The Technologies of Translation. The need-to-know about three popular content localization technologies: proxy, connectors and APIs.

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1 The Technologies of Translation The need-to-know about three popular content localization technologies: proxy, connectors and APIs.

2 Introduction It may surprise you, but translating and localizing content for global websites and other marketing channels from social platforms to printed collateral is fundamentally a technology issue. Of course, translation quality and accuracy are important. But when you look at the process of managing localized content, it s clear that automation and software should play a pivotal role: Exporting translatable content from your CMS or other backend system Transmitting the content to a translator Managing the translation workflow Receiving the translated content Storing it in your backend system Populate or update your localized website and marketing materials 2

3 Three different technologies can be used to power this complicated workflow: a proxy-based solution, an application programming interface (API) and a CMS connector. Each has advantages and disadvantages, although in different proportions. This e-book will walk you through these three approaches, and help you select the one that best matches your requirements. 3

4 Table of Contents Introduction...2 The Turn-Key Proxy...5 Smoother, Faster, Easier...7 The CMS Connector...9 The API The Turn-Key Proxy/API Hybrid Conclusion About MotionPoint

5 The Turn-Key Proxy A fully turn-key proxy-based solution is the simplest and easiest way to launch and operate a translated website. This approach minimizes complexity and effort for your organization by automating tasks and actions, or handling them behind the scenes. This approach smartly leverages the code and content of your original website to create localized versions for global markets. Thanks to proxy technology, your translated sites have the same functionality, performance, and look and feel of your flagship primary-market site. 5

6 With this solution, no customer-side effort is required at the launch of a localized site, or on an ongoing basis. For instance: To keep your global sites synchronized with your flagship site, change-detection technologies regularly crawl your flagship site for new content as it s published or revised. The technology then automatically schedules this content for translation, without any notification or involvement from your team. Once the translated content is stored in the system s database of translations (called translation memory ), it can be pulled to populate the localized proxy site. Technology Snapshot: The Proxy Solution In brief, here s how the turn-key proxy solution works: When global customers interact with your translated site, their clicks and commands aren t routed to your server. They re first routed to a translation server. This special server understands what page the customer wants to view, and knows what content exists on that page. It identifies the proper translated content, stored in translation memory as many segments, to route back to the user. Your original website s code and this translated content are then merged into a localized webpage. All content including graphics and text, alt tags and metadata is replaced. This localized page is then transmitted to the customer. The entire process occurs instantly. 6

7 Smoother, Faster, Easier Unlike old-school parallel websites or small microsites which involve building and maintaining entirely separate, localized experiences for each market the fully turn-key solution allows you to spin up a global site easily and effortlessly. The best proxy solutions are omnivorous. They can detect and translate content in every format and type, not just text. They support third-party content (such as customer feedback systems) e-commerce functionality, graphics, multimedia, applications and more. This ensures your international customers receive the same rich online experiences as those coming to your primary site. 7

8 Other key benefits include: SIMPLICITY: Relieves your organization of the effort, time and training needed to translate, launch and maintain one or more localized sites. SPEED: Rapid launch of new localized sites in as few as 30 days to help accelerate your entry into global markets. COST-EFFECTIVENESS: Instead of hiring new staff and purchasing technology to handle each localized site, your organization can hand over the entire workflow, including translation and operations, to the turn-key proxy provider. Omnichannel Content With the right complementary capabilities, a turn-key proxy solution can also enable you to retrieve and repurpose your translations for multichannel use. Any localized content stored in your translation memory database can be used for print collateral, social media posts, presentations and more. 8

9 The CMS Connector If your organization uses a CMS or product information management (PIM) system, you may be familiar with connectors, sometimes called cartridges. Organizations that prefer to store and control translated content internally (rather than have a translation vendor retain it) may choose a connector as their integration technology. The connector allows content to be transmitted to the vendor s system for translation, and then back to the CMS for publication. 9

10 This appears to be an ideal way to build pipelines between CMS-powered global websites and translation vendors. But in practice, connectors rarely work as advertised. Why? Connectors are standardized, pre-configured solutions designed for common use cases They don t get along with customized CMSs or PIMs The modifications required to bridge connectors with content platforms are timeand effort-intensive Connectors often break after updates to CMS software or security upgrades Brittle connectors cause delays or interruptions to translation workflows 10

11 Companies lacking in-house teams need to outsource this work, adding development costs. Organizations using connectors face an ongoing struggle to maintain compatibility with their CMS or PIM platforms. Companies lacking in-house development teams need to outsource this work, adding costs and complexity. Another downside to connectors is their limited scope. Unlike a turn-key proxy solution, or an API (discussed in the next section), a connector cannot process content for your website or other channels outside the platform it supports. This may mean implementing a separate method for handling special material such as content from third-party services, web applications and even graphics. 11

12 The API Although the turn-key proxy approach is the most elegant and effortless solution for launching and maintaining localized websites, an API is ideal for some organizations. 12

13 An API, typically supplied by your translation service provider, has a much broader scope than a connector. It allows you to create pipelines between the CMS or a non-website content source and your translation service. That means you have the flexibility to create a workflow for any type of content requiring translation, not just the information stored in your CMS. Further, APIs avoid the incompatibility issues of connectors by empowering you to develop a tailored interface that works with your particular system. While this requires some development work, great translation vendors provide clear documentation to reduce your time and effort. Omnichannel Content An API makes it easy to translate content for channels far beyond your localized website. Great vendors save you money by using the API to access existing translations from your translation memory for multichannel use. Because this content is already translated, edited and approved, great vendors provide this content at no additional cost. If the content you submit via the API hasn t yet been localized, leading vendors can translate and deliver it in one business day or less. 13

14 The Turn-Key Proxy/API Hybrid For the easiest website localization process, plus the flexibility and control desired by many organizations, you can combine the power of a turn-key proxy solution with an API: Use the proxy to handle the complexity of website translation and operation Use the API to retrieve and repurpose translation memory for all other channels 14

15 These solutions work together to help you easily engage digital customers where they work, live, and play. Here is an example of how MotionPoint s proxy solution and API work together: Order confirmation When a user completes checkout on a translated web page, MotionPoint s web server communicates with your web server to deliver the localized order completed web page to the user. This page has been translated with the turn-key proxy solution. What about the accompanying order confirmation ? This often lives in a marketing platform like Hubspot or Marketo, outside of your web server. In this instance, your server can use metadata to detect that an order was completed on the translated web page, and communicate with MotionPoint s API to acquire a translated version of your order confirmation . This is sent to the user. Another excellent use-case is the translation of native smartphone apps: Many companies offer mobile apps that complement their websites, letting users shop, make reservations, access their bank accounts and more, all from the convenience of their smartphones. 15

16 These apps might share many features and functions with your website, but one important difference is that these apps content and code don t live in your web server. This means it s beyond the reach of MotionPoint s proxy solution. With MotionPoint s API, however, the content can be sent to MotionPoint for translation. Since the API is compatible with formats from plain text to HTML, XML, and even JSON, text strings can be sent, translated and returned as-is. All you have to do is load the translated content into your app, and create multiple app builds for different languages. Just like MotionPoint s proxy solution, our API takes advantage of your translation memory. Any app content that appears also on your website is translated at no additional charge. The cost-savings makes it almost effortless for companies with translated websites and native apps to offer their global users a complete localized experience. Omnichannel Content MotionPoint s hybrid proxy / API solution also saves you money when you leverage your translations for omnichannel use. Localized content stored in your translation memory can be used and repurposed for any channel, at any time you wish, at no additional cost. You only pay for content submitted via the API that hasn t yet been localized, which is translated and delivered within one business day. Examples of omnichannel content includes, but is not limited to: templates Native apps Affiliate feeds Dynamic PDFs Indexes for onsite search Catalogues, marketing materials and other offline documents 16

17 Conclusion Many organizations seek the productivity advantages of technology automation, but are reluctant to give complete control to a third-party system. As more companies strive to enter international markets, they are torn between the need for a fast ramp-up and the desire to retain involvement with the process. You can achieve that balance by combining a turn-key proxy solution for website localization with APIs that connect content databases (such as your CMS) to your translation memory. The proxy solution minimizes your effort and involvement with the localized site, freeing your team to focus on enhancing and maintaining your primary site. The API, which your company customizes in-house, gives you the freedom to support any channel you wish with translated content. 17

18 ??? So, where does that leave the third option, the connector? Out in the cold, unfortunately. Connectors have significant limitations unreliability, frequent customization, limited scope which often make them more trouble than they re worth. For translating omnichannel and website content, the fully turn-key proxy approach and robust APIs strike the perfect balance between the hands-off and hands-on control marketers crave. 18

19 About MotionPoint MotionPoint solves the operational complexity and cost of website localization. Unlike all other approaches, our technology and turn-key solution are built specifically for this purpose. We translate, deploy, and operate multilingual websites, optimizing the customer experience across all channels.

20 MotionPoint Corporation United States Lyons Technology Center 4661 Johnson Road Coconut Creek, FL Europe Regus Cibeles Calle de Alcalá 61, Room Madrid