How to implement translation for WordPress websites

A translated website helps bring your business to a broader audience, expanding your presence to different countries and cultures.

Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to make your WordPress site accessible to international audiences. Advancements in machine translation tools have simplified WordPress website translation and made localization easier and more affordable for businesses of all sizes.

A comprehensive translation solution allows you to get the best of both human and machine translation methods. You can hire a professional translator to translate pages manually for maximum accuracy or use AI and machine translation to speed up the process. Better yet, a mix of translation services can maximize your impact.

Ready to launch your multilingual WordPress website? This guide will explore various methods of translating WordPress sites and explain the benefits of each translation method.

Benefits of WordPress language translation

Translating your WordPress website offers countless advantages for brands seeking global expansion. Here are just a few:

1. Improved SEO and higher search engine rankings: Google and other search engines index content separately in different languages. Search engines detect sites with content in multiple languages and display it to the appropriate international audience. This means a multilingual WordPress website can bring in more traffic.
2. Better user experience and increased sales: Visitors are more likely to buy from a website when they can read it in their native language. This also makes your site easier to navigate, keeps visitors on your page longer, and makes them more likely to return.
3. Stand out from competitors: Most businesses only use one language on their WordPress website. Offering more language options shows potential customers you care about diversifying your customer base. Your brand looks more professional and internationally friendly.
4. Cost-effective marketing: Translating your WordPress website is more budget-conscious than creating new content. You can connect with international audiences while keeping expenses low.

2 ways to translate your WordPress website

Numerous translation methods and plugins are available to help with WordPress language translation.

Professional human translation

A professional, certified human translator for WordPress can translate and localize your content. Human translation often is more appealing than AI as it allows for linguists to incorporate the nuances and idioms of the local culture with your brand.

Although this is an effective method, it can be expensive and take much longer than other methods.

Automated translation tools and connectors

Automated translation connectors provide one of the easiest ways to translate your WordPress site. These integrations connect your website content to a machine translation system that automatically ingests and translates new content whenever it’s uploaded. The best translator plugins for WordPress save the content on your site and allow for further editing so you can control how your translated pages are indexed and improve SEO.

AI tools offer speed and scalability in your translations that are hard to match. The top automatic WordPress translation plugins include:

• Smartling’s WordPress connector with WPML integration
• TranslatePress
• Polylang
• Weglot
• Gtranslate
• Google Translate
• Lingotek
• DeepL

Here’s a summary of three prominent options:

• Smartling Connector: The Smartling Connector integrates directly into your WordPress multisite environment. You can submit various content types for translation within the Smartling platform—posts, pages, categories, tags, theme widgets, and navigation menus. Completed translations are automatically loaded into your WordPress site. 
• TranslatePress: TranslatePress integrates with AI translation services, including DeepL, Google Translate, and Microsoft Translator, to automatically translate your website content. Once you’ve selected a translation service, TranslatePress continuously detects new content and updates translations accordingly.
• Polylang: Polylang is a multilingual plugin for WordPress that allows you to translate posts, pages, categories, menus, and custom post types. It integrates directly into the WordPress dashboard to simplify multilingual content management. Polylang integrates with third-party services like DeepL for AI-powered translations.

Smartling’s Wordpress Connector is the best option, as it has the flexibility and tools to achieve accurate translations at scale. It also connects directly with the WordPress Multilingual (WPML) plugin, so you can easily submit content for translation and receive completed translations within your WordPress dashboard.

Machine translation tools are often the most cost-effective choice for translating a website. However, businesses that are willing to invest in reaching a global audience may choose to use a combination of professional translation services and machine translation tools.

Speed and scalability matter in a global market, but so do accuracy and relevance. Translation mistakes could damage your reputation and cause customers to avoid your services.

Scale your multilingual website with Smartling’s translation solutions

WordPress website localization can be challenging, but Smartling simplifies the process by integrating directly with WordPress and WPML. Whether you’re running a small business or a large enterprise, Smartling has all the software and services to support translations for your WordPress content.

Smartling provides a centralized translation management system, expert linguists, and integration with the top AI and MT models. With our comprehensive suite of tools, you can build a translation mix that suits your unique needs—whether you prioritize speed, accuracy, or a balance of both.

Ready to take your translation strategy to the next level? Download our eBook, “The Complete Guide to Translation Services,” to learn how to create a more efficient, scalable, and user-friendly multilingual website.