Making a multi-language website is a surprisingly simple way of reaching new audiences and scaling into new markets: it allows visitors to navigate in their native language (adding a deeper sense of trust); it also helps you to tap into emerging markets and gain an edge over the competition.
Other benefits of adding translated languages for a multi-language website include:
- Greater visibility: Stronger Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Reach new audiences: attract and convert more customers
- The bottom line: Drive more sales and scale your business
Now we’ve touched on some of the benefits of creating a multi-language website on WordPress, let’s check out Weglot, one of the best (and top-ranked) plugins available on WordPress (also available for other platforms, including Shopify and direct JavaScript integration), before running through a multi-language website plugin setup. See for yourself you just how easy it is to set up your own multi-language website, and get up and running in no time.
Let’s start by looking at what Weglot has to offer website owners.
Weglot multilingual WordPress plugin
Weglot is one of the highest-rated multi-language website plugins for WordPress. It supports over 100 frequently updated languages, with new languages added constantly, too. Automatic translations are supported by live human editing, taking the setup process one step above when you need a high level of professionalism and accuracy.
The plugin also covers multi-language website SEO, which will make your site even more easily searchable by a wider audience. Each language is placed into an automatically-generated subdirectory – for example, /es/ or /fr/. A personalized language button sits on the page, so users can easily select the language of their choice, with hreflang tags added to the section of your site which makes it easily recognisable by Google.
Weglot works with any WordPress theme and offers automatic compatibility with plugins (including WooCommerce). It also gives you the option of translating everything at page level. Extra posts, pages, custom post types, custom taxonomies and custom fields are translatable; including straightforward integration with Yoast’s SEO plugin.
Now for pricing: Weglot’s pricing is based on how much traffic goes to your site, and the quantity of words and languages you need. The free tier adds one language with 2,000 translated words, and you can go all the way up to unlimited languages and 5,000,000 translated words. There’s also a trial period which allows you to try Weglot’s features for free. There’s something for everyone 
Your multi-language website: your plugin choice
It’s important to have a clear idea of what you need for your multi-language website before choosing your plugin for installation. Weglot is a good fit for these, but you need to know which package to choose
If you’re a small business owner, then choosing the freemium, lower word-count “packages” (provided by Weglot) or simple, automated translations could be enough to set the ball rolling.
But – if you already own a successful business and a large WordPress site, then you’ll want one of the premium tiers, and should also opt for manual editing by a native translator to ensure every piece of website copy is crystal clear in your language(s) of choice. Automatic translations are a great starting point for translating language(s) individually, but you can’t beat the services of a professional to double-check and ensure translations are of the highest quality.
We’d recommend starting with just one language to keep things simple, but with Weglot you can add multiple languages with the different plans: your Google Analytics data is a great place to find this.
Now let’s get your multi-language website plugin set up on WordPress! Here’s the easy two-step process.
1. Make a start with Weglot’s free multi-language website plugin:
To get started installing your multi-language plugin, choose your first language to translate to.
Once you have your first target language, head to your WordPress Dashboard, and Plugins ? Add New. Search Weglot, then Install ? Activate. Click Settings, and follow the prompt to create an account, which you’ll need to do the automatic translations.
Set your original website language, and then choose the first language you’d like to translate into.
Once you’ve chosen, save settings. Et voila! Could it be simpler?
2: How to ensure your translations are high quality
You’ll want to make sure your translations are accurate, so head to your Weglot Dashboard, where you can manually review translations.
You can find professional agencies for your multi-language website by heading to the Professional Translations tab, where native translators will review your translations for accuracy. This service is useful if you don’t have in-house access to translation services. This way you can ensure your WordPress site is professional in your language(s) of choice.
As a side note, look out for text in images. You shouldn’t have these as they’re bad for accessibility and SEO, but you can use Weglot to replace images with translated versions.
To do this, go to the Weglot Dashboard, sort your Translations List by Content Type ? Media, and then customize the URLs of images which you want to translate. You’ll need to upload these images separately from your WordPress Dashboard ? Media Library ? Add New.
Now you can fully customize your site in any language for your audience. Consider these the first steps towards creating a fully immersive, localized experience for site visitors, whenever in the world they may be.
Take your multi-language website to the next level
By creating your own multi-language website, you’ll remove barriers between yourself and foreign audiences; making it even easier to access a global marketplace. Not only will you stand out from the competition; you’ll also stand out to customers and site visitors by going the extra mile to communicate in their native language: A lucrative move for all involved.
Multi-language website plugins automate this process for you and alleviate your workload. Not only does Weglot provide personalization for site visitors; you can also fully customize this plugin to fit your own site design; making it as prominent or as subtle as you choose.
You could even take your multi-language website above and beyond by acknowledging cultural specifics in your chosen language. This might range from employing a native customer support manager, to adding local working hours, or celebrating local cultural holidays and acknowledging business etiquette.
However far you decide to take your multi-language website customization; providing site visitors with the option to get to know your product in their language of choice is bound to lead to greater site visibility, higher sales and even happier customers.
This is a guest post by Alex Denning.