Feeling stagnant in your local market? You have probably considered bringing it to the whole new level by turning your company into a global one. This idea has probably crossed your mind multiple times. You can probably already see yourself as the biggest and meanest player in your niche. Still, you are well aware of the challenges you would face on your way there.
Before your product hits the international market, your website should already be big there, and that requires translating it. It is fundamentally important because one of the main obstacles when it comes to purchasing is when people can't understand what they are buying.
So, it is not an overstatement when someone says that whether you translate your website or not can make or break your business on the international market. If you're handling video translations for example, it can be a much easier task with a plugin like Alugha by your side, with which you can automatically create transcriptions, record, dictate the tempo, and basically sit back and relax while it handles every step of the translation process.
On the other hand, the task of translating the entire site is, nevertheless, daunting. It may feel like you are starting all over again and that is, unfortunately, not that far from the truth.
How do I translate my website then?
First, find a translator. Translators can be a pain in the neck. True, finding a native translator, with the number of freelancers on the internet, is no biggie. However, knowing the language you need is not all that you need from them. The person you hire has to have a couple of other, equally important skills.
What you need is a native translator and a copywriter that will do the job properly while keeping in mind the original design and the overall vibe. The one you hire should also be familiar with multilingual SEO. This is a must so that the translated copy can attract the desired new visitors and that you can rest assured that people will be able to find your newly translated site. Most importantly, your hire should be the one you won’t have to go back and forth with to get the translation that will accomplish what you are paying for in the first place.
You also need to put your development team out of maintenance mode and back in action.
There is an easier, no-stress required way to accomplish all this, and it is called TranslatePress. You can find it under the plugin tab in your WordPress editor which now even allows you to translate images.
What is TranslatePress?
TranslatePress is a WordPress plugin that will turn your website into a multilanguage website without you having to undertake all the steps we mentioned above. Seriously, you don’t even need the translator to hit the foreign market.
It is extremely simple to use, so you can also count the developers out. All you have to do to get started is to simply download and install this plugin. There are no additional plugins you have to deal with or some catches that only developers would know how to solve. It works effortlessly with any theme and design, and you will have no compatibility issues.
Even without the developers, you will still get the desired results yourself. First of all, through this plugin, you can add as many languages as you would like and you can go global in a matter of seconds. You will still be able to edit what you need because this plugin is an out-of-the-box solution for all the ideas you might have for your multilingual website.
The effortlessness comes from being able to translate the site from the front-end and see the end result as you, or your translators, work your (or their) magic. This way the chances of you or them messing up the design are miserable, and you can choose your words so that the meaning is translated and the design remains intact and still looks impeccable.
You can edit the navigation on your website to customize it specifically for the foreign market or create translator accounts. By using these accounts, the translators you hire will be able to complete the job in time and for less money, as they will not have to mess around with WordPress back-end and other confusing steps.
Are there any other features I could find useful?
As this wasn’t enough, there are several other notable features that will save you both time and energy. They are well thought out. Combined together, they are adding several important layers of convenience for you, and bling to your website anxious to hit the global stage.
SEO pack
There is no point in doing all this if you do not take SEO into consideration. If new customers from international markets won’t be able to find you, all your efforts with translating are, more or less, futile.
This plugin provides you with much-needed support for page slugs, as translating them, and your permalinks are incredibly important for Google to be able to find you in another language. It will also help you out with the page title and description. You can count on it for Facebook and Twitter social graph information.
It has Yoast SEO integrated to help you out with creating SEO-friendly content in the desired language. With this, you can see whether your content is difficult to read and comprehend to the natives as well.
Automatic user language detection
Attention span is constantly decreasing, and people will rather go to another website than try to find the language switcher on yours. So, considering the 4-seconds rule, this feature will help you keep all the traffic you receive on your website instead of them going to the local competition. First-time visitors to your webpage will be automatically redirected to your page in the language they need to see it in, without you having to lift a finger.
They have probably selected a language as their preferred one in their browser, and your page will show up in the same language. The even better news is that this choice will then be saved as a cookie for the next time when the same visitor drops by, to make sure they land on your page in the language that makes them comfortable.
Integration with Google Translate
This integration is probably the best thing that could happen to you if you are in a hurry and looking to accomplish your goal as soon as possible. It will allow you to translate the whole website, without actually hiring anyone! Translate with Google Translate, and send your website out there.
Still, as practical as it may sound, it is not a human translation, and it might look a bit odd. In a pinch, though, it is the perfect placeholder, and it might help you get out there before your competition does. You still need to hire the translator to fix things up a bit and add the missing human touch. If you are translating into a well-known language, though, you can effortlessly get by hiring just a proofreader, or even just an editor.
Compatibility with any theme or plugin
This is where “no need for developers” part comes true. All you have to do to take advantage of these amazing features is to simply install this plugin and use it as soon as the installation procedure is done. You won't have any compatibility issues, and you don’t have to bother to install anything else or to figure out the checkboxes on your way.
It works perfectly, out of the box, with WooCommerce. If you're a shop owner, TranslatePress makes translating WooCommerce products a breeze. All the complex themes you might have used to create your website fall under this support, and you will have no issues with different site-builders as well. If your website has something unique to it, rest assured that it recognizes and takes care of all your custom posts and that you won’t have to sacrifice anything.
How much for a global website?
This plugin’s pricing offers three yearly options, ranging from €79 to €199. All three options include the important solutions that will get your website out there, including a whole year of their incredible support. The most expensive one allows an unlimited number of websites, while the cheapest one can be used for a single website.
It may sound like a lot on the first glance, but when the alternative is taken into consideration, and with that struggles that come with hiring translators and developers, this plugin, with all of its features, is both a company and money saver. Truth is, development team standing behind this plugin knew what they were doing, as they felt all of the issues covered with the same plugin on their own skin first.
Taking into consideration all the troubles their end-users had to go through and the difficulties they had to endure, they have created this plugin to help everyone out. Since it covers all the major issues related to translation, it is no wonder that this plugin’s revenue went straight from zero to $4500 in a single month! If you weren’t sure that this plugin is your solution, this could be the hint that you need.
Download, install and get your website out there! Use the SEO benefits to attract new users from all around the world, translate with Google Translate to test the waters before you hire translators and editors, and enjoy the effortlessness to do so in the first place. Once you are the biggest fish in the sea, feel free to share the secret!