How to Create a Multilingual Website for Your Small Business

If you just started your small business, you should consider creating a website early on. A website will allow you to expand your company to other markets and help you come in contact with more potential customers from all around the world. Even if you’re new to this and have very little experience, creating your own website doesn’t have to be difficult.

The good news is that there are plenty of platforms online which can help you create and run your own website even if it’s something you don’t really know much about. Running your website in different languages might seem tough but it can actually be a fun and profitable experience. Here are some tips to help you get a better understanding of how to achieve that.

Key takeaways of this article:

• Creating a website will not be your biggest issue
• Picking languages for your website should be well-thought
• Localized and professional translations are of most importance
• Picking the best translation website among others

 

• Create your business website through the right software

Creating a business for your website on your own is not the most difficult thing in the world and there are plenty of platforms online which can help you started without much trouble and most importantly without too big of a cost.

One of those options is WordPress, an open source software which has been around for quite some time and is very easy to use for first-time users. You will be able to be guided through a series of steps and see exactly how you can customize your website so that it fits your company’s needs and is easy to navigate for your customers.

If you come to find that you are struggling with following this option, you can always find a developer to work with who will be able to make your website exactly how you imagine it. Freelance websites will help you find a professional who will be able to help you with a relatively low cost so that you don’t have to spend too much money on just the developing part of the process.

• Pick the right languages for your business

Before you start creating content for your new website, you should take some time to think about which languages you would like to offer your customers with. While you might be ambitious and wish to start experimenting with different languages, there are some factors you should consider.

First of all, translations can be expensive and if you wish to provide your customers with the best possible translations you will have to put your hand in your pocket. When your business is still small, you might not have the funds to support more than one or two additional languages so you should be mindful about the languages you pick.

Something that will definitely help you decide which languages you should first pick is online research about where your products or services can potentially thrive. What this essentially means is that you shouldn’t translate your content into languages which won’t bring you profit. There are some countries which will need what you have to offer and others that will either find it too expensive or make little use of it.

Picking the right languages when you are just starting out will help you not only do a good job at translating your content into them but also keeping track of the whole process that comes with purchasing a product or a service online, which will also have to be in the customer’s mother tongue.

• Creating and translating the content of your website

After creating your website, it will be time for you to start translating your content into the rest of the languages you have chosen. The very first thing you should be doing here is, of course, creating content which will then require translating. If you wish to offer different language options on your website you will have to keep in mind that you will need to have everything translated.

In order to make this easier for you, it would be best to pick a domain name which will be easy to understand in every language. A universal name will allow you to be known to all your clients by the same name and that will be one of the things you will not need to translate.

The easiest thing you can do for your business in order to both promote your products and also keep both your clients and online audience entertained is to create a blog section on your website. You can easily create blog posts in which you will talk about how your customers can use your products and services and give them ideas on different ways to use them.

Another thing you should consider translating and adding to your website are reviews from previous satisfied customers. This will help your customers from around the world to see that your website is trustworthy and that the services and products you provide them with are of good quality.

If you yourself are fluent in some of the languages you will be offering, you can go ahead and translate your content in those languages yourself. If you wish to expand your reach and add more languages to the game, you should always work with a professional translation company or a professional translator.

While Google Translate and various other automated translation engines can provide some sort of a translation, they will never be able to reach the level of translation a human can produce. It is also important for you to pay attention to localizing the content you are creating. Certain words and phrases will just not make sense if translated directly into another language. Localizing your content will help you create a better connection with your customers and also make your brand look more professional.

In summation

Creating a multilingual website for your small business will definitely add up to more work than you might have expected. The good thing is that you can easily create your own website for a low cost and learn how to use and handle it as there are many sources of information online.

You need to be certain about the languages you are picking for the start of your multilingual website as translations can be costly and it is possible that some languages won’t help you make too big of a profit. Make sure you put effort into creating and translating your content and your business will start to grow right before your eyes.