Best WordPress Translation Plugins for Multilingual Websites
Since you would be spending a lot of your precious time and efforts in composing perfect content for a website, it is also vital that you give in all possible efforts to make it accessible to the widest population on the web.
Of course, English is the most widely spoken language on the planet, used in different forms in different places. However, there would still be many users who may want to access the web in their native language. Providing WordPress Translation Plugins with multilingual content on your website will be the best use of the multilingual feature introduced by Google.
This is vital when you genuinely consider making your content globally available. Among the thousands of plugins that make WordPress websites easily manageable, multilingual plugins could help you.
Selecting the Best Multilingual Plugin
The available multilingual plugins will let you tackle translation in two significant ways that are as follows:
- Manual Translation: Without these plugins, you will have to write the complete translation or hire someone. These are usually time-consuming. They’d, however, ensure that everything is perfectly done.
- Automatic Translation: This one works similarly to Google translate. The entire webpage content is translated by a computer program. Although it is faster, it may bring up many errors since computer translation cannot be 100 percent foolproof.
Well, it would often be suggestible to use a hybrid method. This would consider translating the entire content first and then rectifying all the errors that may prevail. Then, based on how they operate, you may select the one that perfectly meets your requirements.
Best Multilingual Plugins
You will always have numerous plugin options to get your tasks done. Rather than focusing on several fixed approaches, it would be suggested to pick one that could meet your unique requirements. Here are a few that could be considered the best choices:
1) Weglot
Created to simplify your translation process – the Weglot translation plugin gives you a reliable and easy way to take your website from local to global in minutes. No coding is required, and no developer time is needed. So install Weglot, select your required language(s), and watch as Weglot does the hard work for you – you’ll have a multilingual website in less than 5 minutes.
With zero compatibility issues – Weglot works with all WordPress themes and plugins. Use Weglot’s simplified interface to manage your translations and order additional manual translations where required. And say hello to new audiences; as with Weglot, all your translated pages are automatically indexed on Google.
Features
- Freemium – Weglot got a free version with limited features and a premium version with advanced features.
- Automatic translation – Weglot can automatically translate your website’s content using AI.
- Easy to use – The plugin is pretty simple to use.
- Multiple integrations – Integrations with numerous CMS will make your work easier.
- SEO optimized – If you need to rank your translated content, Weglot got you covered.
- Visitor auto redirection – According to the visitor’s region, Weglot can redirect them to the localized version of the website.
Pros
- Advanced
- Powerful translation
- SEO optimized
- Compatibility
- Automatic content detection
Cons
- Limited free version
Pricing
Accelerate your translation process with subscriptions starting from €9.90 a month.
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2) ConveyThis
If there is one genuinely convenient way to translate your website, it must be through ConveyThis!
It is the most translated language plugin in the WordPress directory (over 38 language contributions) and is growing fast. ConveyThis makes it very simple to integrate into the WP website and activate as many as 100+ languages.
ConveyThis uses automatic machine translation to translate your entire site and adds a language switcher button. So within the first few minutes, you’ll already have a working, SEO-friendly multilingual site.
Pricing:
It comes with both free and paid plans. A free plan lets you translate up to 2,500 words into one language; the paid plans use SaaS-style billing, meaning you’ll need to continue to pay for as long as you want to use the service.
Paid plans start at €4 a month for one language and up to 10,000 words.
3) TranslatePress
This WordPress translation plugin lets you view every aspect of content translation on your website. It allows translating posts and pages from the front end and considering all the changes made with a live preview. You can translate your written content, including pages, posts, Metadata, and other elements on the website. It does all the work seamlessly without requiring any changes in the interface.
This is your favorite plugin if you prefer manual translating and focus more on perfection. With this, you can translate text or even introduce translator user roles.
Translator users can operate the stuff without requiring complete access to the admin area. This is appreciable from a security point of view. It could also be a handy tool for generating SEO-friendly URLs in different languages.
Features
- User language detection – the plugin can automatically detect every user’s language.
- Browse as user role – you can view as the user from the customizer.
- SEO pack – SEO add-ons will optimize your website for search engines.
- Multiple languages – you can add various languages to your website.
- WooCommerce support – if you run an online shop, you can translate your product pages too.
- Image translation – translating images will help you to improve the user experience.
- Translate the entire page – you can translate the whole page without any issues.
Pros
- Flexible language switcher
- Automatic user language switcher
- SEO pack add-on
- Advanced interface
- Google translate integration
Cons
Nothing so far
Pricing
TranslatePress would cost you €79 for the personal license. And for their developer license, you need to spend €199 a year.
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4) WPML
This is yet again one of the well-working WPML plugins for translation. However, it is often suggestible to get an entire backup of your website before installing it. WPML is compatible with almost all major WordPress themes; therefore, you do not really require patching other WordPress plugins to utilize it.
It also lets you translate the web copies created using drag-and-drop page builders. It could also help you with human translators by connecting you to the best possible translation services.
This premium plugin can efficiently work with various SEO plugins too. With the help of this plugin, you can translate content into as many languages as you desire.
Features
- eCommerce friendly – you can run a smooth WooCommerce website and translate every page of it.
- Powerful translation – They have combined powerful translation options with WPML.
- Translate themes and plugins – you can translate text from your themes and plugins.
- Affordable third-party translation – contact their professional translators if you need extra help.
- Compatible with any product – WPML will work well with any WordPress theme and plugins.
- Friendly support – if you need help with anything, you can always contact their support team.
Pros
- Powerful translation management
- eCommerce compatible
- Theme and plugin texts translation
- Affordable professional translation
- Great support team
- Compatible with most WordPress themes
Cons
- No free version
Pricing
You can get a premium version of the WPML plugin by spending $29. However, according to most professional translators and plugins, this is pretty cheap.
5) MultilingualPress
This interesting WordPress translation plugin allows the operating of every different language on other websites. It comprises a language-switching widget that will enable visitors to select their preferred language. Then, as the users click on a language, they are directed to a new site with translated content.
This plugin comes in with no lock-in, which implies that even when the plugin is disabled, your website will continue to work in the way it used to. In addition, this plugin supports 174 languages and could help generate SEO-friendly websites in different languages.
Features
- Several languages – MultilingualPress comes with 170+ languages.
- Edit versions from the same editor – you can edit the versions from the same WordPress post editor.
- SEO-friendly permalinks – SEO-friendly permalinks will allow you to make your posts more optimized for visitors.
- Custom post types supported – if you have custom post types, you can use this plugin for translating them.
- hreflang supported – hreflang support is a required feature for all multilingual websites.
- Language switcher menu – from the menu, you can switch languages.
Pros
- Language manager
- Automatic hreflang support
- No lock-in
- Translate almost everything
- Menu language switcher
Cons
- Not updated for a while
Pricing
Freemium WordPress plugin. The premium version plugin will cost you $99 a year.
6) Polylang
Polylang Plugin is one of the most popularly used Multi-language plugins allowing the use of as many languages as you want. The WordPress language packs with this plugin are automatically updated. In addition, it supports all of the most commonly used SEO plugins, including Yoast SEO and All-in-one SEO.
This plugin also considers multilingual SEO by taking special care of HTML hreflang tags, open graph tags, etc. In addition, you can select a directory, domain, or subdomain per language. Unfortunately, apart from its excellent features, the plugin author is not supported for the free version of Polylang.
Features
- No language limitation – you can add unlimited languages to the website.
- Translate anything – you can translate your entire website using this plugin.
- Customizable language switcher – add a language switcher to the menu to help the users.
- Slug translation – with the pro version, you can customize your permalinks too.
- REST API support – this one is available only with the premium version and is used by developers.
- ACF integration – You can integrate the plugin with an advanced custom fields plugin to make your website more powerful.
Pros
- Unlimited languages
- RTL support
- Entire website translation
- Customizable language switcher
- Easy to use
Cons
- Manual translation required
Pricing
From the WordPress plugins repository, you can download the free version plugin. However, for Polylang Pro, you need to spend €99 a year.
7) Lingotek Translation
When looking for a cloud-based localization plugin for your WordPress site, you need to check out the Lingotek translation. Lingotek is a free WordPress plugin and can be an excellent WordPress translation plugin in the market. Using it, you can add unlimited languages to the website and assign them.
And on top of that, you can also translate your blog posts, categories, and tags. When a user needs to switch language, he can use the simple language switcher from the navigation menu. You will have complete control over the menu and switcher.
Features
- Professional translation – you can hire someone from Lingotek’s professional translation team.
- Community translation – use their custom workbench to find the correct translation.
- Free translation – here, they will use machine translation.
- Faster translation – compared to other plugins, this one will be much faster.
- Cost savings – you can save some money and time.
- Real-time monitoring – the monitoring tab will allow you to view all the stats.
Pros
- Machine translation
- Free
- Review
- CPT translation
- Saves time
Cons
Nothing so far
Pricing
The core version is always free. However, for the premium services, you need to spend money.
8) Google Language Translator
This one would be a preferable selection when you need lightweight translation plugins. With its use, it is super easy to create multilingual websites. Once you’ve activated the plugin, you must go to the plugin settings and activate the plugin status. Further, select the website’s original language and the languages it needs to be translated into.
The translate option is shown in a widget on the main website to select the preferable language for translation. Then, based on the user’s selection, the content would be translated using Google translate.
Features
- Free machine translation – you do not need to translate the pages manually.
- Google Analytics integration – for better tracking, you can combine Google Analytics with your plugin.
- Automatic translation – automatic translation will help you to convert your posts to different languages on the go.
- Floating language selector – users can switch the language from the floating language selector.
- Yoast compatible – you can combine this plugin with Yoast SEO.
- Language hosting – hosting your own languages is simple with this plugin.
- User dashboard – you will get a custom dashboard with all the analytics data.
Pros
- Google Analytics integration
- Automatic
- Machine translation
- RTL support
- Menu and widget translation
- WooCommerce shop translation
Cons
- SEO unlocks at the premium version
Pricing
It is a freemium WordPress plugin. From the WordPress repository, you can download the free version plugin.
Any Alternative?
If you do not wish to use any WordPress plugins but want assistance translating text, you can use other tools like Nitro to translate text online.
Wrapping Up
Selecting the best WordPress Translation plugin from the numerous choices available is vital since you seek to bring out the best performance of your website on all bases and manage it with fewer nuisances. Therefore, choosing the one that uniquely serves all your requirements and presents a more sophisticated visitor would be wise.
While you have an entire array of multilingual plugins, you need to look for perfect functionalities and ensure that all those can be easily integrated with your resources.
Also, consider a backup for your databases to make the best out of any multilingual plugins you select. Then, from the list mentioned above of the best multilingual plugins, get the one you realize is the best.
Note: This article on the best WordPress translation plugins is initially contributed by Shailendra Kadulkar. The final edits are by Christina. Check our guest blogging guidelines if you have an exciting article to contribute.
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