To grow your business internationally, your website must be multilingual to attract different countries’ audience. And to make your WordPress site multilingual, here’s a plugin that you need to install- WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin). This well configured and popular premium plugin allows you to translate your website pages and enables users to switch languages. Now let’s get to know how to build a multilingual WordPress website using WPML.
1. Install and activate WPML
First of all, do not forget to back up your website. Now buy the WPML plugin as it’s a paid plugin. Now go to your WP dashboard >> Plugins >> Add New. Now upload the WPML file that you’ve got in your mail after making the plugin purchase. Click on the “Install Now” button then on “Activate”.
2. Determine your website’s language
The WPML plugin will now start showing in your dashboard. Now go to “Languages” section in WPML. Enter the current language and click on “Next”.
Now you’ll be shown many languages to choose. After choosing the languages of your choice, the next thing you need to add is a language switcher to the website so that the users can switch between their preferable languages.
3. Set up the ‘Language Switcher’
Language switcher enables a user to select the languages that are available on the website. Usually, it comes in a drop-down list form. Go to the “Widget Area” and enable it by clicking on the checkbox.
Now there are two options for you to choose for language switcher style- in form of a drop-down menu or a plain list.
4. Get your content ready for translation
Although Google translator lets translate anything for free but the quality of this machine translation is quite questionable. This point is to be noted here that WPML doesn’t automatically translate website’s content, you have to do it for all the pages and posts. Just click on the posts menu to see all the existing posts. A languages column will be seen right next to the posts’ titles.
By clicking the add (+) button to translate that post. Also, you’ll see a Language meta box to manage the translations. From here you can add translated content or you can let other users/authors do the translation.
You can even translate your WordPress themes using WPML plugin.
Well, this is all you have to do to make your WordPress website multilingual and thus to gain the global audience. Yes, it’s tried and true 😉