Website Translation Software

SYSTRAN Global Enterprise version 6 <-- grab this... bit expensive, but worth it.

Hey John,

Are you using Incansofts Translator? Does the Incansoft Translator work on both html AND self-hosted WP sites? Do you know for a fact that it does NOT create tons of 404 error pages like the free Global Translator Plugin did to my sites (you can check that by logging into your Google Account / Webmaster Tools)?

Would really appreciate the answers to those questions as I'd like to find a decent auto translator that won't mess up my sites.

Thanks
Steve

In experience you will never beat human translation if you need true quality.

As Loz says, Systran looks to be one of the best.

Not tried Interlecta but quote from their site "Our technology does not claim to replace human translators - they are for publication quality translation - what we offer is translation in real-time at quality levels that are unrivaled, fast and inexpensive".

This is spelling it out. The reality of this is that automated translation will get you reasonable quality that may have value in getting your translated pages in SERPs...but as soon as a native gets to see them they'll very quickly know they're auto translated. Think of the english sites you often hit which you know straight off have been written by non English native speakers (not all of course but a fair number)

I'd say best bet to keep translation costs down would be to use native translators for important text, and automated for anything which is search engine focussed only (with the risk that if the native speaker gets to that text they may well be turned off)

Of course, if the product is strong enough and sells itself, you may well get away with language errors/misinterpretations.

Other way is to write your English text for auto translation in a way that the auto translator couldn't get wrong...a difficult task.

Google translates works and it is free. It is true that these translators are not as good as using humans... but the costs to get your websites translated by a human would be quite expensive. But, when individuals see that you are attempting to speak to them in their language, they are not insulted. Try going to Paris and using your high school French lessons... the people are amused.

The translation issue for certain products can become a mute issue if your website includes graphics and video. Pictures are a universal language