Choosing a language translation agency in Manchester is more challenging than you might expect. The Association of Translation Companies (ATC) conducts surveys on UK language service providers annually. They recently reported that the UK has approximately 1,600 language service providers offering to translate languages and provide business services. Unsurprisingly, many of these are in the UK’s biggest cities, so choosing one Manchester translation agency can be daunting!

If you need to translate languages but are unsure how to begin your search for a language partner, you’re in the right place. This guide gives you five simple steps for finding a reputable translation agency in Manchester that produces accurate and professional translations.

How to Find the Best Translation Agency in Manchester

With so many language service providers to choose from, where should you begin looking for a language translation agency in Manchester? Like any successful project, it’s critical to start by considering why you need to translate languages in the first place. You must then define precisely what needs to be done and the quality of the final outcome. In other words, finding the best Manchester translation agency is unique and depends on your wants, needs, and preferences. These five steps walk you through the process:

1. Confirm Why You Need a Manchester Translation Agency

Ensure you’re clear about your reasons for hiring a language translation agency. This helps you decide whether you need a professional translator for the project or can rely on a quick and affordable machine translation.

More than likely, Google Translate or other technology applications will fail to translate languages to your required level of accuracy. Machine translations are often full of translation mistakes. As such, hiring a professional translation agency in Manchester is recommended for all important translations, such as business-related translations, legal translations, and government translations.

Working with a professional translator has many additional benefits, too. For example, they can provide valuable pre-project consulting to ensure your translation project goals are met efficiently with high-quality and accurate final deliverables. If you’re still unsure whether you need a professional Manchester translation agency, read this blog outlining three reasons to work with an agency.

2. Decide Your Project Requirements

A good language translation agency will guide you through the project definition stages. However, it’s best to approach a Manchester translation agency with a pre-determined idea of your goals, timeline, and budget. Contacting agencies that cannot meet your requirements is a waste of time. Likewise, if the agency is charging fees outside your budget, there is no need to contact these firms.

If you are still getting familiar with the pricing structures in the language services industry, read about the factors that may impact your project quote in our blog here. If you need to translate to languages quickly or require unusual language combinations, this will typically be reflected in the price.

3. Decide What Translation Services You Need

The translation industry has no shortage of both freelancer translators and professional translation agencies. Both have advantages, and choosing the best fit for your specific translation project should be the primary criteria you review.

Whether working with freelancers or a language translation agency in Manchester, ensure that you:

• Find a language services provider that is a native speaker of the target language and fluent in the source language. If you need to translate to languages that are less widely spoken, agencies with extensive networks are your best bet.
• Find a translator with knowledge regarding the content of the source document. Keep in mind that not all qualified translators have the specific skills and expertise needed to translate all types of content, especially technical translations.

4. Identify & Contact Suitable Translation Partners

Now that you have narrowed down the parameters of your translation project, you have an idea of what type of language translation agency will meet your needs. It is now time to identify and contact potential partners to translate languages for your business.

We have already touched on two crucial considerations before contacting any Manchester translation agency: native language speakers and subject matter expertise. However, there are several other ways to identify a good translator, including:

• Years of professional translation experience. You ideally want at least five years of experience translating content similar to your project.
• Whether the translators have passed a proficiency test. Translation agencies usually require this before the linguists are accepted into their network
• Writing style, tone of voice, and general writing talent. You can ask for samples of work written in your native tongue to get an idea of their writing abilities.
• Expensive in using translation tools such as TM, TMS, and TMM. These all help improve the efficiency and consistency of your projects.

5. Work with Your Language Partner

Once you have found a translation agency in Manchester that meets all your requirements, sign a contract to make things official. Ensure you’re happy with the translation fees and that the quote specifies your goals, timeline, budget, and final deliverables.

Once the service contract with your new language translation agency is in place, you will want to do everything you can to guarantee that the agency is able to translate languages smoothly. We recommend following these best practices for working with a translation agency. These tips include communicating your project clearly and the communication you can expect.

Your Trusted Manchester Translation Agency

Renaissance Translations is a professional language translation agency offering high-quality translation services in over 120 languages. We are a Manchester translation agency, but our 5,000+ native linguists are positioned around the globe. This ensures we can work around the clock to deliver your translation on time and can account for the cultural nuances of your target language.

We take your translation projects very seriously and would be honoured to be your preferred translation partner. Contact us today to discuss your translation project or get a quote to learn how much it costs us to translate languages.