There are some sites on the internet that will translate your web content for free. If you want to expand your business, why not offer content in other languages? Expanding your reader base can really grow your business.

Sadly, the free translations can be simply horrid. Consider this example from FreeTranslation.com:

English: “Mrs. Hooker sat down with the kids at home while it rained cats and dogs outside.”

Right from the start we have an interesting situation with Mrs. Hooker’s last name. Plus, we’re adding an idiom: “cats and dogs.”

Here is our Spanish translation from the site: “La Prostituta de la sra. se sentó con los niños en casa mientras llovió gatos y perros afuera.”

“Mrs. Hooker” becomes “La Prostituta de la sra.” Too bad for her.

Let’s use their site to translate that Spanish sentence back into English. Here’s what we get:

“The Prostitute of the Mrs. sat down with the children at home while he rained cats and dogs outside.”

The idiom is lost. Now “he” rained cats and dogs outside. What’s a little pronoun between friends?
If you want to translate your website, it’s best to stick with a human being. Find a professional. Our friends at FreeTranslation.com will translate this sentence for us for $50.

I just hope they’re not using their own translation engine.