Translating a sportsbook website for multilingual audiences is a demanding task. The dynamic nature of translating live commentary and updates means that you need a translation system that can deliver almost-instant translations.
Speed is one thing, but achieving 100% translation accuracy in real-time is a major challenge for any brand in this business. To provide popular features like live/in-play betting, you need the right mix of language pros, a solid translation process and the right technology to deliver content rapidly.
Make any of these three mistakes and you’ll stand no chance.
#1: Choosing a localisation company without sportsbook translation experience
Sportsbook translation is a specialist field that comes with all kinds of unique challenges that language pros may not be used to dealing with unless they have worked on projects like this before. Aside from the unique language that exists in each market, the demands for fast, accurate translations on sports betting websites cannot be underestimated.
When people are relying on in-game commentary, for example, to place in-play bets, accuracy is paramount, but these translations need to be delivered in real-time. This requires translators who have experience in quickly checking and correcting machine-translated snippets of content to ensure there are no mistakes.
Without this, the live in-game experience falls apart.
#2: Failing to localise your website for different audiences
Live commentary is one of the most demanding aspects of sportsbook translation, but it is by no means the only aspect that matters. To actually get people using your website (and continuing to use it), you need a multilingual website and multilingual marketing campaigns that appeal to audiences in each target market.
The most important aspect here is that you localise your website and campaigns for local interests.
Sports popularity isn’t consistent across the world and some events are significantly more popular in certain markets than others. For example, cricket is more popular across certain parts of Asia than football is, while South Korea and Japan both have thriving national baseball leagues.
Make sure you know your audiences, what their unique interests are and localise your content (including the topics you cover) to match their interests. Don’t show the same homepage content or email marketing campaigns to everyone.
#3: Using the wrong translation technology
We have already touched on translation technology and this is crucial to successfully manage a multilingual sportsbook website. The first tool you are going to need is a reliable machine translation engine (and a team of translators who know how to use it) which integrates with your other tools of choice.
This allows your language experts to create an automated translation process for instant translation that can be checked and edited for any errors before deployment.
Next, you are also going to want a translation memory system that stores translated content and automatically inserts previously-translated text where any repetition occurs. This will save you all kinds of time and improve consistency on complex projects like this. Closely related to translation memory is terminology management, which creates translated glossaries of important and complex phrases so that the correct translation can always be delivered.
Finally, to bring all of this together, you want a translation management platform and the right project manager to ensure every piece of content is where it should be at all times.
Managing a multilingual sportsbook is no easy task, but with the right experts and tools on your side, you can overcome the unique challenges of this industry. The rewards in a global market of this size are certainly there, but brands have to meet the demands of a diverse user base that can span multiple countries, languages and cultures.