Translating Your WordPress Site With Ease

So you’re looking to translate your WordPress website. Translating your website could generate traffic, lead to a wider reach and give you a huge return on investment or ROI. Here are the statistics to support it:

Since its launch in May 2003, 22 billion WordPress pages are viewed by over 410 million people each month. WordPress blogs are written in over 120 languages, according to WordPress themselves.

Meanwhile, according to CSA Research, 65% of non-native English speakers prefer content in their native tongue, even though they are highly proficient in English, and around 40% of internet users said they will never buy from websites that are not in their native language. And, translating your website to other languages enables you to reach 80% of the online purchasing power globally.

But how? Today we’ll delve into four methods of translating your website, or your WordPress site, specifically. We’ll see how to use plugins, website translation services, localization platforms, or a do-it-yourself freelance translator. Then, we’ll see what the right website translator can do for you.

If you’ve ever wanted to transform your website to a multilingual one, let’s dive in.

 

Four Ways to Translate Your WordPress Website

In order to access the purchasing power that translation of your WordPress site can bring, here are four ways to translate your WordPress site:

 

Plugins

Plugins are software add-ons that enhance the functionality of the website. When it comes to WordPress translations, WordPress translation plugins seamlessly integrate with the platform. Some popular plugins include Translate Press, WordPress Multilingual (WPML), and Weglot.

There are two types of plugins, a multilingual plugin like WPML, or an automated translation plugin like Weglot.

Multilingual plugins allow you to manually add multilingual content to your website. These multilingual plugins generate better websites than automatic translations, because you can customize your whole multilingual content. You can manually translate all aspects of your website, using such services as Tomedes’ website translation services, which works wonders and integrates seamlessly with WPML.

Meanwhile, automated website translation plugins use online translation services to translate your content. However, the quality of translation may not be the same, since it’s generated by a machine and not by professional human translators.

The best method is to compare and contrast the translation and multilingual plugins, to find out which is best suited for your content.

 

Website Translation Services

If you want to leave your website translation to the experts, make sure to look for the right website translation services. The key to transforming your website into a multilingual one is website translation services, by use of multilingual SEO, hreflang, and multiple landing pages.

Website translation services do more than just automatic translation of your website. Professional translators and project managers go through a rigorous process of translation, quality assurance, and proofreading in order to provide the best accuracy from the source language to another, thus providing as well the best quality of translation.

Website translation services like Tomedes have dedicated WordPress translators, who are equipped with the knowledge of WordPress sites, with the knowledge of two or more languages at their disposal. With website translation, you don’t have to worry about translation at all. Simply send the files to Tomedes, and their team will get to work. The company also integrates with WPML, as stated earlier.

Website translation services are great for both beginners and advanced WordPress users. For beginners who don’t know WordPress too well, they could opt for these services because they’ll be matched with experts who know the ins and outs of WordPress. Meanwhile, for the advanced  who want to build their website with more and more languages, these services can help them transform their site into a multilingual one.

 

DIY with a freelance translator

In this day and age, freelance translators are easy to find. Simply search online, and you’ll find the right freelance translators for translating your website yourself. When you’re looking for a freelance translator, make a comprehensive checklist of the qualities you need from the translator, such as the content you need, the style, the focus, the design elements, and more.

You can look for freelance translators at websites like Upwork and Fiverr. Simply browse their profiles, and you can find one that’s to your liking. Make sure to ask for work samples, portfolios, and resumes so you can see exactly what you’ll get.

Your personal translation can be customized as much as you want, but freelance translators work on their own time, so make sure to coordinate with them as to the turnaround time you’d like to ensure.

 

Comparing and Contrasting the Different Platforms

In order to find a true comparison between the three platforms, we’ll compare via these metrics:

1. Time and Availability – Plugins are available anywhere there’s an internet connection, but are a one-time installation. If there are any problems with plugins, you have to talk to their customer service, so you should also look at their customer support line when comparing plugins. Website translation services like Tomedes are available 24/7 and have a high satisfaction rating of 97%, which means the client is at the heart of their philosophy. Meanwhile, freelance translators work completely on their own time, so they may not always be available, and may cause delays in their service.

• Accuracy and Quality – Translation quality will greatly improve with the more times it’s proofread and edited. Not all plugins are alike, so they will vary in quality, especially if they’re solely using automatic translation for translating. Freelance translators will also vary by portfolio, and will usually translate directly, then add an additional fee for editing. Meanwhile, website translation services have the manpower to proofread, edit and assure the quality of your translation projects.

• Translation technology – Freelance translators are usually not prone to using translation technology. Meanwhile, you’ll find technology such as automatic translation in plugins. In between the two are website translation services, which ensure professional human translation with integrated translation software such as Computer Assisted Translation tools or CAT tools. Website translation services combine state-of-the-art translation technology with smart human solutions.

 

What the Right Website Translator Could Do For You

A website translator could take the content of your website and translate it into different languages. But, the right website translator could make sure your website attracts organic traffic and help its landing pages rank in Google, by transforming the whole website into a multilingual one, and thus increasing your revenue. What’s the difference?

From creating subdomains and subdirectories to localizing the content of your website to applying multilingual SEO, a website translator can take your WordPress website or WooCommerce store into new heights. A website translator from website translation services make your website more palatable to an international audience, giving your audiences content they can relate to in their own native languages.