DeepL AI: A Business Guide to Translation, Writing and Website Localisation

What Translator, Write and the API do

DeepL Translator translates text between languages and accepts supported files. DeepL Write revises existing text, including phrasing, style and tone. A team might translate a Traditional Chinese product introduction into English, then edit that English draft for its intended audience. The second step is editing, and it needs its own review.

Check language support separately. DeepL's translation documentation includes a Traditional Chinese variant; the Write Pro product page lists English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. A team that translates into Traditional Chinese should not assume that the same language is available for rewriting in Write.

File translation: start with the editable original

If you have a Word or PowerPoint original, I would use it before exporting to PDF. Editable files make headings, tables and text boxes easier to inspect, and longer translations are easier to reflow. DeepL lists Word, PowerPoint and PDF among its supported formats. Availability for formats such as Excel, and the applicable file size and character limits, depend on the plan.

Scanned PDFs are a different case. Text recognition can affect what reaches the translator, while columns, merged cells and diagram annotations add review work. Even when the output looks complete, check the pages a customer will use to make a decision.

Before delivery, compare page counts, section headings, table rows, currencies and units. Look for clipped text, labels embedded in images that remain untranslated and missing footnotes. Layout preservation does not confirm that every term has been translated correctly.

Using a glossary for Hong Kong business content

A glossary specifies preferred translations. On a Hong Kong service site, a team might use 「報價」 for “quotation” and 「上門安裝」 for “on-site installation”, while retaining approved brand names and model numbers. When the same terms appear in the service page, quotation and after-sales instructions, readers have fewer inconsistencies to resolve.

Context still matters. “Lead time” could mean time until delivery on a procurement page, or time needed to schedule installation on a project page. If both meanings occur, document the distinction and test complete sentences before making the translation mandatory.

Start with ten to twenty recurring terms rather than a dictionary of every word on the site. Include service names, billing units and after-sales terminology, with the approved translation, usage context and reviewer. Confirm glossary availability for the language pair and product workflow before setting up the process.

A review example: quotation and warranty terms

This is an editorial example, not an observed DeepL result:

The first sentence limits what is included in the quotation; it says nothing about whether installation is offered separately. The second limits coverage to parts. Rewriting the English original can introduce the same problem if the editor accepts a smoother sentence without checking both conditions.

Review numbers, dates, negatives and exceptions first. Then check product names and terminology. Edit the prose last. Where legal, medical or safety judgement is required, send the content to an appropriately qualified reviewer; a language review is not a substitute for that approval.

Free and paid plans: test the workflow and review data handling

Before paying, test a representative set of non-sensitive documents. Record the terminology changes required, the time spent repairing layouts and the errors reviewers find. Occasional reading of public material has different requirements from translating a recurring catalogue with several approvers.

A “Pro” label alone does not establish that confidential information may be uploaded. DeepL's privacy policy discusses its free services and specified paid products separately. For client lists, unpublished prices, employee information or contracts, review the actual product terms, account configuration and organisational approval. If use has not been approved, work with a de-identified sample or use an approved environment.

Using the DeepL API without automating approval

An API is useful for repeatable work, such as generating draft translations when product descriptions change. Decide which fields can be translated and which must remain intact: stock codes, units, URLs and variables, for example. If you use supported tag-handling options, test links and formatting against real page structures.

Store the source version, target language and approved terminology alongside the draft. When the source changes, reprocess the changed content rather than translating everything again. Track failures and usage; retries should not publish duplicate revisions.

Keep machine translations in draft until review. For pricing, promotions and service commitments, assign approval to the person responsible for the offer. A version record also makes it possible to trace the published text back to its source and glossary.

What to check before publishing a multilingual website

Begin with the market. A fluent Traditional Chinese page still needs the correct currency, service area, enquiry options and warranty terms for Hong Kong. An English version of the same product may keep the specifications but need different commercial terms and contact details.

Check that each language version has an accessible URL, localised title and description, and internal links and forms that lead to the appropriate version. Where corresponding language pages exist, follow Google's guidance for hreflang, including reciprocal and self-referencing annotations. That helps Google identify the corresponding versions; it does not guarantee rankings.

If AI search is also in scope, observe how platforms answer a specific product or service question. Did the answer cite the correct language page? Did it reproduce the service terms accurately? Record the platform, question, language, date and cited URL. Translation can help prepare the source material. Inclusion in an external answer is a separate observation, and Google's AI search features still follow its stated search eligibility requirements.

Sources and image credits

1. DeepL Translator
2. DeepL Write
3. DeepL — Supported languages
4. DeepL — File formats and limits
5. DeepL Glossary
6. DeepL — Privacy policy
7. DeepL API — Translate text
8. Google Search Central — Localised page versions
9. Google Search Central — AI features and your website

Product documentation checked on 10 November 2026. The photographs illustrate business workflows and do not show the DeepL interface.

• Unsplash — A fountain pen writing on paper
• Unsplash — A person making notes at a desk beside a laptop
• Unsplash — Colleagues reviewing material around a meeting table
• Unsplash — A computer screen displaying source code
• Unsplash — A notebook, pen and glasses on a desk