Why Bad Translations Can Destroy Your Amazon Listings

I had the pleasure of meeting Jana from YLT Translations during the Global Sellers Conference — and what an inspiring and eye-opening conversation it was.

Jana is the founder and CEO of YLT Translations, a company dedicated to helping Amazon sellers localise their content the right way. Not just translating, but transforming listings to convert in new markets. As Jana put it perfectly: “We translate listings for your products so you get sales.”

During her keynote speech, she delivered some powerful insights on how poor translations can actually hurt your brand — sometimes irreversibly.

The Danger of Literal Translation – A Cautionary Tale

One of the standout examples Jana shared was a bikini listing meant for plus-size women. Instead of properly localising the product for a new language, the brand used machine translation tools like Google Translate or ChatGPT without quality control.

What was intended to say “bikini for plus-size women” ended up being translated into “bikini for fat women” — a phrase that came across as offensive and disrespectful in the target language.

The backlash? Raging reviews, brand damage, and lost sales.

And unfortunately, as Jana pointed out, this kind of error is far more common than you'd think. Spend just 10 minutes browsing listings on non-English Amazon marketplaces, and you’ll quickly find examples of bad translations, missing keywords, and listings that are clearly not optimised for their target market.

Why Proper Keyword Research in Each Language Is Essential

One of the key takeaways from our conversation was this: You can't just translate keywords — you have to research them from scratch in the native language of the country you're targeting.

Buyers in Germany, Italy, or Japan may use completely different search terms than those in the U.S. Simply translating U.S.-based keywords won’t cut it.

Without proper keyword research and localisation, your listings will:

• Be invisible to potential buyers.

• Get fewer clicks and conversions.

• Waste your advertising spend.

Final Thoughts

You work hard to build a brand, develop products, and expand globally. Don’t let something as simple as a poor translation damage your reputation and reduce your revenue. Get it right from the start by working with professionals who understand both language and marketplace dynamics.

Big thank you again to Jana and the YLT Translations team for the powerful reminder that quality localisation isn't optional — it's essential.

Check them out here: YLT Translations

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