Top 6 Essential Market Guides To Russian Translation Services

The secret to successfully growing your business in Russia is a Russian translation. Find out what it entails to effectively translate for the Russian market.

With 146 million people, a thriving internet economy, and a forecasted 78.97 percent smartphone penetration rate in 2025, Russia presents a significant market for growth.

Russian translation will be essential to your strategy if you haven’t already gotten your piece of the Russian pie. Let’s consider 6 key areas to better understand your target market and assist you in selecting your Russian localization strategy.

Russian customers can’t fully understand English

Russians have a moderate level of English proficiency, and their nation is ranked 51st in the world in 2021 by the EF English Proficiency Index. The fact that TV shows and films with English dubbing are produced is another helpful sign. Given this, it is evident that Russian translation will be necessary for your products or services to be adopted successfully in Russia.

The fifth-largest market by app downloads globally

The country’s modern web economy has been slowly growing there and expects to see a boom in 2022.

With 1.5 billion downloads in Q2 of that year, the Russian market rose to the fifth spot globally in the list of app downloads by nation. Since Android dominates the market in a significant part, developing an app there requires focusing on Google Play first. However, there are other Android choices, including Yandex. The store is the first. The performance of your app will depend on how well you expand into nearby stores.

It’s also important to note that, compared to the first half of 2021, the average daily amount of time spent on mobile increased by 40%. Time spent on gaming applications undoubtedly contributed to this increase. The number of monthly app games played during the lockdown grew by 30% in comparison to 2020.

Google isn’t the top search engine in Russia

Yandex, a domestic search engine popular with Russian users, received roughly 60% of all user visits between October and December 2021. Google, the second-most used search engine in the nation, saw a decline in its proportion of visits over that time. Mail.ru, another national carrier, is in third place.

You should consider Yandex’s dominance in your SEO strategy because its specifications differ from Google’s. For instance, Google users from different regions of the country would see more or less comparable results, whereas Yandex gives considerable priority to geo-targeted queries.

Popular social media platforms in Russia

When compared to Facebook, which had a 9.89 percent market share at the time, Russian social networking platform VK largely dominated with a 62.37 percent share (July 2021). But since then, Russian adoption of Western social networking apps has increased substantially. According to data from March 2021, Facebook and VK were tied at 20.36 and 19.99 percent, respectively.

Instagram also increased from 2.28 percent to 13.66 percent during the same period, while Twitter increased from 6.43 percent to 22.52 percent. With such growth rates, it’s important to monitor the Russian social media scene to determine the most effective ways to connect with your audience. Social media is an effective channel to engage with local customers and can boost your sales, so you should offer Russian content to reach more people on your social media channels.

Russian legal requirements for Russian translation

Regardless of statistics on English competence, translating from Russian is frequently required by law. The Federal Law On the State Language of the Russian Federation requires the use of Russian translation in a wide range of contexts. This shows the following:

• In the Russian Federation, all advertisements must be either in Russian or the specific state language of the republic in which they are displayed,
• Russian-language information should be available to consumers about the producer, how it operates, and the items (works, services) it produces or sells.
• All media should be in Russian.
• The study of Russian is required at all academic institutions. For example, If you sell instructional materials, this may apply to you.

Company names must also be written in Russian or translated into Russian. Don’t overlook this. If a business does not comply with the Russian law’s requirements, your business does not allow to register and run in the Russian market.

To have your company name and other document translated and localized efficiently in the Russian market, you can rely on trusted Russian translation and localization services that have native Russian translators who understand and know all the local requirements.

Russian local culture

It will be useful when you’re waiting for your counterparts to show up at business meetings because Russians enjoy toying with each other’s patience and arriving late is frequently used as a negotiating strategy. Additionally, the legacy of communism is still present, and many are unwilling to take initiative because doing so puts them at risk of failing. As you can expect, in such a culture, relationships and networks are essential because the appropriate connections could speed up your progress, particularly if you’re a foreigner.

An excellent method to create and strengthen these connections is through learning Russian. In any case, you will need to develop the ability to strike a balance between the warmth of the ensuing celebrations and the formality demanded in business meetings, including how you dress. Vodka will undoubtedly be mentioned because certain cliches are true!

To get culturally-accurate Russian translations and localizations, you should find and work with a professional translation company that has experience in handling Russian translations and localizations like GTE Localize. We have a pool of native translators with at least 5 years of experience and knowledge to give you the most quality Russian translations possible.

Choose flawless Russian translation & localization services

Your success will depend on working with qualified translation professionals and utilizing the appropriate language tools.

GTE Localize, with three offices in the world and a wide pool of over 1200 native translators as well as the latest language technology, provides Russian translation and localization services for more than 100 languages in all industries such as legal, IT, software, marketing, etc. We offer one-stop language solutions such as translation, localization, transcription, etc., and service various business customers including well-known businesses like Facebook, Tiktok, Abbott, and many more business in Fortune 500.

As a recommended translation company on GoodFirms, we deliver professional Russian translation and localization services at cost-saving rates and a fast delivery time for any business globally.

Together, GTE Localize supports our business clients’ global expansion. To get a free quote, contact our localization team today.

If you want to learn more essential localization tips for the Asian market, you can download our detailed white paper here.