Find a Translation Company: How to Use the Translation Centers Directory

Most people start looking for a translation company with a search engine, a phone number and no way to compare what comes back. A directory solves a narrower problem: it puts the providers side by side with the same fields filled in, so you can compare them instead of guessing.

The Translation Centers directory lists more than 1,500 translation companies and offices across 22 Arab countries, along with professional translators, in 25 languages and ten service categories. This guide shows how to go from "I need a translation" to a shortlist of two or three providers worth contacting.

What the directory contains

Every company page is built from the same fields: the company name, the country and the cities where it has offices, the languages it works in, the services it offers, its contact details and — where the company supplied them — its logo, certificates, work history and team size.

Two kinds of pages exist:

• Company pages — translation companies, agencies and certified translation offices.
• Translator pages — individual professional translators, with their language pairs and specialisations.

Both are grouped into landing pages by country, city, language and service, which is where most searches should start.

Read also: How to Find a Translation Company in Your Country: A Complete Guide

Start from the thing you cannot compromise on

A translation project has three constraints, and one of them is usually fixed. Start there.

If the service is fixed

Choose the service first when your document type decides everything else — a certified copy for a ministry, a contract for a court, a medical report for a hospital abroad:

• Certified translation
• Legal document translation
• Medical report translation
• Technical manual translation
• Website translation
• Simultaneous interpretation

If the language pair is fixed

Choose the language when the pair is unusual. Arabic, English and French are offered almost everywhere; Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Amharic or Kurdish are not. Browse all languages and open the page for the rarer side of your pair — a company that handles the rare language can almost always handle the common one.

If the place is fixed

Choose the country or city when something has to happen in person: a stamped hard copy collected at a counter, a document legalised at a ministry, an interpreter in the room. Start from all countries, then your city — for example translation companies in Cairo, in Dubai, in Riyadh or in Amman.

You can also combine the filters inside any listing page, and the counters next to each filter tell you how many companies are left before you click.

Read also: Ordering Translation Online: How the Translation Centers Marketplace Works

How to read a listing page

A listing page is not an advertisement — it is a record. Read it in this order:

1. Languages and services. Does the page actually name your pair and your document type, or only "translation" in general?
2. Offices. A company with a branch in your city can take paper documents; one without a branch probably works remotely, which is fine for most files.
3. Certificates and work history. Where a company has filled these in, they tell you which industries it has worked for. An empty section is not a bad sign — it may simply be a free listing.
4. Badges. The Premium badge means a paid plan; the Certified badge is granted by our team after checking the documents a company supplied.
5. Views and engagement. Each page shows how often it has been opened. Popularity is not quality, but it is a sign of a page that is being maintained.
6. Contact details. A company e-mail on the company's own domain is a better sign than a free mailbox — in fact, company accounts on this site must register with an official company address.

Shortlist three, not one

Ask three companies, not one. The spread between quotes for the same document is often wide, and the difference is usually in what is included: review by a second linguist, formatting, certification, delivery of printed copies, revisions.

Keep the brief identical for all three, and say plainly:

• the language pair and the direction;
• the document type and how many pages or words;
• who will receive the translation and whether they require certification;
• your deadline;
• the file format you need back.

Our guide on how to request translation quotes online has a brief you can copy, and how to choose the right translation company covers the questions worth asking before you commit.

Two ways to contact a provider here

Directly from the listing. Every page has a contact form, and listings on a plan can also receive project files. Your message goes to that company only.

Or post the project once. If you would rather not write to companies one by one, post a translation request and let providers quote per language. You compare the quotes in one place, award the work to one provider or split it by language, and the amount is reserved from your balance before work starts and released when you approve the delivery. Posting a request and receiving quotes are free for clients.

Before you send your documents

Two habits prevent most problems:

• Confirm the requirement with the receiving authority first. Embassies, universities, courts and ministries each have their own rules about who may certify a translation. A translation that is perfect but certified the wrong way is still rejected. See certified vs. legal vs. standard translation.
• Send the final version of the file. Translating a draft and then applying changes costs more than waiting a day for the final text.

What this directory is — and is not

Translation Centers publishes the directory, runs the marketplace that connects clients with providers, and makes management software for translation offices. It does not translate documents itself, and it is not a party to the contract between you and the company you choose.

That also means the directory works for providers: a translation company can claim or create its own listing for free, and translators can join the translators directory. If a listing shows outdated information, use the contact form on the page or tell us and we will check it.