Localisation and multilingual websites
It is important to create a multilingual website if you want your business to reach a wider audience. Creating a multilingual website from scratch is difficult, but WordPress has made it easy! The WordPress Multilingual (WPML) Plugin allows users to create powerful multilingual websites that are SEO friendly, easy to manage, and secure. You don’t need to hire skilled web developers or spend a huge amount of time and money.
The WPML plugin supports over 40 languages and is used by 800,000 websites. It is compatible with all the popular WordPress themes and plugins.
The benefits of using WPML
The WPML plugin has a lot of useful features but it is the most popular translation plugin due to the following reasons:
1. It’s easy to use – The WPML blog version is perfect for basic users as it allows them to create a multilingual website with a single WordPress installation. Users can translate everything from posts, pages, and custom types to tags, custom taxonomy, categories, and WordPress menus.
It also allows you to add a language switch so that visitors can choose the language in which they want to view your website.
2. It is a complete solution for multilingual websites – Advanced users can purchase the WPML CMS version to build multilingual e-commerce websites using WooCommerce and gain access to powerful add-on plugins like WPML String Translation and WPML Translation Management. Plus, they also get page-builder support and access to machine translation.
How WPML works with translation service providers (LSP)
It is crucial to work with a good translation service to build a great multilingual website. However, managing a group of translators is not easy when you have to translate pages in bulk.
The WPML Translation Management add-on plugin allows you to deal directly and efficiently with you LSP from the translation dashboard. Translators can access WPML translation tools to translate or duplicate content into other languages directly on the CMS.
The whole process is much faster and more efficient than assigning translation work to translators via email and then having to upload them on your website. You can also check the word count of all the content that needs to be translated and set the batch name and deadline.
The translation status icons would keep you updated on the progress of your translation.
Conclusion
The WPML plugin is extremely versatile and simple to use. The String translation add-on plugin allows users to translate texts that don’t belong to any specific page without having to edit PO files or upload MO files. You can let your translators access the machine translation option, so that they can speed up their workflow. It is also possible to translate jobs media files like images, screenshots, PDF files, etc.
Compared to other free and paid WordPress translation tools, the WPML plugin offers better value for money and makes it easier to manage your multilingual website while keeping it SEO friendly and secure.
