ROI and cost of translation services

What’s the cost of translation services? And what’s the ROI of professional translation services? You may be asking yourself these questions, if you intend to scale your business internationally or want to communicate effectively with a foreign audience for a range of reasons (attracting buyers, offering e-learning materials, and many more).

Read this blog to learn how much translation costs and what its ROI is. You’ll understand what to expect from translation services providers, either agencies or freelancers, and why it’s worth investing in localization.

Table of Contents

1. How much do translation services cost?
2. How are translation costs calculated?
3. What is the ROI of professional translation services?

How much do translation services cost?

The cost of translation services depends on a range of important factors.

First, it depends on the service provider you select. Many translation agencies may have higher rates compared to freelance translators, because there are several layers and people involved in their workflows, from project managers to the finance team and beyond. And how much does a translator cost, if you decide to rely on a freelancer? It depends on the region they’re based in, as each country has its own cost of living. To draw a comparison, dental care costs vary significantly from one country to another. It’s always about teeth, but the maintenance, running and living costs faced by providers are different.

Another important factor that influences the cost of translation services is the language combination. Different languages have different statuses and numbers of speakers. Some languages are spoken in more nations, while others are considered rare. This can influence translation costs in varied ways.

Moreover, the scope of your project is another aspect that can determine the final costs. A standard translation project with 1 round of revision will cost less than one with an additional round of revision from a second pair of eyes, or a project requiring specialized knowledge (e.g., in the medical field) or a more focused approach (e.g., for SEO purposes).

How are translation costs calculated?

Now that you have a better understanding of what determines the cost of translation services, let’s explore the most common price calculation methods.

The most popular pricing model is on a per-word basis. This means that the final cost is calculated based on the number of words in the text to translate (“source text”, in the industry jargon). To make an example, if you need to translate an English text to Italian, the translation provider will consider the original word count and multiply it by their per-word rate. So, how much does translation cost per word? As explained in the previous paragraph, it’s difficult to provide a one-size-fits-all answer, as this depends on a range of factors.

Anyway, this calculation method can’t be applied to all languages. Indeed, different languages have different writing systems, and the price may be calculated on a per-character basis for languages like Chinese or Japanese. Due to their character-based nature, texts in these languages call for a different approach than counting the number of words.

Another existing option in Italy consists of calculating the overall price based on the number of “cartelle”. One “cartella” includes 1500 keystrokes (or characters including spaces) in general contexts, 1800 in editorial contexts and 1375 for legal texts. In German-speaking countries, you may also be provided with a quote that’s based on the number of lines, with one line consisting of 55 characters including spaces.

Different from the calculation methods mentioned so far, which consider the quantity of a specific type of item in the source text, some translation providers prefer pricing their service by the hour. They estimate/track the number of working hours required to complete the project and apply their per-hour rate to calculate the final cost.

Regardless of the calculation method applied, the translation provider may apply a minimum fee for smaller projects, which is a good way to get a suitable payment for all the management aspects involved (from email correspondence to reading your style guides and much more). These are usually well covered when applying a per-quantity rate to bigger projects. But, for example, the standard translation cost per word would be unfeasible for a text consisting only of 10 words.

What is the ROI of professional translation services?

Now that you have an idea of how the cost of translation services is calculated, let’s talk about one of the most important aspects for your business: translation ROI.

If you are a company investing in translation services, you want results. You want to succeed and close deals internationally, meeting clients where they are. And this is where localization ROI becomes evident: if you marketing content speaks to your audience, you’re much more likely to sell your products or services; if your e-commerce interface is user-friendly for foreign buyers, they won’t abandon the shopping cart just because the words used in the checkout UI are too unclear or poorly translated; if your product descriptions are both informative and catchy, customers will be encouraged to complete their purchase. Research by Nimdzi on online buyer behavior revealed that “9 out of 10 global users will ignore your product if it’s not in their native language.”

Apart from that, the higher the quality of a translated text, the better the results you get. Today, there are lots of brands and lots of products out there; to stand out from the crowd, you must grab your (potential) client’s attention. Low-cost shortcuts may look tempting, but relying on them may lead to little success. It’s cheap to have your online shop or website translated by AI, but does it really drive conversions? You may achieve much more with a professional translation that truly resonates with your foreign audience. You should also beware of translation providers that are too cheap, because they will devote less time and attention to your texts.

The ROI of professional translation services can be high, if your investment is smart. The right translator can be a partner who brings much value to the table, ensuring cultural appropriateness, effective delivery of your message, high quality, consistent use of your brand voice and protection of your company’s reputation in the target market.

If you want to get tangible results with your Italian audience, explore my website or check my LinkedIn profile to see how I can help! From marketing content to e-learning materials, from travel & tourism texts to SEO for the Italian market, I’ll be happy to hear from you and discuss how we can partner up to achieve your goals.