How to translate Shopify store
Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create online stores and sell products or services to customers all over the world. Shopify provides numerous benefits for online businesses, including a user-friendly interface, customizable templates, and integration with various payment gateways.
However, one of the essential components of any successful online store is the ability to communicate effectively with customers. That’s where translation comes in. In today’s global economy, reaching a wider audience means translating your Shopify store into multiple languages.
Translating a Shopify store products is crucial for reaching a global audience. As more businesses look to expand their reach into new markets, translation is becoming increasingly important. It allows online stores to communicate with customers in their native language, making it easier to build trust and connect with potential buyers.
In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to translate your Shopify store, including assessing the need for translation, translating your store, localizing for different cultures, testing and launching your translated store, and ongoing maintenance.
Written by
- Redaction Team
- Digital Marketing, Shopify
Table of Contents
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Assessing the Need for Shopify Store Translation
Before deciding to translate your Shopify store for international growth, it’s important to consider the factors that may affect your decision. One essential factor is the market research required to determine your target audience and their language preferences.
In addition, creating a multilingual Shopify store can offer significant benefits for SEO, search engine optimization, and customer engagement.
Translated content can help your store rank higher in search engine results, leading to increased traffic and sales. It also shows customers that you’re committed to providing a positive shopping experience, which can increase trust and loyalty.
Translating Your Shopify Store
One option for translating Shopify store content is to use built-in translation tools. Shopify offers a language editor within the dashboard, allowing you to translate certain parts of your store, including the checkout page and email notifications.
You can also export your store’s content in a CSV file, translate it, and import it back into your store.
Another option is to use third-party apps, such as Weglot or ConveyThis, which specialize in language translation for Shopify stores.
These apps provide more comprehensive translation options, including translating product descriptions, language selector, website copy, and other content.
Some also offer automatic language detection and translation, allowing customers to view the store in their native language.
Best practices for Shopify language translation include using professional translators or translation services to ensure accuracy and quality. It is also important to customize translations to suit your target audience’s language preferences and cultural nuances.
Handling currency and shipping for international customers is also important.
Shopify allows besides just adding translations, you can also set up multiple currencies and payment methods, as well as to configure shipping rates for different regions.
It’s important to make sure your checkout and email notifications process is clear and easy to use for customers in different countries.
Multiple Languages Shopify translation with Weglot
Translate Your Website in Minutes
Weglot is a popular and best Shopify translation app that can be used for the translation process stores into multiple languages.
Here are the easy steps to translate a Shopify store using the Weglot Shopify app:
- Install the Weglot app from the Shopify App Store and create a Weglot account.
- After installation through the Weglot API, navigate to the Weglot dashboard and select the source language of your Shopify store.
- Select the target languages that you want to translate your store into to add new languages.
- Customize the translations for each page of your Shopify site using the multi-language Weglot editor.
- Once you have finished customizing the translated versions, Weglot will automatically create a language switcher on your Shopify site. This will allow users to switch between different languages that your store is translated into.
- You can also customize the language switcher to match your Shopify site's design and add any additional languages as needed.
- After all the translations are completed, it is essential to test and verify that all the translated content is accurate and appears correctly on the site.
- Weglot also provides a translation proxy that automatically detects any new content added to your Shopify site and translates it in real-time.
- Ongoing maintenance and updates of translations can be managed through the Weglot dashboard, and support can be sought from their help center.
Using a translation app like Weglot can help you quickly and easily translate your multilingual Shopify store into multiple languages, allowing you to reach a wider audience and potentially increase sales.
The app provides an intuitive interface and many customization options, making it an excellent choice for Shopify store owners looking to localize their sites for different regions.
Localizing Your Online Store Languages for Different Cultures
Localization of your Shopify languages involves adapting your products and marketing strategies to suit different cultures.
This includes understanding cultural differences and how they impact customer behavior and expectations.
For example, certain colors, images, or symbols may have different meanings in different cultures, hence different results of the product pages in different local languages.
One strategy for adapting products is to offer region-specific items or to modify products to suit different cultural preferences.
You can also create marketing campaigns that are tailored to specific regions or cultures by translating and localizing the content.
Examples of successful localized Shopify stores include companies that have adapted their products or marketing strategies to suit different cultures.
Testing and Launching Your Translated Ecommerce Store
Launching a translated Shopify store involves more than just translating your website’s content. Proper testing and feedback from native speakers are crucial for ensuring that your translations are accurate and effective in conveying your message to your target audience. It is important to keep in mind that language is not just about words, but also about cultural nuances and idioms. This is where a translation app or service like ConveyThis or Weglot can come in handy, providing a multilingual and localized version of your Shopify site.
Once your translations are complete, it is time to launch your new language site. One best practice is to create a new URL for each language to avoid confusion for your customers. You can do this easily in the Shopify dashboard by adding a language-specific subdomain to your store. Additionally, it is important to add a language switcher on your site to allow customers to easily switch between languages.
When promoting your newly translated store, it is important to understand that each language may require different marketing strategies. This means that you may need to adapt your products and marketing to different cultures to be effective. You can use your newly translated store to reach international customers and provide them with a more personalized shopping experience.
To ensure that your translated store remains up to date and effective, you will need to perform ongoing maintenance and updates. This may include updating product descriptions, website copy, and other content as needed. You can also use translation apps or services to handle ongoing translation needs, such as email notifications or new product launches.
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