When a translation comes back and something feels off, the cause is often not the translator at all. It is the brief, or the lack of one. A translator who receives a file with no context has to guess who the text is for, what tone it should take and which terms matter most. Some of those guesses will be wrong, and fixing them costs time on both sides.
A good brief does not need to be long. It needs to answer the questions a skilled translator would ask before starting. Here is what to include.
Start with the purpose and the audience
Explain what the text is meant to do. Is it a product page that should convert, a help article that should solve a problem quickly, or a legal notice that must be precise above all else? The purpose shapes every decision a translator makes, from sentence length to word choice.
Then describe the reader. Say which market the translation is for, not just which language. Portuguese for Brazil and Portuguese for Portugal differ in vocabulary and tone, and the same is true of French for France and French for Canada. If the audience is specialist, such as engineers or finance professionals, say so. If it is the general public, say that too.
Describe the tone of voice
Tone is one of the hardest things to carry across languages, and one of the easiest to get wrong without guidance. If your brand has a tone of voice document, share it. If it does not, a few lines are enough: formal or informal, warm or neutral, playful or serious.
Be specific about forms of address. Many languages distinguish between a formal and an informal “you”, and the choice changes how the whole text feels. German, French and Spanish all make this distinction, and the right choice depends on your brand and market. Deciding it up front avoids inconsistency across pages.
Share terminology and reference material
Every business has words that should always be translated the same way, and some that should never be translated at all. Product names, feature names and slogans are typical examples. A simple glossary with approved translations saves the translator from inventing new terms and keeps your content consistent over time.
Reference material helps too. Previously translated pages, existing marketing in the target language or sites whose style you admire all give the translator a sense of what good looks like for you. If certain phrasings have been rejected before, mention them.
Explain the format and technical constraints
Text rarely lives on its own. It sits in a layout, a button, an email subject line or a search result. Let the translator know about character limits, especially for navigation, buttons and meta descriptions, where translated text can easily run longer than the original.
For website content, say how the files will be delivered and what should not be touched, such as code, placeholders or links. If you are translating web pages, our page on website translation covers some of the technical points worth discussing before a project begins.
Include SEO keywords where they matter
If the translated pages need to rank in search, a direct translation of your English keywords may not be what people actually search for in another market. Where possible, share keyword research for each target market, or ask the translator to flag where the natural local term differs from the literal one. Keywords should read naturally in the finished text, not be forced into it.
Agree on questions and review
Finally, set out how questions will be handled and who will review the result. A named contact who can answer queries quickly makes a real difference to quality. If an in-market colleague will review the translation, make sure they see the brief as well, so that their feedback is based on the same goals rather than personal preference.
A clear brief is quick to write, and it pays for itself in fewer revisions and translations that sound as if they were written for the reader from the start. If you would like help planning a multilingual project, take a look at our content translation service.