Blog

Business School for Translators

9 pages a translator’s website should have

Posted by Marta Stelmaszak on Jul 29, 2011 in Uncategorized

Is there anyone out there without a website? Well, you’d better get one then! If you do have one, make sure it has all the necessary pages to make it work!

Home

Home page is very much a leaflet, brochure or even an online business card. Its main goal is to grab attention and encourage people to visit other pages, but also to encapsulate the essence of your services. Make sure your home page is not missing:

Name and surname

Language pair

Translation services you offer

How do you accept files and deliver them

Persuasive content

My website fails here: the only indication of my services is this small button at the top, name and surname is somewhere further down on the right, not a mention about accepting and delivering files. Persuasive content? Not for clients. It’s partly because I want to write for translators. But that’s not an excuse. I can get better on that one!

Services

Either one page with all of them listed, or separate pages for translation, interpreting, proofreading. From what I was told by website designers, customers can’t struggle to find your “products”, the same as you wouldn’t struggle to find anything in a shop. Apparently, the same applies to price tags. I don’t know why so many translators never list their prices online. Why? From the consumer’s or buyer’s point of view, that’s wrong. If I go to a shopping centre (Westfield, if I really have to), and I see a display with no price tags, I don’t go in. It’s a simple idea that they are just hiding something. And customers don’t like being cheated.

Why choose you?

A persuasive and punchy list of ideas why you are the best person on Earth to translate this text. Some people don’t find it necessary. I do. Why? Because I like being persuaded. Clearly, my own website fails here. Already queued in my calendar.

About

“When reading your About page, people want to make a connection with the person behind the pixels”. Well, for that very reason no-one should start with listing down all courses, diplomas and every single word translated. It works in a CV, or further down the page. But clearly there is something more about you than just that. Thank gods my website doesn’t even have an About page!

FAQ

Not applicable for solo translators? Wrong. Helping potential customers find their way and providing answers to any of their questions is a great courtesy they will appreciate. Having said that, I shall start making my own FAQ page!

Testimonials

Self explanatory, and we all know how important it is to have them. What about twitter testimonials? LinkedIn recommendations? WWA from ProZ? Even simple screenshots will work!

Contact

This shortcut really is essential as a page. Nice and clear summary of all possible ways of contacting a translator saves a lot of time. Maybe you can please your customers offering skype? Livechat? Don’t be like me: a lame contact page with an obscure contact form. Yuk! No wonder why no-one ever writes to me!

Marta Stelmaszak

Polski - English - Français translator and interpreter with 6 years of experience, specialising in law, IT, marketing, and business. A member of the Management Committee of the Interpreting Division at the Chartered Institute of Linguists and a Top 25 Twitterer (@mstelmaszak) and Top 25 Facebook Fan Page in Language Lovers 2012.