In today’s globalised world, having a website that caters to speakers of multiple languages is more important than ever. If your company operates internationally or has a diverse customer base, offering a multilingual website can significantly enhance your brand’s reach and reputation. By providing content in your audience’s native language, you build trust, personalise user experiences and improve the likelihood of conversions. Let’s take a look at how to make a multi-language website including a step-by-step guide to making your site multi-lingual.
Multilingual sites are perfectly suited to e-com businesses
For e-commerce businesses, offering translation sites is particularly relevant. Dropshipping companies, for instance, often deal with international customers. Dropshipping is a retail fulfilment method where the seller doesn’t keep stock but instead passes orders to a third party for delivery.
However, no matter what type of e-commerce site you run, it could significantly from having a multilingual website, as global accessibility could transfer directly into increased sales opportunities.
If you’re in any doubt about the worth of translating your site, you could approach a business mentoring service for their advice and to find out the potential worth of expanding globally.
How to make your website multilingual
Creating a multilingual website may seem daunting, but with the right tools and planning, it’s relatively straightforward. Whether you use WordPress or another content management system (CMS), follow these steps to effectively translate your site. Note this guide particularly focuses on on WordPress:
1. Plan Your Languages
- Identify your target audience. Determine which languages are most relevant to your business and audience. For example, if your primary market is in Europe, consider translating into French, German and Spanish to increase market penetration.
- Research your analytics to understand where most of your traffic originates from and prioritise those languages.
2. Choose a Reliable Translation Plugin
- WordPress offers plugins like WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin) or Polylang to manage multiple languages.
- These tools help you create separate versions of your content in different languages while maintaining a user-friendly interface for visitors to switch languages easily. If this seems beyond your capabilities, you could hire the services of a professional WordPress developer.
3. Hire Professional Translators
- Avoid relying solely on automated translation tools. While services like Google Translate can offer a starting point, professional translators ensure the message, tone and cultural nuances remain intact.
- Misunderstandings in translation can harm your brand’s credibility, so investing in human translators is crucial.
4. Implement a Language Selector
- Add a language switcher to your website, usually in the header or footer.
- Ensure the switcher is intuitive, using country flags or dropdown menus to make it easy for users to find their preferred language.
5. Localise Your Content
- Localisation goes beyond direct translation. Adapt your content to suit cultural contexts, currencies, units of measurement and even imagery where relevant.
- For example, pricing in euros for European audiences and US dollars for American visitors creates a more personalised experience.
6. Translate Metadata for SEO
- Don’t forget to optimise your translated pages for search engines. Translate page titles, meta descriptions and alt tags to ensure your multilingual site ranks well in local search results.
- Use hreflang tags to indicate the language and geographical targeting of each version of your site to search engines. If you’re in any doubt about
7. Test and Review
- Check for errors, broken links or inconsistencies in your translated content. You should also keep your site’s load time to a minimum.
- Test your site’s responsiveness across different devices and browsers to ensure a seamless experience for all users.
8. Monitor and Update Regularly
- Keep translations up-to-date, particularly if you update your site’s content often. If you run a more static website with a fixed product range, you could also think about adding a blog section to your main website.
- Use analytics tools to track the performance of each language version and make adjustments where needed.
By following these steps, you can create a multilingual website that enhances user experience and drives business growth.
Final thoughts
Creating a multilingual website is a vital step for businesses looking to establish a global presence. While there are many considerations, such as translation accuracy and localisation, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. A .com domain remains the best choice for such ventures, as it is globally recognised and easy to access.
However, don’t underestimate the importance of tailoring SEO strategies to each language version. Different translations will require distinct keyword strategies to maximise their impact in local search results.
The internet offers unprecedented access to global markets, and translating your website can help you tap into this potential. By prioritising localisation, investing in quality translations and ensuring seamless user experiences, your business could thrive in diverse markets and build a strong international reputation.
