Creating a Multilingual WordPress Website: A Step-by-Step Guide

Whether you’re running a business or sharing information, communicating with a global audience requires you to speak their language. You can accomplish this by creating a multilingual website in WordPress and presenting your content in various languages. In this article, we will walk you through the process of creating a multilingual WordPress website using different methods and recommend popular tools to make the process easier.

What Is a Multilingual WordPress Website?

A multilingual WordPress website showcases its content in more than one language, helping to reach a global audience. The website translation process can be done manually or automatically using a plugin.

Why You Need a Multilingual WordPress Website

As your website grows, reaching a wider audience becomes crucial. Depending on one demographic may limit your potential, so consider translating your content into other languages for better accessibility. Providing information in your audience’s local language improves the user experience and gives you a competitive edge. Additionally, tailoring content to specific cultures and regions demonstrates respect and understanding, fostering trust that benefits your brand. From a search engine optimization (SEO) perspective, a multilingual website has the opportunity to climb search engine rankings and gain visibility in multiple regions.

How to Make a Multilingual WordPress Site

Now that you understand the benefits of providing quality translations of your website content, let’s explore two ways to do it – using a plugin and manually. Many WordPress translation plugins are available, but we’ll focus on three of the most popular ones – WPML, Weglot, and Polylang.

How to Make a Multilingual WordPress Site Using the WPML Plugin

WPML is the most popular multilingual plugin for WordPress, with over 1,000,000+ active installations. Unlike other plugins, WPML lets you add an unlimited number of languages to your website and includes automatic translation powered by ChatGPT. Here’s how to use WPML to build a multilingual website:

Set up WPML: WPML is a premium plugin, so you need to buy a plan to use it. For most websites, WPML’s most popular plan, Multilingual CMS, should be sufficient. Once you have purchased a WPML plan, go to the Downloads area in your account and download the OTGS Installer – a file containing the WPML plugin and all necessary components. Next, in your WordPress admin, go to Plugins -> Add new and upload the OTGS Installer file. Once you activate the plugin, a new menu item called WPML will appear in your WordPress main menu. The last step before you can start using WPML is to configure the plugin on your site.
Configure WPML on your site: WPML includes a short setup wizard for customizing your preferences. This includes choosing which languages to add, a URL format for translated pages, and the option to add your own team of translators. To start the setup wizard, go to WPML -> Setup. Once you complete the wizard, you can start translating your site with WPML.
Translate your content with WPML: To translate content with WPML, go to WPML -> Translation Management. From here, you can select what content to translate and into which languages. This includes your pages, posts, custom posts, templates, and other content from your theme and plugins. Next, choose which languages to translate into and your translation method. For the best translation quality, it’s recommended to translate automatically with WPML AI – WPML’s most powerful translation engine powered by ChatGPT. If you prefer a different translation engine, WPML also supports Google Translate, DeepL, and Microsoft Translator. And, if you don’t want to translate automatically, you can also translate manually yourself, with your team of translators, or with translation services.
Review and publish translations: Before publishing translations on your site, WPML lets you review them and make changes. To start a review, go to WPML -> Translations and click Review. This will open the front-end editor, where you can preview translations as they appear on your website before going live for the visitors. If you’re satisfied with your translations, click the Accept this translation button to publish them. If you want to make changes, click the Edit translation button. This will open the Advanced Translation Editor where you can edit translations and make necessary changes. Once you’re satisfied with your new translations, click the Complete Translation button to publish them to your website. Your translations will now appear on your site when switching languages.
Add a language switcher: By default, WPML adds a language switcher to your website’s footer. However, you can add your own customized language switcher to any location on your site. This includes menus, templates, and even posts. To add a new language switcher, go to WPML -> Languages and click the add a new language switcher button. Customize your language switcher and click Save.

How to Make a Multilingual WordPress Site Using the Weglot Plugin

Weglot is a popular WordPress multilingual plugin with over 70 thousand active users worldwide. This language plugin can easily translate WordPress sites of all scales into 110 languages. Here’s how to use Weglot to create a multilingual site:

Set Up the Plugin: Before using Weglot, you need to create an account on the website. It offers a 10-day free trial to let users test the plugin’s features risk-free. After confirming your email, access the setup wizard by clicking on the link sent to your inbox and follow the steps below:

Add the project name and choose the website platform you are using. For this tutorial, select WordPress from the Website Technology dropdown menu. Click Next.
Weglot will present an API key to integrate your website with the Weglot service. Let’s continue the process by installing the plugin from the WordPress directory.
Activate the plugin, then head to the Weglot menu in your WordPress dashboard. Input the API key from the setup wizard to the relevant field.
Pick the default language from the dropdown menu, then select the target languages for translation. Click Save Changes.

Configure the Plugin’s Settings: Some of Weglot’s configuration options are accessible from the WordPress admin dashboard. There, users can customize the look and position of the floating language switcher, change flag icons, and alter language names.
Translate Website Content: Weglot provides its users with advanced machine translation and the option to edit the translated pages manually.
Set Up Additional Translation Features: Weglot also offers other advanced features to help you produce more accurate translated content.

How to Make a Multilingual WordPress Site Using the Polylang Plugin

Polylang is another popular choice among WordPress multilingual plugins due to its robust features. Like Weglot, Polylang offers a free version that includes useful core features for translating different types of content, including custom post types and RTL scripts. Here’s how to use Polylang to create a multilingual site:

Set Up the Plugin: Setting up Polylang requires installing and activating the plugin. After that, follow these steps to configure the setup wizard.
Translate Website Content: When you go to Posts -> All Posts, you’ll notice a new column displaying the flags of the languages you selected earlier. Clicking the plus (+) symbol under your desired language will take you to the block editor.

How to Make a Multilingual WordPress Site Without a Plugin

With enough technical knowledge, you can manually create a WordPress multilingual site without additional tools like multilingual plugins. However, it requires setting up WordPress Multisite. Here’s how to do it:

Set Up a WordPress Multisite: Instead of including content translation in the same website, this method creates separate sites for new languages.
Add Content to the Translated Sites: After setting up all the subsites, you can start filling them with translations of your original website content.
Add Links to the Translated Sites: The final step is to enable language switching for site visitors.

What Website Content Should You Translate

If you don’t know where to start translating, here are the four key site elements to prioritize for a user-friendly multilingual WordPress website:

Text Content
SEO Metadata
Images
URLs

Advantages of Multilingual WordPress Site

Besides enabling more visitors to use your site, here are four other benefits of having a WordPress multi-language website:

Improve SEO
Enhance User Experience
Create Trust and Credibility
Boost Conversions

Conclusion

WordPress multilingual sites offer numerous benefits for reaching a broader audience and improving the user experience. If built properly, they can strengthen your brand’s credibility and boost conversions in the long run. This article provided step-by-step guidance on creating a multilingual WordPress website using different methods. We hope this article has assisted you in creating a multilingual WordPress site using your preferred method. Good luck!

Multilingual WordPress FAQ

Here are some of the most common questions regarding a WordPress multi-language site:

Does WordPress Support Multilingual?
How Can I Make a Multilingual WordPress Site for Free?
How to Translate My WordPress Admin Area?
What Are WordPress Translation Plugins?

👉
Start your website with Hostinger – get fast, secure hosting here 👈

🔗 Read more from MinimaDesk:

🎁 Download free premium WordPress tools from our Starter Tools page.