Running a global business has become more attainable for more people thanks to the internet and social media. Regardless of your industry, expanding your reach to foreign markets has never been easier. Now, the greatest barrier between you and potential customers, clients, and partners is language.
To harness the potential that the web has given you, adapting web content is now a fundamental aspect of global expansion, particularly website translation for WordPress websites. In this article, we’ll delve into the world of website translation, focusing on the when, why, and how of implementing it.
Why Translate a Website?
Customer Satisfaction
Different cultures have unique preferences and expectations. In fact, nearly 73% of consumers want to make a purchase in their own language, and 56% said the ability to obtain information in their own language is more important than price. If you aren’t offering your content in multiple languages, you could lose out on potential business.
Increased Performance
An e-commerce website that adds just one extra language can increase conversion rates by around 70%! This is because customers feel more connected to and seen by the brand. It’s also because bounce rates tend to decrease by about 50%, meaning customers are spending more time on your pages.
Cultural Relevance
Translating your website helps you tailor your content to resonate with the cultural nuances and preferences of your target audience, enhancing user experience. It makes your content accessible to non-English-speaking audiences, opening up opportunities to engage with a broader customer base. Global content marketing on WordPress showcases your business’ sophistication and complexity, instilling trust among international customers.
SEO Benefits
Also, multilingual websites improve search engine optimization (SEO). Translated content helps your website rank higher in search engine results, making it more visible to potential customers in different regions. In a competitive global market, offering a multilingual website can set you apart from competitors who only operate in one language. It demonstrates your commitment to serving a diverse clientele.
How to Translate Your WordPress Website
Your WordPress website allows for a lot of customization, and therefore plenty of options for methods of translation. Check out the most popular technology used in website translation for WordPress sites:
WPML or WordPress Multilingual Plug-In – Translation Plugins
Content management systems (CMS) like WordPress offer translation plugins that allow you to translate your website’s content easily. These plugins often integrate with professional translation services for high-quality results.
With plugins, like WPMLs, you can automatically assign content for translation in any language. They allow you to manage your multilingual site using your preferred content management system (CMS).
With the best WP plugins managed by a translation service, you would get:
- Streamlined translation workflows that can push, receive, and publish translated content
- Centralized control of original and translated content in one location
- Scalable and customizable localization management
- Access to over 112 languages through certified professional translators
- Translation turnaround time at industry-leading speed
Proxy Translation
Proxy translation technology works with nearly any content management system (CMS) and requires minimal additional staging or quality assurance. This means that it can be implemented quickly, allowing businesses to start translating their websites without significant delays.
Proxy solutions can easily scale to accommodate the translation needs of growing websites. Whether your website expands in terms of content volume or language coverage, proxy technology can handle the increased workload effectively. Proxy website translation technology is user- friendly, allowing businesses to manage translations efficiently without extensive technical expertise.
Neural Machine Translation (NMT)
Machine translation involves using algorithms and artificial intelligence to automatically translate text. Machine translation provides almost instant translations, allowing you to translate large volumes of content quickly. Using machine translation can significantly lower long-term translation costs. It reduces the need for extensive human involvement, making it a cost-effective solution for businesses with budget constraints.
Machine translation ensures terminology consistency throughout your website. This helps maintain a uniform brand voice and message across different language versions, enhancing user experience. This is especially true when using more customizable tools like Brand Adapted Neural Machine Translation (NMT).
Human Translators
Working with professional human translators ensures the highest quality translations. They have the expertise to handle complex content and cultural nuances, providing an authentic and culturally sensitive experience for users.
However, this is by far the most expensive, complicated, and time-consuming option. Whether or not you have a translator on your internal team, chances are you don’t have the resources to implement the translations, especially if you are constantly updating your web content.
Plus, you need to ensure that the translated content is then uploaded back into WordPress correctly. Internal teams do not always realize that multilingual content is typically 20% longer than English content. That’s why working with a translation partner can ensure your WordPress site looks good to the user.
In addition to ensuring accurate translations, implementing security measures like WP Captcha can help protect your multilingual site from unauthorized access, ensuring a secure experience for users across different languages.
Why is Website Translation Hard?
Updates and Scaling
Websites are dynamic, with content that often changes and updates regularly. This dynamism requires continuous translation efforts to ensure that all parts of the website remain accurately translated in real-time. Keeping up with these updates demands a dedicated team or an automated system capable of detecting and translating changes as they happen. This around-the- clock attention to detail is challenging because it requires significant resources and sophisticated technology to ensure consistency and accuracy across all versions of the website.
Word Growth and Misalignment
Different languages have different structures, and a direct translation from one language to another can result in varying lengths of text. This phenomenon, known as “text expansion” or “word growth,” can disrupt the layout and design of a website. For instance, a short phrase in English might become up to 20% longer when translated into German or Spanish, causing issues with text alignment, layout breakage, or even the need for redesigning certain elements to accommodate the longer text. Managing these layout challenges while maintaining a seamless user experience across all language versions of a website is a complex task that requires careful planning and execution.
Cultural Adaptation
Translation is not just about converting text from one language to another; it’s about localizing content to suit the cultural context of the target audience. Localization involves adapting images, colors, currency, dates, and other elements to reflect the cultural norms and values of each audience. This process is crucial for engaging users and making the website more accessible and relatable to people from different cultural backgrounds. However, effective localization requires deep cultural knowledge and sensitivity, making it a challenging aspect of website translation.
Time and Budget Resources
The more languages a website aims to support, the more complex and resource-intensive the translation process becomes. Each additional language not only multiplies the amount of work needed for translation and localization but also requires expertise in that language and culture. This process involves translators, proofreaders, localization experts, and potentially developers to implement and manage the multilingual content. The complexity increases exponentially with each additional language, making it a time-consuming and costly endeavor. Moreover, maintaining the accuracy and consistency of content across multiple languages requires ongoing investment in terms of both time and money.
These challenges highlight why website translation is not merely a task of converting text from one language to another but a comprehensive process that involves technical, linguistic, and cultural adaptation. The goal is to create a multilingual website that offers a seamless, engaging, and culturally relevant experience to users worldwide, which is no small feat.
Benefits of Using a Website Translation Partner
Collaborating with a professional website translation partner on your WordPress site provides several advantages:
- Ǫuality and Accuracy: Translation partners combine expert linguists with machine translation efficiency, ensuring top-notch quality and accuracy while optimizing your translation budget.
- Efficiency: Website translation partners have streamlined processes, enabling rapid translations—critical when targeting global markets with timely content updates.
- Scalability: Translation partners can handle large content volumes and scale their services to match your global business growth, especially crucial for industries like e-commerce and travel.
- 24/7 Support: A translation partner offers comprehensive support, including dedicated customer success representatives, quality assurance, 24/7 customer support, and a dedicated translation team focused on your specific needs.
In today’s globalized world, website translation is vital for businesses looking to expand their reach and serve diverse markets. Whether you opt for machine translation, translation plugins, or professional human translators, prioritize quality and accuracy to resonate with international audiences.
Working with a professional website translation partner on your WordPress site unlocks linguistic expertise, efficiency, cultural adaptation, scalability, and comprehensive support—keys to successfully engaging with a global audience.
Get started today and unlock the full potential of your WordPress website in the global marketplace.
