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Building a multilingual site on WordPress feels like a hassle? You’re in for a surprise with the WPML plugin. Touted as a powerful resource under the WordPress hood, WPML helps developers translate every bit of their websites—from posts to pages—into 65 different languages. But, how? This step-by-step guide breaks it down for you.
Imagine you’re a small owner and want to have a strong sales pipeline. What should you do first? Build a multilingual website that speaks to everyone!
A multi-language website is nothing short of an ace for any business that wants to scale globally and attract sales. Not only does it get the message across in native languages, but also helps customers feel valued and understood, which in turn, unlocks a new level of personalization and drives higher conversion rates.
We’re living in a time when globalization has reached an acme. Without a global presence, a business isn’t seen as competitive or successful. Thus, having a multilingual site isn’t an “if,” but a “when.” And if you’re using WordPress, we’ll explain how to make your site multilingual in just five minutes using WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin), giving you a considerable upper-hand in the market.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS)—the simplest yet the most powerful at the moment. Let’s understand it from a layman’s as well as a professional’s standpoint.
The shorter, easier definition
WordPress, as a CMS, makes website content management easier, faster, and more efficient. It lets you customize how your site looks, feels, and interacts with your audience. As one of the most popular ways to get a website or a blog up and running, it currently powers more than 38% of the web (over 835 million websites).
More technical definition
WordPress is a free, open-source CMS built with PHP and MySQL, backed by the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture. It offers customization and extensibility through plugins and themes, supports custom post types, taxonomies, and metadata, and integrates with external applications via RESTful APIs.
Licensed under GPLv2, it allows free use and modification. With its modular design and customizable hooks, WordPress is ideal for both simple and complex websites, offering scalability, version control, and collaborative content management.
WordPress Multilingual Plugin, also known as WPML, is a powerful WordPress plugin that easily turns your website into a multilingual platform. With the WPML plugin, developers can translate every part of a website—from pages, posts, menus, and theme texts—into any language of their choice, empowering businesses to compete globally.
WPML offers flexible translation options, including automatic translations via WPML AI, Google, DeepL, and Microsoft. It also lets you control the translation workflow, so you can manage how and what gets translated. With support for over 65 languages, WPML comes at the top as the most versatile plugin, making it an ideal choice for both corporate websites and personal blogs.
WPML is priced with varying budgetary needs in mind. The pricing options are flexible, making it suitable for startups, agencies, SMEs, and Fortune 500 companies alike. Refer to the table below to understand how much WPML costs.
Setting up WPML is straightforward. Take note of the following steps to get WPML started.
For a detailed walkthrough, refer to WPML’s Getting Started Guide.
If you face any blockers or find the whole process overwhelming, the easiest way to go around it is by hiring a WordPress website development company and seeking professional help from those who know the drill.
By default, WordPress allows websites in only one language. For years, developers have built a local website by cloning the main one and directing users to the localized version.
However, things have turned 360-degrees when dedicated multilingual plugins entered the chat. By using plugins like WPML, users can create multilingual websites on the go. Since you’ve already set up WPML in your WordPress dashboard, here’s a concise 5-step guide to help you proceed:
By following these steps, you can effectively build and manage a multilingual WordPress website using WPML.
The WPML plugin does make it all easier. However, keeping a few considerations in mind can help you avoid common pitfalls and unlock lasting results.
For many years, WordPress developers either used Google Translate or built a second site for businesses looking to branch out across multiple geographies. The rise of multilingual plugins like WPML threw a lifeline to WordPress development companies, simplifying the whole process and significantly reducing the turnaround time.
However, WPML does require some learning. If you’re a business, have expansion plans in the offing, and need a multilingual website, Unified Infotech, a top WordPress development company, can help. With years of experience in WordPress development, familiarity with best practices and practical strategies, and a team that understands the CMS inside out, we’re perfectly equipped to solve your business challenges and build a site that engages your audience, no matter where they are.
Come explore our WordPress expertise today!
"Santanu Mandal, Project Manager at Unified Infotech, leads with precision and dedication to deliver successful projects. He is not just a tech enthusiast but also a complex problem solver. With a focus on detail, Santanu ensures projects meet and exceed expectations.”
WordPress translation plugins allow you to create and manage multilingual websites by providing a simple interface for translating your site’s content. These plugins enable automatic or manual translations for pages, posts, and other elements, ensuring that users can access your site in their preferred language. Popular translation plugins include WPML, Polylang, and Weglot.
To add a different domain per language in WPML, go to WPML’s "Languages" settings and choose the "Different languages in directories" or "Different domains per language" option. You’ll need to configure DNS settings and ensure that each domain is properly mapped to its corresponding language. This setup allows a separate domain for each language version of your site.
Common WPML issues include translation inconsistencies, broken links, and performance slowdowns. To fix them, ensure that your WordPress and WPML plugins are up to date. For translation issues, verify the correct language settings and synchronize content. Performance can be improved by optimizing your website, and broken links can be fixed by running a link checker or correcting redirects.
To change the main language in WPML, go to the WPML "Languages" settings page in your WordPress dashboard. In the "Site Languages" section, select the new language as the default one. WPML will update your site’s default language, and all content will be considered in this new language, while other language versions remain unchanged.
WPML can positively affect SEO by allowing you to create SEO-friendly multilingual content. It supports hreflang tags, ensuring proper indexing for different language versions. To optimize your multilingual site for search engines, make sure each language has unique content, optimize metadata for each language, and use localized keywords. Additionally, ensure proper redirects and avoid duplicate content issues.
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