What is a multilingual website?
A multilingual website, as the name suggests, is a website whose content is available in more than one language.
If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: How can I build a multilingual website?
You can build a multilingual website in two ways: by using a plugin or hiring a native speaker as a translator.
While plugins are generally more affordable than actual human translators, the translated output that you get from them is not always 100% accurate. In fact, in a lot of cases, you can immediately tell that it was not actually a human that did the translation because it sounds extremely unnatural.
But even if the translation somehow came out somewhat decent in terms of grammar and structure, there is still no guarantee that it would capture the intent and nuances of the original version. Keep in mind that web copy, as well as sales and marketing copy, is different from an article in that it is written specifically to persuade and guide the user to a particular end or conversion event.
At the end of the day, while hiring a professional translator costs more, you can rest assured that the finished product would be more natural sounding, engaging, and persuasive than anything a machine translator can produce—at least currently.
Natural language processing tools are advancing rather quickly, so it is only a matter of time before they become sophisticated enough to get the job done perfectly.
Question #2: What are the benefits of building it?
The biggest benefits of building a multilingual website are as follows:
- A larger user base – If your website is available in different languages, it is only natural that more people from different parts of the world can use it.
- Improved visibility in search – In most cases, Google (and other search engines) will show your content in search engine results pages (SERPs) that are in the same language. If you make it available in different languages, you effectively bump up its visibility in search.
- Increased sales (or conversions) – Of course, the more people there are using your website, the more chances you get to make a sale or convert.
Question #3: Do I need a multilingual website?
To determine if you need a multilingual website, you need to take a look at your business and target customers.
Do you run a local business that serves your local community? If so, then you do not need a multilingual website because even if people from across the globe find you, they still cannot avail of your products and services.
But what if you have an online business that serves the domestic market? Well, you also do not need a multilingual website for the exact same reason.
You should only consider building a multilingual website if you run a global corporation or an online business that serves customers in different parts of the world. In this case, not doing it would actually cause you to lose a lot in potential revenue just because customers who speak a different language are unable to use your website.
Question #4: Why do I need it when Google offers to translate websites into foreign languages?
You need a multilingual website despite Google offering to translate websites in foreign languages because if you have ever used Google Translate, you know that while it is pretty good, the results are still not always 100% accurate or natural.
Keep in mind that your goal should be to make it as easy as possible for your target customers to do business with you—and force them to exert effort trying to make sense of your poorly translated website and figuring out how to get things done on it does the exact opposite of that.
And even if your target customers somehow manage to figure out how to actually buy from you, unless you offer truly one-of-a-kind products or services, there is a slim chance that they will want to do business with you again in the future if you make it frustrating for them to do so.