Raising Invoice for Website Translation
Thread poster: junior.K
junior.K
junior.K
Cote D'ivoire
Local time: 15:58
English to French
+ ...
May 13, 2015

Hi Everyone,

I have recently started a business as Translator and Interpreter after working for years in a company for the same position.
Now I have settled my own business and, I have got my very first Website translation, I admit it's hard to find the right way to quote as my client is requesting a quotation.

I would be grateful if you could tell me you proceed quoting for a website translation.

Thanking you,

JK.


 
Suzanne Smart (X)
Suzanne Smart (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:58
Italian to English
+ ...
Word count May 14, 2015

Hi JK,
Congratulations on going freelance!
In what format are you carrying out the translation - I mean, is the client supplying you with the web content in a Word file, are you using a particular software program or are you simply translating directly from the site? Normally, a per word rate would be fine, there are online counting tools that can be used to count the number of words on a website.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:58
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Are you absolutely up to speed on the IT side? May 14, 2015

If you are, I believe there are many possibilities open to you. If, like me, you're principally a wordsmith with enough IT knowledge to do the minimum of what everybody needs nowadays, then I'd advise you to insist on receiving files in Word or similar format. Then you know exactly what the job entails.

I've had just one experience of taking the text from the website myself, at the insistence of the communications agency handling the content. I did my best to find it all, gave a quo
... See more
If you are, I believe there are many possibilities open to you. If, like me, you're principally a wordsmith with enough IT knowledge to do the minimum of what everybody needs nowadays, then I'd advise you to insist on receiving files in Word or similar format. Then you know exactly what the job entails.

I've had just one experience of taking the text from the website myself, at the insistence of the communications agency handling the content. I did my best to find it all, gave a quote for the job, did the work. Then the agency started the "what about this bit?" series of questions. It turned into a poorly-paying nightmare. The second time for that agency, I insisted on receiving Word files. Guess what? Loads of last-minute, extremely urgent requests for a few sentences, at their expense this time. I still work with them; we've both learned from the experience.

But disregard that advice if you're an IT geek.
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junior.K
junior.K
Cote D'ivoire
Local time: 15:58
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Raising Invoice for Website Translation May 14, 2015

Hi Evryone,

I thank you for your advise and I would like to know what you do when you face a word repeated. Do you count it once or as much as you see?

What is the best software for counting words? Can I use a word Page? Is it reliable?


Thanks in advance,

JK


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:58
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Comments May 14, 2015

junior.K wrote:
I thank you for your advise and I would like to know what you do when you face a word repeated. Do you count it once or as much as you see?

I think if you thought that one through you could come up with the answer. Are you in the habit of charging once only for all the occurrences of "and", "or" and "the" (etc) in the texts you translate into French?
What is the best software for counting words? Can I use a word Page? Is it reliable?

It's reliable in that it will count the words using its criteria about what constitutes a word, although you have to make sure that it includes the words in text boxes, footnotes etc. But it will never tally exactly with any of the other tools for counting words as they all have slightly different criteria concerning apostrophes, numbers, acronyms, hyphenated words etc.


 
brg (X)
brg (X)
Netherlands
Some comments May 14, 2015

If you are a starter, it is strongly recommended to convince your client that you want to have a text in Word or in Excel.
Only then you can make a reasonable estimation.
Lots of repetitive sentences? => less expensive for the client.
A subject that is difficult? => more expensive for the client.

It is not recommended to witdraw the text by yourself.
This often leads to misunderstanding and conflicts, except if you know how to do this.

Before ma
... See more
If you are a starter, it is strongly recommended to convince your client that you want to have a text in Word or in Excel.
Only then you can make a reasonable estimation.
Lots of repetitive sentences? => less expensive for the client.
A subject that is difficult? => more expensive for the client.

It is not recommended to witdraw the text by yourself.
This often leads to misunderstanding and conflicts, except if you know how to do this.

Before making your estimation, have a look into the whole text.
Websites often have a substantial part 'user's agreement' or other legal information.
Are you able to translate that too, and for the same price? and NOT using Google Translate?

Good luck
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Raising Invoice for Website Translation







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