Are you getting your website translated, or are you a translator about to translate a website? You’ve probably wondered if there is a method more efficient than copying and pasting – after all, some websites have dozens if not hundreds of pages! And how do you keep track of all those links?

First: be careful with free online website word counters, of which there are several online. We’ve tried several of them, and have found them to be unreliable. These online website word counters often have word limits or other limitations on the kinds of pages they will crawl for the word count, so if you use them, you may find yourself thousands of words off from an accurate count – not great for your budget or for your quote!

FREE METHODS FOR COUNTING THE WORDS ON A WEBSITE*

*If you are willing to take the risk, this is a count tool that is safe, even if it isn’t always accurate:

Wordcounter.net

PAID METHODS FOR COUNTING THE WORDS ON A WEBSITE

The following two methods are much more accurate, but are not free.

TRANSABACUS

USD $34.95

This software is a great solution for both translators and clients, letting you count a website by simply pasting in the URL. You can choose specific pages to include or exclude, or simply count the whole website. A free trial is also available, for a limited number of words.

At $34.95, Transabacus is a worthwhile investment, even if you only ever translate one website.

WPML

Starts at USD $29

If you’re working with WordPress, the very handy WPML plugin will count the words for just the pages you wish to translate (or all of them, with one click). After installing WordPress (either at this link or by Adding a Plugin within your WordPress dashboard, then go to WPML, Translation Dashboard, select the pages you wish to count, and then look at the wordcount at the bottom.

WPML is a plugin that organizes the translation procedure, letting you send content to translators for translation or updating. Meridian Linguistics is a WPML partner, so if you are looking for translators that are well-versed with this plugin and some help walking through the process, search for us within your plugin, under Translation Services!

If you prefer to get your website translated the old-fashioned way, we’re always happy to provide bilingual tables of translations so that you can easily review and upload translation. Contact us to discuss the best method for translating your website!

WORD COUNTS FOR OTHER FILE TYPES AND FORMATS (including Excel, Powerpoint, Redlines, PDF’s, and more):

If you’re looking for more information about how to do wordcounts on tricky file formats, you might be interested in our course, How to Quote for a Translation Job, which covers several tips and tricks (and tools) when counting words for a wide range of file formats. This course is best suited for freelancers, project managers, or translation agency owners.

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