Web Development: How To Create A Multilingual WordPress Site

Friday, October 11, 2019

How To Create A Multilingual WordPress Site

A multilingual WordPress site is one that offers content in more than one language. For example, a site can provide content in English, French, German, and Spanish. Since most countries have more than one official language, it makes sense to have content in multiple languages. Having a multilingual site is one of the best ways to break into international markets.

With the AJAX Translator Revolution plugin, you can automatically translate your WordPress site into any language you want!

Any site owner aims to reach as many people as possible. The easiest way to achieve that is by creating a multilingual site. There are many plugins that make it easy to translate your site. In this tutorial, we'll look at one of the best: the Ajax Translator Revolution dropdown plugin to create a multilingual website.

By the end of this tutorial, we should have something like this:

Advantages of a Multilingual Site

When it comes to staying ahead of your competition, businesses are inventing all manner of ways to capture as many customers as they can. Having a multilingual site is one of the ways you can stay ahead of your competition. It also has other advantages, as outlined below.

Reach a Wider Audience

The number of internet users in 2019 is an estimated 4.39 billion. This number is expected to go up every year. This population represents potential customers who could be interested in what you have to offer if they can access it—but most of those 4.39 billion people are not English speakers.

Increase in Sales

Making your site multilingual is an effective way of increasing sales. Since more and more people will visit your website, the chances of sales increase rapidly.

Increase in Web Traffic

A multilingual site means that your website will mean that users all over the world will discover your site, especially if it is optimized for SEO. If your site appears for a single search in multiple languages, the traffic on your website will blow up within months, and of course this also has a direct effect on sales.

Expand Into New Markets

A multilingual site can help you break into new markets and acquire new customers without any extra effort. eCommerce websites have perfected this strategy well. A new language on your site can double the number of people who visit your website.

Build Trust

Most people tend to view multilingual sites as global sites, and this proves to be an advantageous trait since it adds a feeling of trust towards your brand.

Ajax Translator Revolution Dropdown Plugin

Ajax Translator is a powerful and user-friendly plugin that makes it easy to translate your site, saving time on manual translation. Ajax Translator comes with over 100 built-in languages, allowing you to offer content with any possible language in the world. It provides the ability to keep your content in every language up to date while still only having to maintain the original content.

It is also easy to set up and allows you to change the default language on your site and arrange the order in which languages will display to the user. It will literally only take a minute to translate your website!

Ajax Translator works by automatically translating content in pages, categories, posts, custom post types, tags, widgets, plugins, and themes—unless otherwise specified.

Key Features:

supports 103 languages
integrates with the WordPress admin system
search engine optimized.
customizable—you can translate anything
remembers visitors' languages
can show language flags or names

Create a Multilingual Site

To start, download the AJAX Translator Revolution plugin from CodeCanyon. You will get a link to download the files. Alternatively, you can find them in the download section of your account with your other purchased items.

Once you've downloaded the WordPress files, log in to your WordPress site, go to Plugins > Add New, and upload the zip file you got from CodeCanyon. After uploading, click Install Now, wait a few seconds, and then click Activate. You can now start using the plugin.

Configurations

After activation, the plugin should appear as a sidebar menu as Auto Translation option in the admin area of your WordPress site. Go to Auto Translation > Dashboard, click on Settings, and enter the purchase code.

The next task is to choose which languages you want your site to be translated into. Go back to the settings section and select the languages you wish to translate to, as shown below. Save your changes.

Display Multiple Languages for Content

The next step is to place the Auto Translation widget at the site, preferably at the top right of your website, which in turn allows users to switch between multiple languages when viewing content. Go to Appearance > Widgets, and drag and drop the widget to the sidebar, header, or menu section of your website. Depending on your theme, choose the appropriate place for the widget. In this case, we will place it at the Header Sidebar. Once you are done, save the changes.

Now go back to your site, and you should see the Auto Translation in action. All the active languages are showing automatically everywhere on the site. Your visitors can now choose which language they wish to view your site with.

For example, if a user is browsing the posts page, they can switch to any language, and Auto Translation displays the posts in the user's preferred language. A Spanish translation will appear as follows.

The plugin also looks good on smaller devices as seen below

All the content on the site now is being translated. However, if you don't wish to have all the content translated, you can disable or hide the translator. Go to Auto Translation > Settings > Hide on Pages, Posts, and Categories, select your preferred options, and save the changes.

Conclusion

A translation plugin is the easiest way to get your content available in different languages. This plugin is suitable for all types of businesses, including educational institutions, blogs of all kinds, and international organizations. It takes the hassle out of translating your site manually, which may end up taking a lot of time and resources.