Poll: Do you have your own website as a language professional? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have your own website as a language professional?".
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I do have my own website (www.bpt.com.pt). It has been worthwhile: it's another way of being visible, another marketing tool, a place where interested direct clients and agencies can go to get more detailed information about my portfolio with examples of my translations and testimonials from previous clients. It has gotten me some very good clients…
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 20:12
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
...it's one of those long-term projects that I'm planning to realize "when things will really slow down". But year after year, decade after decade, things just refuse to slow down. In the first, really slow, month of Covid I was really looking into it, but I eventually didn't even get to the design phase before work was pouring in again.
So I kind of hope that I will never manage to create an operational website.
| | | | Aline Amorim 
Brazil
Local time: 15:12
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Yes, but not complete | Oct 20, 2023 |
My site is still under construction and will be fully available in early December/January 2024.
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Isabelle Neely
United States
Local time: 12:12
Member (2016)
English to Dutch
+ ...
I see my website as a digital business card. It's not a very elaborate one (I'm not very savvy that way), it simply states what I do and how to reach me. Go take a look and let me know what you think... www.igntranslations.com
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Isabelle Neely wrote: I see my website as a digital business card. It's not a very elaborate one (I'm not very savvy that way), it simply states what I do and how to reach me. Go take a look and let me know what you think... www.igntranslations.com
As regards your questions:
Need a second opinion on a translated document?
Did you use AI to translate a document?
I think I would charge my full translation rate in this case.
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I've had my own website since 1999 but, for technical reasons, I haven't been able to update it since 2011. It's very poor quality by today's standards but I had a deluge of requests through it: well over a hundred in the early period but the number dwindled to zero fairly rapidly. Unfortunately, it only attracted agencies and clients looking to save money, so I turned down just about every single one. As far as I remember, I only accepted to work for two agencies in Switzerland, a couple in Ger... See more I've had my own website since 1999 but, for technical reasons, I haven't been able to update it since 2011. It's very poor quality by today's standards but I had a deluge of requests through it: well over a hundred in the early period but the number dwindled to zero fairly rapidly. Unfortunately, it only attracted agencies and clients looking to save money, so I turned down just about every single one. As far as I remember, I only accepted to work for two agencies in Switzerland, a couple in Germany and one or two very small direct clients.
What is more interesting is this:
Yesterday I turned down a job offer for a book (wine + history) and the client asked me if I could suggest the name of a colleague, so I dug out a list of translators I'd copied from a Facebook page a couple of years ago and sent it off. Each entry consisted of: name- sectors - e-mail - website.
If you had to choose from 48 names on a list like that, how would you go about it? The easiest way would be to take out the 30 candidates without a website and then look through the sectors covered by the remaining 18 and eliminate those who just do "economics; statistics; accounting; finance" (not good for wine and history) or whatever. 10 remain. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll eliminate the three who start their list of sectors with "medicine" or "finance" and end up with 7 candidates. Now I'll go and take a good long look at their sites and see how they strike me. I'll decide on the 3 most convincing and write and ask if they're available.
Those without a site were struck off the list before the search even began.
I'm not looking for new clients and I don't think my site would help me get any worth having but, as Maria Teresa and Isabelle rightly say, it's a glorified business card. Would you want to run a business without a business card, without a shop window, without an advertisement?
If you're thinking about getting a website, I'd suggest: stop thinking, and get one. Even it only has your contact details and a generic CV. The first impression is, however, important - it's sort of your brand image. You might consider a nice warm colour if you're a nice warm person, a cool professional one if you'd like to be thought of as a cool professional, maybe a picture of some local colour to represent your country, a distinctive typeface that appears on your invoices, or whatever - these things paint a picture of you that's far more convincing and easy to remember than the hackneyed "delivery always on time", "terminological precision", "passionate about my work" that nobody believes - as if we expected you to be always late, with the wrong words and bored with your job! Make it clear that you're not an agency if you aren't one and don't intend to be one. So, nothing elaborate, at least to begin with - but out there. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 14:12
German to English
Late in the last century my mentor advised me to have a web page to advertise my services so I cobbled one together with an expansion of my resume, a personal statement and a collection of "useful" links (which I subsequently abandoned due to required maintenance). At that time people also included pictures of their pets. My initial ISP didn't charge for simple web sites. Eventually I revised the site and switched to a more sophisticated service provider which charged about $40/year. Basically t... See more Late in the last century my mentor advised me to have a web page to advertise my services so I cobbled one together with an expansion of my resume, a personal statement and a collection of "useful" links (which I subsequently abandoned due to required maintenance). At that time people also included pictures of their pets. My initial ISP didn't charge for simple web sites. Eventually I revised the site and switched to a more sophisticated service provider which charged about $40/year. Basically the web presence cost about $1000 over 20 years and the expense was tax-deductible. Most of the queries were for translations of personal memoirs ("my grandfather left a diary of his experiences during the war"), genealogies or product descriptions. There were some "real" jobs that led to relationships with local agencies. Averaged over 20 years, the web site paid for itself, but wasn't a money maker.
However a few agencies told me that when reviewing my résumé, they also looked at my web site which provided more insight into my experience than a two-page summary of my accomplishments. They saw me as a serious translator, not just some random guy with a computer and internet connection.
For a beginner, having a web page is one means of demonstrating that you're a professional willing to invest in your business. In my opinion, if your country's tax code allows the related deduction it's a worthwhile expense. ▲ Collapse
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| | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 19:12
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
It was created in 2014, but the English version needs to be revised. I'm aware that it needs to be improved
I'll take care of it at the beginning of the next year. I'm looking for someone competent and honest and... a native
It's another way of being visible virtually and where any potential client can get to know me and my work a little better.
... See more It was created in 2014, but the English version needs to be revised. I'm aware that it needs to be improved
I'll take care of it at the beginning of the next year. I'm looking for someone competent and honest and... a native
It's another way of being visible virtually and where any potential client can get to know me and my work a little better.
[Edited at 2023-10-22 13:14 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | William Hepner
United States
Local time: 14:12
Member (2022)
Spanish to English
Having my own website has been important to me for years, not only because of the possibility of a combined ownership and visibility that having your own website gives you on the Internet, but because it has an extensive portfolio that I couldn't do without. And the best part is that I can present myself exactly as I wish, without the mediation (or meddling) of larger websites of which I'm a member.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 20:12
French to English
Seems like only those responding yes are bothering to contribute here...
I don't have one. I have draft texts somewhere in my laptop for the day I decide to go ahead, but in the meantime my LinkedIn profile seems to work very well as a business card, since I have had lots of people contacting me there.
My Proz profile, on the other hand, doesn't seem to attract anyone. I've always thought it's because my language pair is common as muck so there's just too many competitors here, but... See more Seems like only those responding yes are bothering to contribute here...
I don't have one. I have draft texts somewhere in my laptop for the day I decide to go ahead, but in the meantime my LinkedIn profile seems to work very well as a business card, since I have had lots of people contacting me there.
My Proz profile, on the other hand, doesn't seem to attract anyone. I've always thought it's because my language pair is common as muck so there's just too many competitors here, but there must be at least as many on LI. I get more queries from translators looking to get a master in translation via the same programme as me (because of something I posted a good ten years ago) than requests for translations. And the clients I have found here are the cheapest ones... ▲ Collapse
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 21:12
Member
English to Turkish
| Just as well | Oct 24, 2023 |
Kay Denney wrote:
I don't have one.
If you had one you'd receive loads of unsolicited applications from translators of all kinds of language pairs.
Why would a direct client look for individual translators for each pair when a translation agency can take care of this for them?
| | | | | Types of market | Oct 27, 2023 |
Baran Keki wrote:
f you had one you'd receive loads of unsolicited applications from translators of all kinds of language pairs.
Why would a direct client look for individual translators for each pair when a translation agency can take care of this for them?
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That may be true for you but it may well not be for others.
If an Italian company, for example, wants to reach sell their products to many different countries, they'll may well have their brochures and stuff translated into 1) English, 2) French, 3) German, 4) Spanish, 5) Japanese, 6) Mandarin, 7) Arabic ... 10) Turkish. In that order.
This means that Turkish will be number 10 on the list, let's say. This Italian company needs a lot of translations, so they'll go through an agency, as you rightly suggest. Translation may weigh quite heavily on their annual budget, so they won't want to spend too much.
In my case, on the other hand, an Italian museum only needs two languages: Italian for Italy and English for the rest of the world. Only having to pay for one language means that they may well avoid going through an agency, since quality can vary enormously if the agency changes translator. They'll also be prepared to pay more, as translation doesn't feature that large in their annual budget.
So, in theory, a good website might attract little of interest for some languages but, again in theory, some good traffic for others. Having said that, I personally have a poor, outdated website and the last time I got a client from it was about ten years ago. For me it's just a visiting card, but for someone working in a niche (Swahili to Urdu) or mass-market language (French to English), it might be helpful.
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