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Whether you’re looking to translate a website, a legal document or your latest marketing materials, it’s absolutely essential to hire a professional translator. Producing high-quality translations is about much more than just swapping words from one language to another. It requires cultural sensitivity, subject-matter expertise and a great deal of experience. But can you get everything you need from a freelance translator? Or would you be better off hiring an agency to help you? Let’s take a look at what might make the difference for you.

1. Scope and Complexity

The size and complexity of your document could be a significant factor to consider. If it’s just a small contract, a freelance translator will probably be your best bet. They have fewer overheads, so they’re likely to be cheaper, and they often specialise in certain types of documents, so if you find the right one, you’ll know you’re in safe hands.

However, if you need to translate a large volume quickly, or you need to translate it into multiple languages, an agency will probably be much more effective. They’ll have an army of translators they can turn to so that you get your translation(s) in time. The one downside is that, by splitting up the job between several translators, there can be the risk of inconsistency in style and vocabulary. If you’re not in a rush, a freelancer will take longer, but you can be sure that the style and terminology will be consistent throughout.

2. Quality

As it happens, the quality of service can vary wildly between freelancers and between agencies. As a freelance translator, I include proofreading in my services, but many freelancers do not. An agency is much more likely to include this as part of their quote, and that can give you peace of mind. While many freelancers deliver outstanding translations, it’s always best to check what you’re getting when scouting for quotes.

Many translation agencies have well-defined quality processes that they adhere to rigidly, and this can help minimise errors and reduce the problems I just mentioned about consistency in large documents. As with anything, these extra checks and balances tend to cost more money, which, for technical or legal content, may be worth paying.

3. Specialisation and Subject-matter Expertise

If you need to translate something technical, legal or a marketing campaign, domain-specific knowledge will be critical. Many freelancers have specialist knowledge and experience that they have honed over many years. A large number of them have even worked in their specialist sectors as engineers, lawyers or advertising professionals, and this can give them an edge over generalist translation agencies.

However, there are a number of niche or boutique translation agencies out there that only take on specific work. The important thing is to be sure you know what you’re getting. Many agencies will have highly skilled specialists on their books, but if they don’t, they’re unlikely to tell you that if they think that one of their less-specialised translators might still do a good enough job. In all my years in this profession, I’ve never heard of a translation agency turning down work, but professional translators do it all the time if they don’t think they’re qualified.

4. Communication

Speaking as a freelancer myself, I feel this is a big point that is often overlooked. If you hire a freelance translator, you have direct communication with them. This can greatly speed things up when there are questions or issues that need to be resolved. Freelancers also tend to work on just one job at a time, which means they’re much more flexible and quicker to respond. It ultimately means that the whole collaboration is much closer and productive.

Agencies, on the other hand, are dealing with clients every minute of the day and follow well-defined processes. This can mean that they are slower to reply to questions, whether from the client or the translator. However, if you have a big project to take care of, agencies will be much better equipped to do the heavy lifting so that you don’t have to micro-manage multiple translators.

5. Cost

For many people, this might be the only thing that matters. While I would strongly argue that it is not always the most important factor, I accept that no one is made of money. This is where freelancers really can offer something different. Most agencies have physical offices, equipment, administrative staff, marketing budgets and a whole load of other overheads that mean they have to charge higher rates. Freelance professional translators, on the other hand, only have to worry about themselves, and their prices will be much lower.

Nonetheless, while an agency might be more expensive for basic translations, they often offer other value-added services that might make the difference depending on your needs. Many agencies include services like SEO, desktop publishing or localisation, which not all freelance translators can offer, and being able to find this all under one roof might be worth the extra outlay.

So, which is best for you?

Ultimately, it will all depend on your needs. If you have a huge document that needs translating yesterday, an agency will absolutely be your best choice. But if you’re in less of a rush or you want stylistic consistency in all your technical translations, get in touch today, and we can talk about how I can best help you.