By Lydia Dishman
SCBIZ Contributing Writer

GREENVILLE -- A Greenville-based company dedicated to helping businesses go international has launched a new Web site that offers free translation services.

ForeignTranslations, a 10-year-old language translation, interpreting and Web site localization firm, launched the revamped site to stay competitive in the global marketplace for language services but also to help other companies that want to go global.

The company employs more than 1,000 native translators located in over 30 countries but Ken Zwerdling, CEO, thinks that even though the free tool is not totally accurate, "People still use it because they want a quick way to just get the gist of what they are reading in another language."

The most important thing, Zwerdling said, is that the free translator and the other tools offered on www.foreigntranslations.com such as a currency converter, time zone chart, and temperature, weight and measurement converters, will keep users navigating through their pages.

"We want to be a destination for companies that are going international," said Zwerdling.

Zwerdling's strategy is for the Web site to become the user's primary destination for all those tools. While searching for the current rate of the euro, for example, he predicted that Foreign Translations also would become a go-to source for users to learn more about translation services and for information about the global economy.

"You can find out how to prep documents for translation, what to look for when selecting a translation company, even find out what computer translation really is," Zwerdling said.

Plenty of eye-catching, country-specific graphics add a visual punch to the pages and their downloadable white papers. After a year of presiding over strategic design and construction, Zwerdling said, "Visiting different parts of the site are like visits to another country." He stressed that users only need register once and use everything as often as they wished.

By next year he said, the site will be fully translated into nine languages, each having a domain address for that specific country.