Communication is one of the most important factors for a great Amazon listing page to converts into sales. How you communicate will determine if you will make money or lose money. Some sellers in multiple market places (North America, Europe, Asia) think that they can take the content from one region’s listing and get it translated word by word or even worse, Google Translate it, so it can be used in another country’s listing.
That introduces a lot of issues because every region and its cultures are different. Some of the content that you’ve written in one language easily gets lost in translation. Languages that are word-for-word translated into English could sound at the same time inaccurate, funny and confusing.
In this post, we’ll go over some English idioms often used in Amazon product listing pages and show you that translating one language into another without properly understanding the context and culture, can make your listings confusing and make you lose money.
Understand the importance of language
As an Amazon seller showing your product on a listing page, the only thing you can do is talk to your buyers. You can’t talk with them. That’s why it’s so important to write content for your listings with the right information so your buyer gets what they’re looking for and goes right into purchasing the product. It becomes even more important when you learn that buyers are not patient. If they read your listing and find that the content is confusing or they just can’t understand it, they’ll move on to the next listing. This will result in lower conversion rate, lower rank and lower sales as a consequence.
In the North American market English is the main language for both the US and Canada, same thing for the next marketplace across the ocean in the UK (still with few differences in writing and pronounciation). But if you think that writing only in English is good enough and you can save money by turning to Google Translate, other translation softwares or to cheap non-native speakers translation to help break into the Italian, German, French or Spanish markets or even the Japanese and Dutch ones, then you’re in for a surprise.
Google Translate is not entirely reliable to establish a deep connection with the reader. For as good as AI and tech is by now, it is still a digital tool made of code. It’s not human. Translation tools don’t understand the way people talk and how the language is used to convey particular messages.
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Let’s see some examples of Amazon listings that use particular ways of calling things or situations.
Just one example: stunt scooter (first row)
| Original Text | Creative / Idiom |
| IDEAL FOR DIFFICULT STUNTS | PERFORM SICK STUNTS |
| NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED | NO ELBOW GREASE NEEDED |
| Gentle Support: Herbal extract blend includes Hyssop, Sage, Thyme, Mullein, Licorice & more | Soothing & Calming Feeling: For when you’re feeling under the weather, these lozenges combine an all-natural herbal extract blend of hyssop, sage, thyme, mullein, licorice, horehound and slipper elm to make you feel right as rain |
| BEST WAY TO STORE YOUR BAR TOOLS: Eco-friendly Bamboo stand (Patent Pending), carefully designed to keep your barware tools scratch-safe, organized and accessible at all times. No more clutter in your kitchen drawers and cabinets. Show off your gorgeous cocktail kit with the unique bamboo storage rack. You will definitely win your guest’s attention! | CRAFTY WAY TO DISPLAY YOUR BAR SKILLS: Gorgeous bamboo stand keeps your meticulously shined stainless steel mixology set safe and organized and the centre of attention at parties; when your guests walk in, they’ll be head over heels for this unique and complete cocktail kit and you will feel like a bartending king. |
| Our globe whiskey decanter and glass set comes with our impressive thick branded retail box. All glassware is well protected with foam. Perfect for all occasions – birthdays, christmas, anniversary, fathers day, dad gift, graduation, wedding. Ultimate whiskey gift set | For the hard-to-buy dad, our world globe whiskey decanter and dual glass and coaster set comes packed in a luxury branded box with a hefty wooden tray base that will blow his socks off; whether it’s his birthday, Father’s day or that last-minute Christmas present, your dad can enjoy a refreshing and stiff drink after a long and hard day of being “dad” |
Translations of the Amazon listing content into other languages
Now let’s see how these creative Amazon Listing copy would get translated into different languages and what would be their literal meaning:
German 🇧🇪 Amazon Listing Content
| Original | Creative / Idiom German 🇧🇪 | Literal meaning in English |
| Gentle Support | Fühlen Sie sich dank unserer Gewürzmischung wie im Siebten Himmel. | Feel like in the seventh heaven thanks to our herb mixture. |
| Show off your gorgeous cocktail kit with the unique bamboo storage rack. | Bringen Sie Ihre Küche mit diesem einzigartigen Set auf Vordermann und beeindrucken Sie ihre Gäste. | Bring your kitchen to the front man with this unique set and impress your guests. |
| Perfect for all occasions | Mit diesem Whiskey Set als Geschenk treffen Sie definitiv den Nagel auf den Kopf! | With this whiskey set as a present you will definitely hit the nail on its head. |
Italian 🇮🇹 Amazon Listing Content
| Original | Creative / Idiom Italian 🇮🇹 | Literal meaning in English |
| NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED | Senza istruzioni rompi-capo | No breaking-head instructions |
| Gentle Support: Herbal extract blend includes Hyssop, Sage, Thyme, Mullein, Licorice & more | Concediti mille coccole con il nostro estratto di erbe | Give yourself one thousand cuddles with our extract blend |
| You will definitely win your guest’s attention! | Lasciali a bocca aperta alle feste! | Leave them with open mouth at your parties |
| Perfect for all occasions – birthdays, christmas, anniversary, fathers day, dad gift, graduation, wedding. Ultimate whiskey gift set | Rendilo tuo papà felice come una Pasqua con la nostra caraffa per whiskey | Make him as happy as Easter with our whiskey decanter |
French 🇫🇷 Amazon Listing Content
| Original | Creative / Idiom French 🇫🇷 | Literal meaning in English |
| NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED | PAS DE MONTAGE FASTIDIEUX | No Fastidious assembly |
| You will definitely win your guest’s attention! | Laissez-les sans voix lors de vos soirées! | Leave them without voice at your parties |
| Ultimate whiskey gift set for your dad | ton père peut savourer une boisson rafraîchissante et “corsé” après une longue et dure journée de labeur. | your father can enjoy a refreshing and “full-bodied” drink after a long and hard day’s work. |
Spanish 🇪🇸 Amazon Listing Content
| Original | Creative / Idiom Spanish 🇪🇸 | Literal meaning in English |
| IDEAL FOR DIFFICULT STUNTS | Perfecto para monos de feria | Perfect for fair monkeys |
| keep your barware tools scratch-safe, organized and accessible at all times. | Tus herramientas a la vista y al alcance de la mano | Your tools in the sight and to the reach of the hand |
| Make him happy with this whiskey decanter | Hazle más feliz que una perdiz con este aireador de whiskey | Make him happier than a quail with this whiskey airy |
As you can see, it would be very hard to express the same meaning just by literal translation from English to the target langauge, or vice-versa from the first language to English. It just woudln’t make any sense, or it wouldn’t be that catchy. Cultural expressions level up your communication because they establish a deeper bond with the reader.
For a kick-ass Amazon listing translation, get creative with idioms! What are idioms?
Id-i-om: a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g. it’s raining cats and dogs; see the light at the end of the tunnel).
The sentences we just showed you are called “idioms”. To put it plainly, idioms are words or phrases that are used to communicate a message. When someone says, “Just bite the bullet,” they mean to say, “Stop making excuses, just do it.” It’s not something that is easily translated into other languages as the meaning will be lost.
Similarly, for example in French, the idiom, “J’ai d’autres chats a fouetter” translates to “I have other cats to whip”. No English speaker would understand what that means and would likely assume that the person saying this is abusive to their pet cat! When properly translated by someone who understands the French language and culture, it means “I have other things to do.”
In Italian, “Tagliare la testa al toro”, literally “to cut the head to the bull” means to terminate a particular issue that is taking too long.
There is always a better and more creative way to write content for listings. Don’t just rely on translating softwares. Get someone with the knowledge and padronance of the language you want translated to help you master the content.
If you’re not a native English speaker, you will find the English content hard to understand. That’s why translators have a very important job! They not only have to translate content from one language into another language, but they also have to do lots of research beforehand. They have to first understand the content, the context and how the words are used before they can even begin the translation process.
How we can Help:
If you’re an Amazon seller and are selling products in different markets and different languages, remember to tweak your listings for that market. It is so important for the performance of your listing and whether you will sell something. You might want to source your online marketing to one of the best SEO companies or to an agency with professional translation services.
Language is complex. Certain words, phrases and meanings can get lost in translation. It’s always a smart idea to invest your money by paying competent translators who can translate your listings professionally. These days, most translators are self-employed and even work as Digital Nomads.
If you do this properly, you can break into new markets and communicate with new consumers. Every consumer appreciates it when their language and culture are understood. This is also how you can win the trust of new buyers and grow your brand. So, go out there and find a great translator who is willing to work with you; bonus points if they have Amazon experience.
With our professional team of content creators and translators, we can help at any time not only translating your listing perfectly in any language of all Amazon marketplaces, but adding that extra touch that makes the connection with the reader even deeper, thus increasing your chances to sell. Get in touch with us now clicking the button below or send an email to [email protected]
