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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

What Readers Want – Translation & Interpreting Blog Survey Results (Part 3)

In Part 2 of these results we looked at the many reasons why people do and don’t blog. Unless you’re running a blog to improve your writing skills and keep a record of your ideas, you need readers. And to attract readers, you have to write about topics that interest them. Nearly 85% of the survey respondents read translation and interpreting blogs. Let’s find out why they read them and what puts the other 15% off.

As expected, the top response in favour of reading blogs was professional interest:

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

To Blog or Not to Blog – Translation & Interpreting Blog Survey Results (Part 2)

Back in 2013, when I first started My Words for a Change on Blogger (before moving to WordPress in 2015), the pressure on freelance translators and interpreters to blog was quite intense. We were constantly being told that blogging was a must for marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes and to attract clients (as we learned in Part 1 of these results). I felt positively guilty for months because I had nothing to say (hard to believe now, I know, because once I started, I couldn’t stop) and felt that launching myself into the blogosphere was quite scary.

Judging by the responses to the translation & interpreting blog survey, I’m not alone in feeling compelled to blog:

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Translation and Interpreting Blog Survey

In 2017 I noticed that a number of blogs listed in my blogroll had been closed down and that no entries had been made on several others for months and in some cases years. 2018 has begun with some blog writers announcing they will no longer publish any posts.

After years of being told that running a blog was a must for our business, it now seems that it might not be such a good idea (I explored some reasons for this in this post a couple of months ago).

So is blogging dead? And if colleagues no longer read blogs, where have they gone instead?

If you are a translator and/or interpreter, I would be grateful if you could complete this survey to help me answer these questions. I will keep this survey open until the end of February and publish the results on this blog.

Thank you for your input!

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

Explore this blog by starting with the categories page, which includes a section on all the surveys I’ve run. 

Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Blog

Back in June, Hanna Sles wrote a popular piece for My Words for a Change giving four reasons why every translator should blog. When I first started blogging four years ago, many colleagues, especially those focused on marketing our services, insisted that running a blog was a must. I almost felt guilty that I was still sitting in front of a blank screen, racking my brains for something—anything—to say to get started. And it wasn’t until I attended my first ever translation conference that I finally felt I’d hit on a topic worth writing about.

But is blogging everything it’s cut out to be? Judging by a recent clean-up of broken links on my site, several translators have deleted their blogs and I’m aware of many others that haven’t written anything for a while. So, is blogging worthwhile? I’m going to play devil’s advocate today and look at four reasons why it might not be.

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

4 Reasons Why Every Translator Should Blog

Today’s guest post is by Hanna Sles who translates from English into Russian and Ukrainian.

 

You have heard the wisdom:

“To be visible online, a translator’s website should have a blog.”

 

“Blogging will drive more traffic to a translator’s website.”

 

“Why aren’t you blogging yet?”

Blogging is becoming more and more popular in the translation and localization industry.

Think about it:

Everyone knows that blogging has gained mainstream popularity among freelance translators. But if you wish to start your own blog, it can be difficult to grasp why you should.

And today’s post will convince you to start blogging in a heartbeat.

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

What I learned in February 2016

In February I learned that LinkedIn lets you classify your connections using a feature called tagging. By using simple keywords, you can group people by where you met them, the language combination they translate, whether they interpret, live in your country, etc. I must admit I haven’t tried this yet, but it does sound quite useful.

If you’d like to find out more about how to get the most out of LinkedIn, please see my miniseries on the topic. I’ve written five parts so far and I still have at least two more to go. As with most things connected with my blog, my problem is not finding the ideas, but the time, especially as I’ve been spending a lot more it with my family recently.

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