At Monica Machado Translation Services we also provide localisation services. In our particular instance, this is mainly provided when translating websites from English into Portuguese. Website localisation consists in adapting an existing website to the language and culture of the target market, therefore adapting it to a different linguistic and cultural context, and involves much more than a simple translation of text.

To localise a website, it is important to know the market the localised website is to serve as well as the product being described or advertised by that website. As an example, we will discuss the work we recently carried out as part of the localisation of Monica Machado Translation Services’s website. Our own website was published only in English a few years ago. The English version was meant to be as complete as possible as it is the face of our business. Although we always intended to have it translated into Portuguese, we were not sure whether the content of the English version was of interest to our prospective Portuguese-speaking market. For instance, would our Company Social Responsibility (CSR) page be understood for what it is in Portugal, where the subject is not entirely known or practiced by much of the Portuguese market? Would our News and Feedback areas be of interest at all or seem rather long and tedious?

After some serious thinking about this issue, we have decided that the Portuguese version of our website would benefit from being smaller and more market-specific. Therefore, we contracted a translator to translate our English website into Portuguese and then Mónica Machado herself carried out the localisation. This process ensured that the translation was accurate but also reflected the market to which it was intended. Some sections deemed of little interest were left out while others were developed further to respond to local market needs. “Prospective clients in local markets look for different things when visiting a website and it is essential that we know this to decide whether to simply translate our website or localise it to a specific market. I have decided to have my website translated into Portuguese first and then localise it myself, but it is possible to localise a website without going into the translation stage first. It is all a matter of choice and you should discuss the best process for your website with the company that is providing this particular language service to you.”, Mónica Machado.

Mónica Machado provides English to Portuguese Translation Services, for Portuguese-speaking African countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe in the areas of Oil and Gas, Environment, Shipping, Mining, Hydro Power, HSE and Social Sciences and International Humanitarian Aid. Fully certified translation services based in the UK.