You’ve built a beautifully designed, functional, and mobile-friendly WordPress site. But how will your customers—many of whom may not even speak English (or any other language you support)—find your website and transact with you? In today’s ever-changing world, businesses must understand how to effectively serve users across language barriers.

Luckily, you can automate much of the process by utilizing WordPress translation tools. With these tools, you can translate your site’s content and design into several different languages to best meet the needs of your audience. Furthermore, you can even translate the titles and headings of your posts, as well as other areas of your site that aren’t necessarily content heavy (e.g., menus, footer, etc.).

To begin with, you’ll need to install the WordPress Translate plugin. After you’ve done so, you’ll need to connect the plugin to your WordPress site. Then, you’ll need to enter the languages you wish to translate into as well as the language you wish to serve your content in. Finally, you’ll need to select the regions to which you’d like to have your content delivered. As you might expect, you can’t select multiple regions for a given language—so think of this option as a way to select the country you’d like to serve your content from. (Note: For those hoping to serve content to select European countries, you might want to check out the WordPress Trimaxi plugin, which was designed with the EU in mind.)

Once you’ve entered all of this information, click the “Translate” button found at the bottom of your WordPress dashboard. From here, you’ll see a list of all the languages available for translation along with the percentage of words already translated for that language. If you’re looking for a quick look at how well your site is doing so far, you can view the translation stats at any time by clicking on the “Stats” link at the top of your WordPress dashboard.

Why WordPress Translation Tools?

With the explosion of language learners around the world, and Google’s continual pursuit of making their search engines more accessible to non-English speaking users, businesses have realized the importance of providing value to customers in their native tongue. As a business owner, you might be tempted to simply throw up a quick FAQ page or offer (hopefully native-speaking) customer service personnel to help your customers. While these are certainly viable options, many businesses lack the time, resources, and most importantly, the expertise necessary to effectively provide value to their customers in their native language.

With that in mind, many businesses have turned to WordPress translation tools to satisfy their need for quick and easy language acquisition while maintaining the usability and appeal of their existing site.

Fortunately, with a little know-how, your business can flourish in the European Union even if you’re not located there. With the proper use of WordPress translation tools, your website can be translated into numerous European languages and made available to the largest audience possible. Doing business in another country within the EU has never been easier!

Moving beyond the EU, let’s take a quick glimpse at other areas where language barriers might impede the growth of your business.

The Emerging World of E-Commerce

If you’ve ever shopped online, you’ll notice that much of the content and transaction processes are now carried out electronically. This has led to a significant expansion of e-commerce platforms and storefronts, providing shoppers with value-added services and a wide variety of options. (To learn more, check out these articles from Smart Insights:

• The Growth of Online Shopping in the Developing World

  The increasing use of smartphones, coupled with the explosive growth of mobile data, has resulted in a significant increase in online shopping across the globe. Developing countries like China and India, which have the largest online populations, have embraced online shopping as a way of life and an effective way to discover new products and compare prices.

  In addition to expanding the market for your products, online shopping provides additional benefits for e-commerce businesses. For instance, you can monitor and analyze customer behavior and performance, offer targeted advertising, and track and store customer preferences and buying patterns across different platforms and devices. These things can’t be easily done (if at all) in a brick-and-mortar store. (Forbes)

• How Online Shopping in the Developing World Is Changing Retail

  The way we shop, play, and work all have changed in recent years, and commerce and shopping are no exception. While many industries and businesses struggle to effectively operate outside of their home market, digital transformation and online shopping are providing new opportunities for those looking to break out of their geographic constraints.

  The fact is that customers in the U.S. and other developed markets have grown tired of facing language barriers and poorly designed websites while shopping online. As a result, they’ve shifted to the more familiar (and often easier to use and navigate) digital space.

  Thanks to smartphones and the Internet, international online shopping is no longer restricted to those with extensive travel plans. Even consumers in remote areas without access to pricey cruise ships or luxury yachts can find and purchase what they want, when they want it, with the click of a button.

  However, simply copying and pasting a digital English-language store to a foreign environment can have serious business ramifications. In many cases, established businesses with significant online presence and customer loyalty across multiple geographic markets might find themselves struggling to gain traction in a new area or market if they aren’t equipped to serve local customers effectively.

  To remain competitive and gain a sustainable advantage, businesses must find a way to incorporate local culture and language into their websites and mobile applications. A good starting point would be to translate the website and apps into the local language and incorporate traditional signs and colors.

  With the right planning and the use of digital tools, businesses can and often do flourish within the EU, opening up potentially significant market opportunities for global businesses looking to break out of their geographic constraints.

  The Rise of Online Marketplaces

  Even if you decide that providing value in your customers’ native tongue isn’t the right fit for your business, the world of online marketplaces can still offer significant growth opportunities. This is particularly true if you want to expand your customer base and gain some semblance of credibility among your peers and established businesses in your industry. (To learn more, check out these articles from Smart Insights:

  • The Evolution of Online Marketplaces

    If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either passionate about online marketplaces or just need to know more about them. Since their inception, online marketplaces have been among the most popular and most downloaded apps and websites. What started as humble beginnings as eBay has turned into an intricate and dynamic ecosystem that continues to evolve and change (and change) with the times.

    Over the years, we’ve seen online marketplaces rise and fall. Some, such as eBay and Amazon, have become ubiquitous while others, such as Rakuten and Shopbop, have struggled to carve out a place in the marketplace.

    Despite the many uncertainties surrounding the future of e-commerce, the growth of online marketplaces provides additional opportunities for those looking to get in on the action.

    How to Translate a WordPress Website Into Multiple Languages

    If you’re looking to translate your website, it’s probably because you already know that there are several excellent translation tools available for WordPress. (If not, now might be a good time to learn about them.) To begin with, you’ll need to install the WordPress Translate plugin. After you’ve done so, you’ll need to connect the plugin to your WordPress site. Then, you’ll need to enter the languages you wish to translate into as well as the language you wish to serve your content in. Finally, you’ll need to select the regions to which you’d like to have your content delivered. As you might expect, you can’t select multiple regions for a given language—so think of this option as a way to select the country you’d like to serve your content from. (Note: For those hoping to serve content to select European countries, you might want to check out the WordPress Trimaxi plugin, which was designed with the EU in mind.)

    Once you’ve entered all of this information, click the “Translate” button found at the bottom of your WordPress dashboard. From here, you’ll see a list of all the languages available for translation along with the percentage of words already translated for that language. If you’re looking for a quick look at how well your site is doing so far, you can view the translation stats at any time by clicking on the “Stats” link at the top of your WordPress dashboard.