French Website Translation

French Website Translation Approach

Websites can usually be translated in several different ways depending on how they were built and on your ability to export, extract or provide the content or source files to be translated. Each way of translating has advantages and disadvantages for you and for me and therefore is subject to different pricing since time and formatting related work may vary greatly.

Document Delivered in Word, Excel, Powerpoint or Text Files

This is the simplest option of all. You send me files with the content of your website in a Word document (or csv or xls), I will count the number of words, provide you with a quote and return the French website translation within the expected timeframe. If your document(s) contain(s) code (i.e.: xml, html or php), I will exclude all non-translatable code from the final word count by tagging it. You can also send me a MySql or CSV export of your database if that makes things easier for you. In the case of very repetitive documents or very large volumes, I may apply discounts. Please note that my word counts are not necessarily based on the amount of words indicated by MS Word since I use industry-standard tools to perform the count (Practicount and Trados).

Translation Directly in Your CMS

If Word or Excel documents are not an option, and you prefer to have me translate in French directly into your Content Management System, I can do it as well! I am quite familiar with WordPress, just to name an example, but I can also find my way around systems like Joomla and Drupal provided I receive clear instructions on how to proceed. I am technically savvy enough to understand your custom-built CMS as well. However, note that since I will not be able to use a Computer Assisted Translation tool like Trados, my rate per word could be slightly higher than the rates I typically charge for standard translation in Word or HTML documents.

Translation Based on a Domain Name or URL

I can translate php or html based text into French directly in the source code thanks to an array of translation tools (like Trados or Wordfast) which parse out the content, allowing me to focus on the translatable sections of the documents without having to worry about the source code. However, I am familiar with html and have a sound understanding of variables and their role in php and asp files for instance.

Translation of Graphical Elements

It is always recommended to avoid embedding text in images if you intend to localize your website into French or other languages since it complicates the localization process. However, if you have such text in images and Flash presentations, I typically provide you with the French translations in an Excel spreadsheet with two columns: The original and its French translation. Unfortunately, I do not possess the DTP skills necessary to integrate the translation into your jpg, gif or png files.

My main area of focus is French, but I also provide outsourced translation services in English, Spanish, German, Dutch, and Italian.

French Translation Rates

Given that the number of words on a page can vary significantly, my translation rates are per word, not per page. That is another reason why I need to receive the document, since indicating the number of pages will not help me to easily evaluate the scope of the job. As a rule of thumb, I charge an average of EUR 0.11/ USD 0.14 for translations and apply an hourly rate of EUR30 / USD40 for editing, proofreading and non-translation related work.