How to Translate a WordPress Website:

A Step-by-Step Guide

WordPress is one of the most popular and versatile platforms for creating websites. It powers over 40% of the web and offers thousands of themes and plugins to customize your site. However, WordPress does not have a built-in feature to make your site multilingual. If you want to reach a global audience and offer your content in different languages, you will need to use some additional tools and techniques.

In this blog post, we will show you how to translate a WordPress website using two of the best WordPress translation plugins: TranslatePress and WPML. We will also share some tips and best practices for multilingual SEO, which will help you rank higher in search engines for your target languages.

Why Translate Your WordPress Website?

Translating your WordPress website can have many benefits for your business, such as:

• Expanding your market and reaching new customers who speak different languages
• Improving your user experience and customer satisfaction by offering content in their native language
• Increasing your conversions and sales by reducing language barriers and building trust with your audience
• Enhancing your brand reputation and authority by showing that you care about diversity and inclusion

How to Choose a WordPress Translation Plugin?

There are many WordPress translation plugins available, but not all of them are created equal. Some of the factors you should consider when choosing a WordPress translation plugin are:

• The quality and accuracy of the translations
• The ease of use and customization options
• The compatibility with your theme and plugins
• The support for multilingual SEO and hreflang tags
• The performance and speed of your site

Two of the most popular and reliable WordPress translation plugins are TranslatePress and WPML. Both of them offer high-quality translations, user-friendly interfaces, compatibility with most themes and plugins, multilingual SEO features, and fast loading times. However, they have some differences in terms of pricing, translation methods, and functionality.

TranslatePress vs WPML: Which One to Use?

TranslatePress is a freemium plugin that allows you to translate your WordPress site directly from the front-end. You can use Google Translate for automatic translations or manually edit them yourself. You can also assign translator roles to other users on your site. TranslatePress supports over 100 languages and lets you translate every aspect of your site, including content, menus, widgets, forms, meta tags, etc.

WPML is a premium plugin that allows you to translate your WordPress site from the back-end. You can use professional translation services or manually translate your content yourself. You can also create multilingual versions of your site using different domains, subdomains, or subdirectories. WPML supports over 40 languages and lets you translate every element of your site, including posts, pages, custom post types, taxonomies, media, etc.

Both TranslatePress and WPML have their pros and cons, so the choice depends on your preferences and needs. Here is a quick comparison table to help you decide:

How to Translate Your WordPress Website with TranslatePress?

If you choose to use TranslatePress for translating your WordPress website, here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Install and activate the TranslatePress plugin from the WordPress repository or from its official website¹.
2. Go to Settings > TranslatePress and choose your default language and any additional languages you want to add.
3. Go to the front-end of your site and click on the Translate Page button at the top.
4. Use the Google Translate button to automatically translate the entire page or click on any text element to manually edit it.
5. Repeat the process for every page and element of your site that you want to translate.
6. Save your changes and enjoy your multilingual WordPress website.

How to Translate Your WordPress Website with WPML?

If you choose to use WPML for translating your WordPress website, here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Purchase a WPML subscription from its official website² and download the plugin files.
2. Install and activate the WPML plugin and its components (WPML Translation Management, WPML String Translation, etc.) from the Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin page.
3. Go to WPML > Languages and choose your site language and any other languages you want to add.
4. Go to WPML > Translation Management and select the content types (posts, pages, etc.) that you want to translate.
5. Go to WPML > Translation Options and choose your translation method (manual or automatic) and your URL structure (domains, subdomains, or subdirectories).
6. Go to the WordPress editor and create or edit a post or page in your default language. Use the language switcher to add translations in other languages.
7. Repeat the process for every post and page of your site that you want to translate.
8. Save your changes and enjoy your multilingual WordPress website.

Tips and Best Practices for Multilingual SEO

Translating your WordPress website is not enough to rank well in search engines for your target languages. You also need to optimize your site for multilingual SEO, which involves following some best practices such as:

• Conduct keyword research for each language and use relevant keywords in your content, titles, meta tags, URLs, etc.
• Use hreflang tags to tell Google which language and region each page is intended for. This will help Google display the correct version of your site to users and avoid duplicate content issues.
• Create a multilingual XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console. This will help Google crawl and index your site faster and more accurately.
• Use a CDN (content delivery network) to improve your site speed and performance. This will reduce your bounce rate and increase your user engagement.
• Localize your content and design for each language and culture. This will help you connect with your audience and increase your conversions.

Conclusion

Translating your WordPress website can be a great way to grow your business and reach new customers around the world. However, you need to use the right tools and techniques to ensure the quality and accuracy of your translations and the effectiveness of your multilingual SEO.

In this blog post, we showed you how to translate your WordPress website using two of the best WordPress translation plugins: TranslatePress and WPML. We also shared some tips and best practices for multilingual SEO that will help you rank higher in search engines for your target languages.

We hope you found this guide helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment below or contact us at Premium Lingua³. We are a professional translation agency that offers high-quality translation services for WordPress websites and other types of content. We can help you create a multilingual WordPress website that will impress your audience and boost your business.