The verdict in three sentences
For a freight forwarding and customs brokerage group in Singapore targeting importers across Southeast Asia and China, a trilingual site in English, Simplified Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia costs USD 22,000 to 40,000 in 2026. The online rate request module (USD 5,000 to 8,500) turns the site into a sales channel, provided every language is translated by freight specialists rather than machine output. The realistic timeline is 10 to 12 weeks, with monthly maintenance of USD 320 to 560.
Why a second script is not just a translation
Many forwarders bolt on a Chinese version at the end with a translation plugin. The outcome disappoints: broken line lengths, CJK fonts falling back to system defaults, rate tables that overflow on mobile, forms rejecting Chinese characters in name fields. For a procurement manager in Shenzhen or Jakarta, that is enough to doubt operational rigour. If an Arabic version is ever needed for Gulf shippers, right-to-left layout must also be planned from the start.
A well-built multilingual site plans font stacks (Noto Sans SC), text expansion for Bahasa, localised number and date formats, and clean hreflang tags so Google serves the right language in Shanghai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur or Rotterdam.
| Component | 2026 range (USD excl. GST) | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Trilingual EN/ZH/ID site | 22,000 to 40,000 | 25 to 40 pages: services, ports, offices, sectors, customs compliance |
| Online rate request | 5,000 to 8,500 | Origin, destination, incoterm, container type, weight, commodity, attachments |
| Professional translation | 0.12 to 0.18 per word | Freight and customs specialist translators, cross-review |
| Office pages with local SEO | 1,800 to 3,700 | Singapore, Johor, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok |
| Shipment tracking (TMS link) | 4,300 to 9,800 | File status by bill of lading or container number |
| Hosting and maintenance | 320 to 560 per month | Monitoring, backups, updates, small changes |
Translation budget: the line item most often underestimated
A 30-page forwarder site holds about 18,000 words in English. Translating into Chinese and Bahasa means 36,000 words, plus yearly updates.
| Volume | Words per language | Cost at USD 0.12/word (2 languages) | Cost at USD 0.18/word (2 languages) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-page site | 12,000 | USD 2,880 | USD 4,320 |
| 30-page site | 18,000 | USD 4,320 | USD 6,480 |
| 40-page site | 24,000 | USD 5,760 | USD 8,640 |
| Blog: 4 posts per month | 4,800 per month | USD 1,152 per month | USD 1,728 per month |
| Customs compliance sheets | 6,000 | USD 1,440 | USD 2,160 |
Recommendation: fully translate commercial pages and the rate request, then publish the blog in English first, with Chinese and Bahasa reserved for content explicitly targeting those markets.
10 to 12 week schedule
| Phase | Duration | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial scoping and target markets | 1 week | Importer personas, site structure |
| Mock-ups for each script | 2 to 3 weeks | Desktop and mobile versions approved in 3 languages |
| Copywriting and translation | 3 to 4 weeks, in parallel | Final English copy then ZH and ID translations |
| Build and rate request | 4 weeks | Site, forms, CRM integration |
| Multilingual QA and launch | 2 weeks | Font and layout tests, hreflang, Search Console |
Mini case study
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Daniel, managing director of a 5-office forwarding group, currently receives about 15 international rate requests a month, mostly by email and personal contacts. With the trilingual site and online rate request, he targets 35 a month. At a 20% conversion rate and an average gross margin of USD 450 per shipment file, 4 extra files a month add USD 1,800 in monthly margin, or USD 21,600 a year. For a USD 36,000 investment (site, rate request, translation), payback is around 20 months, after which the channel works with no additional acquisition cost. A 2026 order of magnitude, to adjust to real volumes.
FAQ
Can we start with English and Chinese, then add Bahasa?
Yes. Adding a Latin-script language later costs USD 2,500 to 4,500. Adding Arabic later costs more, USD 5,000 to 8,500, unless right-to-left support was planned upfront.
Is machine translation enough?
Not for commercial pages: incoterms, customs regimes and container terms must be exact. Human post-editing at USD 0.04 to 0.06 per word is the minimum.
Can the rate request feed our TMS?
Yes, through an API or structured export. Budget USD 1,800 to 4,800 depending on the software and the quality of its interface.
How does Google choose the language shown?
Through hreflang tags and dedicated URLs (/en, /zh, /id). Configured properly, they avoid duplicate content and serve Chinese to searches from Shanghai or Shenzhen.
What is the annual cost after delivery?
Between USD 3,800 and 6,700 a year for hosting and maintenance, plus the translation budget for new content.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your target markets, ports and number of pages to translate: we will scope a trilingual site between USD 22,000 and 40,000, delivered in 10 to 12 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
