappoint you because that is not how things work. First, subtitles are created in the original language. Not those youtube auto-generated ones, but proper human-proofread subtitles, properly structured and grammatically correct. Sure, we use certain automation tools for optimum performance, but this initial step is a prerequisite for quality results and optimal workflow. The second stage is the translation itself. Translating subtitles is a custom task: the goal is to convey the video’s main ideas within two lines of text that viewers can read comfortably in the time they’re displayed. After translation, we create a subtitle file and adjust the timing so that phrases appear at the right moments without delays. We then provide the subtitle file in your preferred format or embed them directly into the video, depending on your needs.
How much does a translation cost?
It could be $50 or $2000. The cost of a translation depends on several factors. Firstly, it is a language combination: the source language and the target language. Not all languages are created equal, and some cost more. Secondly, the number of words in the source text. The more words to translate, the more the cost is. Thirdly, the service type matters too. From translation or machine translation post-editing to TEP and website localization with subsequent localization testing, prices vary. Not so significantly, but the price can also vary on the subject matter of the text and special formatting instructions if the linguists are to use custom tools or when the job implies performing additional steps.
I only have a link to the website. Can you give me a quote?
As we said before, it is impossible to estimate the price of translating a website without analyzing the text content. Anyone who says otherwise takes a wild guess to win the job, and you will probably learn about additional costs on the way.
I need proofreading of my machine-translated documents. Can you do it?
Sure, we can. But (there’s always a “but”, right?) checking machine-translated text is called machine translation post-editing. It is not the same as proofreading because proofreading is mostly a style and grammar check, while post-editing requires the skills of a translator to perform a bilingual check on accuracy, terminology, consistency, and appropriateness of the translated text to the subject matter and it’s correspondence to the source text.
Another important thing: if you want to save on the translation by leveraging machine translation — tell it to the agency. There’s no need for you to do it on your own. Language service providers have professional tools of their own to save time and money and streamline the process for themselves.
Can you handle confidential documents?
Yes, we ensure your information is protected at all times. Every team member signs a non-disclosure agreement, and we take measures to securely store and transmit files.
Can you work with my file type?
We support numerous file formats. We’re sure we can effectively handle yours. Among others, you can send us .php, .html, .txt, .json, .xml, .csv, .docx, .rtf, .txt, or .xlsx, .po, .strings, .js and many more.
Do you offer sworn translation and apostille?
Sometimes, we provide such services to our clients, but our core services are technical and marketing translations.
Can you complete a test task?
Yes. Depending on the volume, specifics, and the number of target languages, it can be free of charge or a paid service.
Do you do urgent translations?
We strive to accommodate our clients’ timelines. For urgent projects, we assess our current workload and may assign multiple translators to meet your deadline while ensuring consistency and quality. Additionally, we offer a rush-rate service for time-sensitive tasks, ensuring no compromise on quality while delivering on tight schedules.
What are your payment terms?
We provide services with full prepayment. For a long-term collaboration, custom terms can be agreed upon to optimize processes for both parties.
Do you do SEO translations?
Absolutely! We help you identify and implement into the translation the most relevant keywords for your target audience in their native language, ensuring your content ranks high in local search engines. This includes optimizing text, meta tags, and even image alt descriptions.
What if I’m not satisfied with the translation?
We will carefully review any well-reasoned feedback you provide. At your request, we can arrange an independent quality assessment of the translation, or you are welcome to seek an external review from another agency. Should the feedback be objective, we will review and correct our translation.
However, it is important to understand that translation is inherently subjective, and there can be multiple correct interpretations of the same text. If you have specific style preferences or terminology requirements, we would appreciate receiving them before the project begins to ensure that we meet your expectations as accurately as possible.
How do you assure quality?
Our QA process involves multiple layers of review, including initial translation, editing, and proofreading by separate linguists. We also use advanced QA tools to spot inconsistencies, terminology errors, and formatting issues.
To learn more about the types of translations, please check here. Read our case studies here.
Final Words: Why Working with a Translation Agency
Is a Pro Move
We’ve spilled all the beans and feel great knowing you’re now equipped with everything you need to know to choose your ideal localization partner. We will be happy to make a match, too. However, if the advantages of working with an agency still aren’t obvious to you, here’s a quick breakdown:
“Many hands make light work”
Collaboration in translation is like a medical team’s collaborative effort for a successful surgery. While not every project demands a collective huddle, the option to bring multiple minds together for particularly challenging tasks, like crafting the perfect slogan, is a unique aspect of a global translation company.
Higher Efficiency in Translation Services
Partnering with a translation agency streamlines your workflow, so you don’t have to worry about staff availability due to vacations or illness. This approach focuses on results rather than hours worked, ensuring efficiency and providing peace of mind without the need for constant oversight of an in-house team.
Technological superiority
Translation agencies utilize different kinds of software based on the workflow, content, and file types. Owning and maintaining such software is costly and may not be financially reasonable to purchase for sole usage.
Multi-tiered quality control
Beyond the standard checks by translators and reviewers, an agency may engage a third party for a comprehensive review, ensuring the translation meets industry standards.
Established roles
Each team member of an agency has a defined role and a set of responsibilities: translator, reviewer, QA engineer, language lead, DTP specialist, a project manager overseeing every step, always ready to address client and team queries, guaranteeing success and quality.
One-stop for all your needs
An agency can cover all your multilingual content needs—one place for any request in any language. The price bites sometimes, but ultimately, it’s worth it.
We’re excited for you to take this knowledge and turn it into action. Your perfect localization partner is out there.