Why most language company content misses the mark, and a few strategic fixes

As a 20+ year freelance translator/interpreter, content marketing writer, and past president of the American Translators Association, I read a lot of content from companies in the language business. They’re often selling translation, interpreting, localization, AI language technology, speech recognition software, or corporate language training. 

Companies in the language space are generally good communicators: they have something worth saying, and they value good writing. 

But they’re also making a lot of the same mistakes, in ways that are straightforward to fix. Let’s take a look at a few of the most common language industry content fails and what to do differently. 

#1: Too much generic, top-of-funnel content 

Here’s the biggie. A website loaded with vanilla content. “AI is good at some things, and not at others.” “What is machine translation post-editing?” “Translation versus localization: what’s the difference?” 

These topics are valuable to some buyers, but they’ve been done to death. “Whoa, what a great explanation of the difference between simultaneous and consecutive interpreting”…said no client ever. 

Worse yet? Top-of-funnel articles that tease with no real information. “How much does professional translation cost?” No company is going to answer that in a public blog post, so it becomes a rehash of vague “it depends” (the length, the topic, the complexity, the turnaround time) information. 

#2: Process details, not results and benefits 

Most clients are buying language services because they have to, not because they want to. They have zero interest in the process details of what goes on inside a translation, interpreting, localization, or linguistic validation project: they just want the result. 

Too many companies ignore this, with content like “Our rigorous, multi-step QA process includes initial translation by a qualified linguist, editing by a second linguist, target-language proofreading, terminology validation, and a final quality assurance review, in compliance with ISO 1711 standards.” 

The client’s eyes glazed over after “…rigorous, multi-step QA process.” By the time ISO enters the chat, they’re out. 

Instead, show how your QA process works in the real world. “When X client came to us, their previous translation provider used a single-step translation process. It was budget-friendly, but caused complaints from customers, and in one case, even a product recall. We never trust your work to just one pair of eyes. Each project involves a translator, a reviewer, and a QA specialist. We then back our work with a certificate of accuracy.” 

#3: Generic claims, with no evidence 

“Fast, accurate, and affordable.” “Passionate about cross-cultural communication.” 

Undoubtedly, many of those things are true of many language service companies. But when everyone makes those claims, they carry no meaning. 

Instead, try “After every project, we send our clients a satisfaction survey, asking what stood out, and what we can do better next time. In over 80% of these surveys, clients mention our fast response time, zero-fluff quotes, and our willingness to adapt our processes. One client recently commented, ‘They worked within our budget on a complicated project; we felt that we weren’t paying for services we didn’t need, and the services we did need were done right’.” 

#4: Fear of repetition 

Many language companies fear repeating the same message many times. 

“People will get sick of us!” In a multi-channel world, the opposite is true. Most people aren’t going to see your message the first time around, especially when you have to break through an algorithm. 

A sample repurposing flow:

• Create one piece of long-form content on a results and benefits topic
• Send it out via your e-mail list
• Post it to your blog
• Post it as a LinkedIn newsletter to your corporate account
• Post it as a LinkedIn newsletter to your CEO’s (CMO, etc.) account
• Create three LinkedIn posts that each draw on one topic from the piece 
• Create a tip sheet or infographic from the post; then post that to your website and LinkedIn
• Repeat with any other social channels (YouTube, Instagram) that you’re on 
• If you have employees willing to be on video, repeat the cycle with reels focused on one takeaway from the article 

You’ve now created at least nine ways for people to consume the content from this one piece. 

#5: Desperately seeking a purpose 

Clear next steps turn interest into business. Most companies slap a “Request a quote” link at the end of every post, and leave it at that. This is a missed opportunity:

• Use relevant internal links to guide potential clients deeper into the funnel: case studies, downloadable tip sheets, or gated content 
• Share downloadable resources: even if the prospect isn’t ready to buy right now, “Five things to consider when switching clinical trial translation providers” may help them in the future 
• Always include a link to your e-mail list, asking about the prospect’s specific interests so that you can tag and/or segment them. Accompany this with an e-mail welcome sequence (Who asks for more e-mail these days?? Only people who really want to hear from you)

Bonus tip: Outdated content is dragging you down 

2009 was a great year. But vintage content isn’t doing you any SEO favors, and the content probably sounds outdated. Update it, or take it down. 

I write great content for language companies, because I think language companies have something worth saying. In a polarized world, languages bring us together. In the AI era, human-written content gets attention from people and search engines. Informational content tells prospective buyers what your company is about, and how you help with problems like theirs. Storytelling content answers, “What’s it like to work with this company?” You need both; let’s talk about how we might work together (corinne@translatewrite.com).