WordPress can be a great platform for any business that wishes to expand its reach abroad. This great platform gives you the opportunity to easily translate the entirety of your website into many different languages of your choosing and help you provide your online audience with the content they are asking for easily.
In order to achieve this though, you will have to choose the right plugin for your needs. Depending on their features, different price points, and quality, you will have to set certain standards that will help you pick the best plugins for your company’s needs.
Here are things you need to take into consideration in order to achieve that.
1, The kind of content you need translated
The very first thing you need to take into consideration in order to decide which plugins are worth your time and money are the types of content you wish to translate from your website. This will greatly depend on your type of business, your niche and of course on whether you wish for your entire website to be translated or not.
If you have many pages that need to be translated, different documents and landing pages as well as blog posts and the conversations of your members on your forums, you will have to find a translation plugin that will be able to do the job both quickly and effectively.
If your website has special content like shortcode, custom fields, custom taxonomies, tags, … you need to choose a plugin that can translate them (for example, WPML can translate custom fields).
Another thing you need to keep in mind regarding the type of content you need to translate is the amount of time you have available in order to complete the translations. This will play a very important role in whether you should choose a plugin which will offer machine or human translations.
2, The type of translations it offers
As mentioned previously, depending on the different types of plugins, there are some which can offer machine translations, others that offer human translations and some can offer both. In general, human translations are the most reliable ones and can help you achieve not just the translation but most importantly the localization of your website’s contents.
Machine translation can be related to the quality one would get from any online translation service, similar to Google Translate. These translations happen automatically and don’t include any type of human editing which can lead to simple mistakes that can sadly alter the meaning of a sentence by a lot. A machine will never be able to perform as well as a human as it simply can’t learn and understand a language in the way a human brain can.
The best thing you can opt for is finding a plugin that can offer both things to you. If you decide to use the plugin which only supports machine translations, you can outsource translation to a translation company like The Word Point to fill the gap and provide more high-quality content for your users. Therefore, combining both methods will give you a good quality result in a much shorter amount of time.
3, The number of languages it supports
When looking to expand your website and have it translated for a larger audience, you will need to find a translation plugin that will allow you to have access to a variety of different languages. While there are many WordPress plugins that might support many languages, you need to be wary exactly which languages they support.
The best way to find a translation plugin that will support all of the languages you need is to go through the plugin’s website and see exactly which languages it gives you access to. Instead of assuming that certain popular languages will be available for you to use, it is better for you to make sure that is the case before investing your money.
On top of this, you should also probably make a list of languages you would like to translate your website into in the future. It is a good idea to purchase a plugin which will be able to cover your company’s future needs so you don’t have to spend more money than necessary.
4, The overall cost of the plugin
There are different levels of prices you will come to find when it comes to different translation plugins. Depending on the services they offer and the number of languages they support, you will be able to find the right plugin for your budget.
While there are plenty of free plugins you can find online, chances are they will offer you very limited options and content. These free solutions can be a good starting point for your business, especially if your funds are limited. As your business grows though, it is a good idea to invest in a plugin that works with a monthly fee.
In most cases, plugins that are paid will continue to get content added and improvements for most functions for as long as you use them. A paid plugin will most likely also allow you to have the option of a human translation rather than just a machine one. In any case, you are bound to find one that will work with your budget, no matter how low it is.
5, The level of accessibility
Using a plugin that is user-friendly is the number one thing that will help you use it more effectively. There are quite a few different aspects that come with how accessible a translation plugin is and quite a few things you need to consider and research in advance.
First of all, you need to make sure that the plugin you use is easy to install and set up. If you’re not an expert with computers, investing money in a plugin that you won’t easily be able to navigate is not the smartest idea. Along with that, you will need to be sure that you will be able to have easy access to editing and reviewing the translations the plugin presents you with.
Lastly, another important aspect of using a translation plugin is the frequency of the updates you will be receiving as well as the customer support that should be included in your membership fee. If you’re new to Word Press and plugins you might need some help getting to learn how to use this technology and the easier the plugin is to navigate, the better your experience and overall results will be.
Finding the right plugin for your company’s needs
Translating the content of your WordPress website is a great way for you to attract new customers from all over the world and to expand your business abroad without a lot of effort and time. A translation plugin should be able to make the transition to a new language a lot easier and help you produce good quality translations that will satisfy your customers’ needs for online content.
By taking all the aforementioned tips into consideration, you should be able to have a good idea of what you need to look for when it comes to a translation plugin. And don’t forget to find and read the review of translation plugins. After that, it is up to you to choose the one that best meets your standards and needs.
BIO:
Erica Sunarjo is a professional writer, translator, and editor with a Master’s degree in Marketing and Social Media. She writes thought-provoking articles for publications in a variety of media and is an active member of the translator community.