In the world of the web, website translation is essential to reach an international and diverse audience. Thanks to tools like WordPress, it’s now easier than ever to make your site multilingual and improve its SEO ranking . In this article, we’ll introduce you to WPML, a multilingual WordPress plugin that greatly simplifies the process of translating a website.
Introducing WPML – Automatic website translation manager
What is WPML?
WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin) is a popular WordPress plugin that makes it easy to create multilingual websites. It offers a user-friendly interface for managing translations of your content without the need for programming skills or direct editing of your theme files.
Why use WPML to translate WordPress websites?
Using WPML offers several advantages over other available solutions. Firstly, it’s specifically designed to work with WordPress and integrates seamlessly with the WordPress API as well as other popular plugins. What’s more, it offers responsive customer support and boasts extensive documentation and a catalog of tutorials to help you get the most out of the plugin.
How does WPML work?
Translation of pages, articles, custom types, taxonomies, menus and theme texts
With WPML, you can translate every aspect of your WordPress site, including pages, posts, custom types, taxonomies (categories and tags), menus and even the text embedded in your theme (navigation menu). The plugin also handles translations for plugins and widgets, ensuring a consistent user experience across all languages.
WordPress API compatibility
WPML is compatible with the WordPress API, which means it works seamlessly with your site and other plugins. It supports WordPress’ URL rewriting system, enabling optimal SEO for each language.
How do I translate my WordPress site with WPML?
You can start by familiarizing yourself with the many tutorials available on the WPML platform or on You Tube.
However, if you are looking for a WPML consultant to guide you in setting up your website’s translation management with WPML, we invite you to contact us for a free quote and benefit from a discount on the purchase of the WPML plug-in license thanks to Altosor Communication.
How we set up the translation of your website
1. Study your needs
- Translate your site into 1 or more languages?
- Multilingual translation of a showcase site, WooCommerce e-commerce site or multisite?
- Machine translation by a translator or proofreading by an editor?
- Checking your SEO for translated languages? Possibility of adding RankMath SEO software
- Long-term monitoring and maintenance?
2. Altosor Communication quotation
3. Installation of WPML plug-in on your WordPress site – Purchase of license at preferential rate with our web agency.
4. Setting up multilingual translation with WPML software
5. Quality control of translation processes using the tool
6. Proofreading by a professional editor or translation of your texts by a translator.
7. Troubleshooting and maintenance by our webmaster.
Advantages of WPML over other multilingual plugins
Comparison with other plugins on the market
There are several other multilingual plugins for WordPress, such as Polylang and TranslatePress. However, WPML stands out for its extensive compatibility with other plugins, regular updates and dedicated customer support. What’s more, it offers advanced features such as automatic translation and the ability to work with professional translation services. Unlike the G-translate plug-in,
Regular updates and improvements to the user experience
The team behind WPML is constantly working to improve the user experience with regular plugin updates. These updates often bring improvements in performance, security and compatibility with other popular plugins or themes.
Using WPML with popular page builders
How do I use WPML with Elementor?
WPML is fully compatible with Elementor, one of the leading page builders for WordPress. To use WPML with Elementor, simply install and activate both plugins and follow the instructions provided in the WPML documentation to configure and manage your translations.
How do I use WPML with Divi?
Divi, another popular page builder, also works seamlessly with WPML. As with Elementor, simply install and activate both plugins and follow the steps described in the WPML documentation to start creating your multilingual site.
WPML and WooCommerce: Creating multilingual e-commerce sites
How do I integrate WPML with WooCommerce?
WPML is fully compatible with WooCommerce, the most widely used e-commerce extension on WordPress. To integrate WPML with WooCommerce, you’ll need to install the WooCommerce Multilingual extension, which bridges the gap between the two plugins and makes it easy to manage translations for your products, categories, attributes and other e-commerce-related elements.
Benefits of using WPML for e-commerce sites
By using WPML for your WooCommerce site, you can offer your international customers a smooth, user-friendly shopping experience. Translating your product catalog and checkout pages will expand your potential market and improve your online visibility.
Rates and purchase options for WPML
Overview of the different WPML plans
WPML offers three different price plans: Blog Multilingual, CMS Multilingual and Lifetime. Each plan offers different features to suit your specific needs, such as automatic translation or access to lifetime updates. It’s important to choose the plan that best suits your needs.
Multilingual blog | Multilingual CMS account type | The Multilingual Agency account type |
The basic option for multilingual WordPress blogs | The complete solution for a multilingual WordPress site | The complete solution for agencies developing large numbers of multilingual websites |
Get a discount on your license with Altosor Communication :
Advantages and limitations of each WPML plan
- The Multilingual Blog is the most affordable, but has certain limitations, such as the impossibility of translating custom types or using professional translation services.
- Multilingual CMS includes these features, as well as support for WooCommerce and other popular extensions.
- Finally, the Multilingual Agency offers the possibility of an infinite number of websites managed by the WPML tool.
Additional resources for getting the most out of WPML
Video tutorials and user guides
WPML offers extensive online documentation, including video tutorials and detailed user guides to help you configure and use the plugin effectively. These resources can be accessed directly from the WPML website.
Support forums for WPML users
In addition to online documentation, WPML also has an active support forum where users can ask questions, get answers and share their experiences with the plugin.
Benefits of WPML for SEO
Using WPML offers several advantages for the SEO of a multilingual website:
- Hreflang tag management: WPML automatically generates hreflang tags for each language version of your site, helping search engines to understand your site’s structure and index different language versions correctly.
- Canonical URLs: With WPML, you can customize URLs for each language, improving readability and indexing by search engines.
- Easy translation of content: Fast, accurate translation of content is essential to ensure good SEO in different countries. WPML facilitates this task by offering both automatic and human translation options.
WPML compared with other translation plugins
There are several other translation plugins for WordPress, such as Weglot and Polylang or Gtranslate. However, WPML stands out for its specific features:
- Integration with professional translation providers: Unlike some other plugins, WPML enables easy integration with professional translation services, guaranteeing more accurate and natural translations.
- Extensive compatibility: WPML’s compatibility with most WordPress themes and plugins makes it a safe choice for site owners keen to avoid the technical problems associated with incompatible extensions.
How to optimize WPML for SEO
To make the most of WPML and improve your SEO, follow these practical tips:
- Choose professional translators: If possible, opt for the services of professional translators rather than machine translation, for more accurate and natural translations.
- Customize your URLs: Use clear, readable URLs for each language version of your site, including relevant keywords to improve search engine indexing.
- Optimize content: Make sure translated content is also optimized for SEO, by including appropriate metadata (titles, descriptions, alt tags) and using relevant keywords.
In short, WPML is a powerful and versatile plugin for managing multilingual websites on WordPress. Its advanced features and broad compatibility make it a popular choice among site owners, while its SEO benefits help improve your site’s visibility and growth in different countries. Feel free to try WPML to give your international SEO a boost! Call on an Altosor expert for successful integration and configuration.