Karolina Sarul
By
May 11, 2023

Why Translation Integrations With Your System Should Matter to You

translation integrationsYour Content Management System (CMS) can be more helpful than you think during a translation and localization project.

 

Most CMSs, platforms, or cloud-based services have the advantage of keeping all content in one place, which is pretty useful in translation. Moreover, with the right translation connectors, a language service provider can quickly build a bridge to your CMS and get all the data directly from the platform.

 

 


 

 

 

Related content: 50+ Translation Integrations that You Should Know About

 

 

 


 

 

 

It may seem like a small thing, but you shouldn’t underestimate its importance. When translators connect directly to your CMS, you get to implement an automated translation workflow that saves you time and money in the long run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more content you need to translate, the more helpful translation connectors for CMSs become. Before we dig further into how automation can benefit your localization project, let’s see what translation connectors are and how they can influence a localization project.

 

 


 

 

 

Related content: A Lack of Translation Integration With Your System: Trouble Alert

 

 

 


 

 

What Exactly Is a Translation Connector for CMS?

 

A translation connector for CMS is an interface that makes possible the data exchange between your multilingual content management system and the tools used for translation. In simple words, we’re talking about software that connects two different systems to enable content sharing with no need for human intervention.

 

The connectors create a perfectly synchronized version of your content on another platform where linguists can proceed with translation and localization processes. This way, you make sure that translators get content and context in real-time, and nothing gets lost during the transfer.

 

Connectivity technology substitutes a series of time-consuming, manual tasks, mainly during the project preparation phase. As a result, you reduce the number of working hours necessary to get your content ready for translation and localization.

 

 


 

 

 

Related content: A Guide to Starting Translation With MadCap Flare

 

 

 


 

 

Moreover, your translation company won’t waste days transferring and structuring your content. So, the automated solution also reduces overall localization costs, besides making your life easier.

 

 

How Do You Know Which Translation Connector to Use?

 

As a general rule, every CMS requires a specific translation connector. What you need to know is that it’s not your job to provide this software. Usually, a professional translation company already has dedicated software, as language service providers get to work with more than 60 such tools regularly. No translation agency should expect the client to provide translation connectors unless they want to.

 

 


 

 

 

Related content: Top 10 Translation Tools That You Should Know About

 

 

 


 

 

If you’re experimenting with a new cloud-based service or CMS, you shouldn’t worry either. The good news is that developers can generate translation connectors for any content management system in the market.

 

So, as long as you rely on a multilingual CMS, you can integrate it with a translation management system successfully. What matters is that your content management system offers automation features and supports all the languages that you’re targeting.

 

Otherwise, you might consider migrating your content to a more flexible CMS before kicking off localization.

 

Streamlining the Translation Process

 

Translation connectors play a significant role in the first stages of localization and continue to be helpful during the project. They ensure consistent information flow between your company and the language service provider.

 

The main benefit comes from the fact that the connector eliminates the need for downloading content from a platform and uploading it into a new one. The result? A series of benefits that streamline the localization process in more than one way.

 

Here are some significant advantages of using connecting technology to establish a direct connection between your content management system and a translation system.

 

 

1) It Speeds up the Localization Process

Without translation connectors for CMSs, you have to take a pretty long route to provide the language service provider with the right files. You need to download web pages, emails, blogs, and other data, then use a third-party platform to share everything with translators.

 

 


 

 

 

Related content: 10 Best Practices for Website Localization

 

 

 


 

 

And the hassle doesn’t stop once you’ve pressed the send button. You also need a tracking system in place where everyone can see the status of each file. Before you know it, you’re drowning in spreadsheets, comments, and back and forth emails.

 

And that’s on your side only. Your translators will have to receive the files and upload them to a translation platform. Besides, they should keep track of all the documents that get in and out of their systems. It adds up tens of working hours wasted on copying and pasting content that you’ll have to pay for.

 

On the other hand, a connector enables you to exchange phrases for translation directly between your CMS and the translation platform. What could have taken days of work gets done in seconds, which means translators can start right away.

 

Better yet, they focus exclusively on the creative tasks, as they don’t have to handle tedious, repetitive work anymore. The same is true when you want your translation provider to connect to your file repository, and not directly to CMS. Although in this scenario, you still need to deal with the files, but it's automated.

 

2) It Eliminates the Risks of Losing Data

Email communication is an effective way to stay in touch with the translation team but losing track of documents over email can quickly become a burden in localization. When you don’t have to share and manage the files manually, you eliminate the risk of losing information on the way.

 

The translation connectors allow you to select the right content, submit it for translation, receive the localized version, and publish it with only a few clicks. Everything happens in one place: a single platform that keeps track of every file for you so that nothing gets lost.

 

3) It Increases Data Security

Connectivity technology reduces the risk of breaches. Translation connectors eliminate the need for moving content manually, so there’s little to no space for data privacy breaches.

 

Since most countries have adopted rigid data protection regulations, companies worldwide need to protect their data more than ever. Any negligence can expose business information or customer sensitive data on the internet.

 

Translation connectors ensure a secure link between the two systems. This way, it becomes almost impossible for third parties to access your backend and make your content available online. 

 

The best part of using connectors is that they don’t interfere with the quality of your website. No one will know it’s there except for you and your language service provider.

 

 

Improving Productivity With Automation

 

Overall, CMS connectors lead to more effective workflows than ever before, as they allow you to automate the entire translation process. Every time you publish a landing page or blog that needs to be translated, the software can automatically pull the content for you and send it to the translation system.

 

 


 

 

 

Related content: How to Reduce Turnaround Time for Content Translation

 

 

 


 

 

Once they receive the content for translation, the translators will prepare the localized version and send it back using the same route. You get to review the translation directly within your multilingual CMS and either send it back for modifications or publish it. Everything happens in one place, with no need for emailing, downloading, copying, pasting, or uploading any files at all.

 

The benefits of automation in content localization are evident. First, you reduce the time between creating new content and publishing multiple versions of it in different languages to meet your time-to-market. Moreover, you can distribute the localized content from a single platform, with no effort.

 

Automation is also known for reducing the number of human errors that are common with manual tasks. In other words, no one will forget about sending the new landing page to the right translator. Just as the German version of the latest blog won’t accidentally make it to your Spanish page and no email containing essential files will be canceled by mistake.

 

Overall, automation means that translators get to focus almost exclusively on localizing content, which means they work better and faster. Plus, as you get rid of manual tasks and time-consuming workflow steps, you automatically reduce localization costs.

 

Popular Multilingual Content Management Systems 

Now that you have an idea of how translation connectors work, let’s see some of the most popular content management systems in localization.

 

WordPress

WordPress is considered to be the most popular content management system worldwide and has an estimated market share of 62.8 percent. Developing a multilingual business website on this platform is almost a breeze, thanks to its multilingual plugin that supports around 120 languages. You can easily translate pages, tags, blog posts, categories, and even themes to the most popular languages for business.

 

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)

AEM isn’t a mainstream content management system, as it’s not an open-source platform. However, many global brands opt for it because top experts tend to see it as the best product in the market. The platform enables you to personalize the user experience for your website visitors and makes content management pretty simple at the same time. An AEM connector allows a fully automated process within translation projects, which means you get a highly effective tool for quality-checks, reviews, and publishing.

 

Craft CMS

Craft CMS is a flexible and user-friendly interface designed for publishers who want more control over their CMS. The platform is similar to WordPress, but it’s easier to use by people with no technical skills. Another significant difference comes with the price; Craft CMS for enterprises isn’t free.

 

You get a live preview feature that helps you to edit content and see changes in real-time. Moreover, it provides efficient, straightforward ways to manage multilingual content. The Craft CMS connector helps you to limit manual steps in the localization project and increase the efficiency of most workflows in the process.

 

Drupal

Drupal is another popular open-source content management system that you can use for a multilingual website - even the White House relies on it. The platform has a user-friendly interface, but it’s more suitable for people who know how to code, rather than non-tech savvy.

 

Drupal is pretty versatile and allows users to create advanced applications to customize the user experience, once you learn how to use it. The Drupal connector streamlines localization, enabling companies to develop and distribute multilingual content faster.

 

Going Global With Automation

Translation connectors are the key to effective localization and simplify a series of processes for you and your employees. You get to organize the entire translation project, increase productivity, and cut down costs - everything through consistent workflows for content localization.

 

As said before, it doesn’t matter what content management system you use. As long as it supports multiple languages, you can connect it to any translation system and automate your localization workflows. This way, you eliminate the hassle of managing files and content, with significant effects on your bottom line.

 


Recommended articles:

7 Tips to Avoid Wasting Your Translation Budget

Are You Making These 4 Mistakes in Your Business Growth?