At my early starts as blogger in 2015, I wanted to have a blog with two languages, english and spanish.
I looked for free translation plugins, of course, as a new blogger you don’t have the budget.
So tried different one, like the Google Translate plugin, Polylang, Gtranslate, etc.
But I didn’t felt convinced by using those, since there was no much control on the translation.
Then I found, WPGlobus, which had a pretty good control over the translation, and it was useful for SEO. The disadvantage was that WPGlobus have a weird structure for the translated pages, that at the end it was a mess.
So, I learned about WPML at that time. It was an easy and affordable plugin for bloggers.
The pain point that WPML had was that the translations have to be done mainly manually. Which took a lot of time.
And for me, that I wanted to add German as a third language, it was going to be even a greater effort.
Time passed, and I found Weglot early 2020. For the price I was hessitating, but I wanted to give it a try.
The translations were so accurate, I was amazed, and I didn’t have to lose to much on the translation.
But Weglot pain point was that there was not actually really too much control on the word count, and the number of languages was limited.
So if I wanted to have more languages, I would have to choose a bigger plan in Weglot, and therefore spend more money.
I decided to go back to WPML, since now it is focusing more into be an automatic WordPress translation plugin.
WPML Deepl integration has improved their translations, although it still has some words that you will still have to adjust. But WPML already has an easy to use advanced translation manager.
It is worth mentioning that WPML will still take more time in comparison with Weglot.
If we want to conquer global markets, more easily and saving time, having an automatic WordPress translation plugin for our website is going to be one of the highest priorities we need to have in the business.
Thanks to today’s technology, being able to create a multilingual WordPress site is not as complicated as it seems, as it can easily be done with a WordPress translation plugin.
This translation plugin will serve as a tool for localizing the website into other languages, thus saving the time it takes for our business’ website to be translated. What can be translated thanks to the plugins are the menu, the widgets, the web content, among other things.
The plugins used for WordPress translation have different characteristics from each other, so it is advisable to analyze and see the needs you require.
Next, we will tell you which WordPress Translation Plugins we will look for:
We have to choose the translation method depending on our needs. Some of the WordPress translation plugins need human translation, as there are others that are automatic translation.
We must take into account the prices, compatibility with other plugins and additional features of the translation plugins.
There are plugins that are compatible with SEO translation, as well as others SEO features that are obtained when you purchase the Pro version so that the feature can be used.
Before getting and choosing a translation plugin, we have to see how our WordPress theme can support translations.
WordPress does not come multilingual by default, so you have to install a translation plugin so that it can effectively translate to different languages. A multilingual plugin could work in 3 different ways which are:
These are plugins that translate the native language of the website and perform all translations automatically in various languages.
The plugin sees the different languages depending on the entries and the web pages, so it allows the person who wants to translate, to select the language he feels more comfortable with to do the translations manually.
The plugin uses automation to be able to make the translations of the web page, although also the plugin gives the possibility of being able to correct and to personalize the translations that are made. This type of plugin is more recommended for web pages with plenty of content, as it can make the translated content be of good quality and also facilitates the process to be done faster.
Weglot is one of the best plugins on the market to make a multilingual site, the reason for this is because its interface is easy to use and all its functions are very useful.
Although you can only choose a target language when it is free and all the additional target languages are only available when you pay for the plugin.
After we activate it, the Weglot machine translation will do all the work, doing the translations of all the words into the language of preference of the reader.
One of the best advantages that Weglot has is that it allows you to generate a URL structure that is designed for SEO.
This will allow your website to appear in all the search engines of the different languages.
Its compatibility is effective in many different themes and WordPress plugins.
It has a panel to locate the language of preference, as well as the translation process.
The translation is done in real time.
You can customize the language change button.
Weglot can be used on several websites.
More than 10,000,000 words can be translated.
You have access to many expert translators in order to have a human translation or to improve your machine translation result.
You can import the translation from WPML or Polylang plugins.
WPML today is one of the most downloaded plugins that translators have for WordPress.
This is because it is compatible with many themes and plugins.
It also has a good feature that is that it can be fully integrated into the web.
WPML can be installed in the same way as other WordPress plugins.
Once it is installed, we will activate it and configure it to work according to our needs.
This means that we will activate the base language of our website and also which languages we want to be translated.
Therefore, with it we will be able to create different environments and interfaces for all the languages we use.
Its Updates. WPML is a plugin that has a good update management. Many times new versions will be released with better features.
Its integration. It is compatible with many WordPress plugins.
Its simplicity. Its installation is very easy and intuitive.
Its SEO management. It is possible to focus on the SEO of the languages separately, achieving a good positioning in all the languages we are using.
The time it takes when using it. WPML requires attention and time in translations, so you will need to dedicate time to it or someone to take care of it.
The extra fees. Many of the features that are additional, for example in the automatic translation has to be paid additionally.
It can take up a lot of space. Mostly when we create new tables in the database.
GTranslate can make all users choose the language of their preference, it contains more than a hundred different language options that can reach 99% of users online.
Luckily for all the people who want to use this plugin is that these target languages are available for free.
It has an effect called "Mouse Over".
Widgets are detachable.
It has alternative flags for some countries that it has.
It has a neural translation. This is the translation that is automatic, but with a human touch.
The end result can be edited.
Some features designed for Seo are the URLs for all the target languages.
The translations of the keywords that there are.
Polylang has over 100 different target languages, all of which have to be translated manually or automatically, and you can add the Lingotek service to Polylang to help you with many professional translators.
Because the Polylang plugin is used with a human translation, you can control all the content you want to translate on the website, as well as translate the functions and text of the system. There are basic features of Polylang for free, as well as its premium feature.
When you succeed in installing Polylang you will notice that the translations of your website will be complete.
All the texts that the website has, such as the buttons, tabs and menu will be easily translated.
You will be able to program the URLs of the website to your preference for each of the languages you want.
If you get the service of an experienced developer you can make the images to be positioned for the different languages that there are.
You will also be able to achieve automated translations, but they are not always accurate.
And the translations that are manual only, you have to create the necessary entries for all languages and then adjust in the language selector.
We believe that many features are missing, but to avoid make it even longer, you can visit their website for more information at WordPress Polylang.
It has many options. Polylang is one of the most complete plugins made for WordPress. As well as there is not much difference with other plugins that are paid and have the same characteristics.
Easy to use. Installation is easy and its configuration is very intuitive.
Saves time. We can do chain translations with less time.
You have a problem integrating. Polylang is not 100% compatible with most plugins and themes that have been developed for WordPress.
Its configuration and use
TranslatePress is another translation plugins for WordPress.
All we have to do for the translation to be done is to mark the text we want to translate.
While we are translating the text, TranslatePress will take care of the back-end, so this plugin will help us make the translation effective for SEO.
TranslatePress has an automatic translation option in case we think that the normal translation can take a long time to do.
It also gives us good results with machine translation with excellent quality and writing.
Its free version is efficient, but the premium version can release all the power it has, as they are:
The extension of SEO Pack: The goals of descriptions, the alt text of the images, among others.
A language selector that is customized.
Automatic detection of the language of the user entering the website.
A navigation based on the language option, as well as allowing us to set the different menu options for all the languages we customize.
Google Language Translator is a plugin that allows us to automatically translate our website without the help of the google translator API.
This being an easy and simple process.
When we activate this plugin, we only have to choose which is the language of our preference and the target language we want to use.
After we have done that step, we only have to create a translate button in the widget area.
Now after each user wants to enter your website, they will do it in their preferred language by pressing just that button you placed.
Google Language Translator can be configured for free and directly from the plugin manager that WordPress has. When we install it we have to make these settings:
1. We must select the current language of the web.
2. We must manage the behavior of all the flags for the different languages where we are going to use the plugin.
3. We have to select if we are going to work with only one base language or if we want to have translations that are combined in different languages that are already on our website.
More than 90 languages can be chosen.
It can be placed to show or hide the Google logo.
We can add in it, the abbreviated codes to be able to show the translation tool anywhere.
We can choose the specific languages we want or all the languages that are available.
It's fast. Your translations can be done immediately without creating new entries in other languages
It's light. For WordPress it's completely light, so it won't take up much space in the installation.
It's free. We will have to pay nothing for its installation or to use it effectively.
It's simple. The configuration is easy and intuitive, so it does not require much knowledge to put it into operation properly.
The translations that are made are inaccurate in some languages, and the accuracy of these will depend on the semantics of the current language of the web. Therefore, if we want to give seriousness to the project, it is best not to use this type of plugin.
