How to Add Google Translate to WordPress | Create Multilingual Site

As times change, more and more businesses are focusing on accessibility and inclusivity to reach global audiences. And that includes having multiple languages on your WordPress website.

Fortunately, there is an easy, non-code-y way of doing so: Google Translate.

It is a cost-effective way to have tens of languages on your website. Whether you’re an agency, an ecommerce store, or any other business, you can set Google Translate to WordPress without coding in a few minutes.

In this blog, you will learn how to integrate Google Translate and how to use it, SEO tips for translated content, and some alternative plugin options so you can explore the most popular ones.

Why Use Google Translate on Your WordPress Website?

If you use Google Translate, you’ll be able to reach a broader audience by offering content in multiple languages since many may prefer to use their native language when browsing. Offering this option can significantly improve your site’s user experience.

Even though Google Translate can’t replace a professional translator in terms of quality, it can be considered cost-efficient for multilingual websites. It is highly convenient for quickly making your site accessible to users across the globe. You’ll definitely find out ahead.

Plus, Google Translate can help your site appear in search results in different languages, which can enhance visibility in global markets. However, SEO is a tricky thing when using multiple languages on your website. More on that later.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Add Google Translate to WordPress

To add Google Translate on WordPress and then configure it, follow these 5 steps:

• Step 1: Install the Google Language Translator Plugin
• Step 2: Configure Google Translator Settings
• Step 3: Add Google Translate to Your WordPress Navigation
• Step 4: Set Up Google Translate for WordPress Usage Settings
• Step 5: Test the Translation Feature

Let’s begin…

Step 1: Install the Google Language Translator Plugin

The first step would be to install the plugin and activate it. To do so,

• Go to your WordPress Dashboard.
• Navigate to Plugins > Add New.

• Search for the Google Language Translator plugin.
• Click Install Now.

• Then Activate.

Step 2: Configure Google Translator Settings

Once the plugin is activated,

• Go to Installed Plugins.
• Look for Google Language Translator.
• Under there, look for Settings.

Here, you will find lots of options, as seen in the image below:

💡Please check the box (shown in the image below) to activate the plugin, though it should already be checked by default.

💡You will also need to select the current language of your website. While the plugin typically auto-selects this, it’s a good idea to double-check and ensure the correct language is chosen. In my case, it’s set to English.

Right on the main screen, you will see a long list of languages and checkboxes under What Languages Will Be Active. Next to it are two options

• Select all
• Clear

The first option allows the translation from the original language, English, into any language. In the second option, you can specify particular languages for translation.

I have selected French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Next, choose to display flags for each language that you have selected.

Step 3: Add Google Translate to Your WordPress Navigation

You can customize the display settings, such as choosing a button or dropdown style for the translation widget. Scroll down to Floating Widget Settings to find settings like:

• Show Floating Translation Widget: Decide whether to display the floating translation widget on your site or not.
• Custom Text for the Floating Widget: Type any text you would like to be displayed in the floating widget.
• Allow Floating Widget Text to Translate: Check this option if you wish the text on the floating widget to be translated into other languages.
• Floating Widget Position: Select the position of the floating widget on your website that is more appropriate for your website.
• Floating Widget Text Color: Change the color of the text that appears in the floating widget according to the general theme of your site.
• Floating Widget Background Color: Customize the background color of the floating widget to match your website’s design and overall aesthetic.

Check out the image below to see how I have tweaked my settings:

This shows I want to display my widget in the top center, and I want it to be red in color. Plus, I’ve changed the text to “Translate For Me”.

Once done, scroll down and save the settings.

Here’s what the changes I did look like. The translation widget is on the top center with the text and colors I wanted:

And then here goes the German version of my Home Page:

Step 4: Set Up Google Translate for WordPress Usage Settings

The Google Language Translator plugin enables you to place the Google Translate widget in any part of your WordPress site, including the pages, posts, sidebars, headers, and footers.

Scroll down to find the Usage section. It will tell you the codes you’re supposed to use.

Here’s how you can use the plugin with different shortcodes and PHP code:

1. For Usage in Pages/Posts/Sidebar:

• Open the page or post where you want the translation widget to appear.
• In the page/post editor, insert the [google-translator] shortcode where you want the widget to show up.

Here is the result:

2. For Usage in Header/Footer/Page Templates:

If you want to add the Google Translate widget directly into your site’s header, footer, or custom page templates, you can use PHP code instead of a shortcode.

Add the following PHP code to the appropriate template file:

<?php echo do_shortcode('[google-translator]'); ?>

Step 5: Test the Translation Feature

Cool, now you have translation enabled on your WordPress website. As I did above, once you save changes, check your live website and see that your users will have a good experience.

Other than that, it is always better to get the translations checked by a native speaker, especially for your important landing pages.

As a business owner, you are building a narrative and maintaining an image. Make sure the translations are accurate!

Alternative Plugins to Google Translate for WordPress

With more than 100,000 active installations and a 4.5-star rating, Google Language Translator is a pretty good option.

But if you want to use a different plugin for WordPress website translation, you can consider these alternatives:

1. GTranslate

GTranslate is a WordPress translation plugin that will enable you to translate your content, pages, as well as widgets.

It is useful for all types of users, whether bloggers who need to translate their sites or companies that are entering new markets.

Unlike most translation plugins, GTranslate is designed to be cloud-based, which means your website’s speed will not be compromised.

Key Features

• Neural machine translation (NMT)
• URL translation
• Browser language detection

Ratings & Reviews

GTranslate has a rating of 5 stars (4,232) on WordPress.org

2. Weglot

With Weglot, users are able to translate their whole site within minutes without any coding experience needed due to the platform’s sleek design.

It translates into over 100 languages and has a visual editor in which people can view and edit the translated text right on the website.

Key Features

• Media Translation
• Automatic content detection
• 100+ languages

Ratings & Reviews

Weglot has a rating of 5 (1,784) on wordpress.org.

WPML

– WPML

WPML is a WordPress translation plugin that offers a completely translated experience to your visitors. It translates URL structures, the administration interface, and even the mail messages exchanged.

Unlike most of the other solutions which only enable the translation of the front end of a site, WPML also allows the translation of the WordPress Admin screens, to allow your team to manage the site in the language of their choice.

Key Features

• Single WordPress installation for multiple languages
• Simple translation coverage
• Multilingual SEO
• Multilingual & multicurrency eCommerce translation

Ratings & Reviews

WPML has a rating of 4.5 (96) on Capterra.

Tips to Optimize Your Translated Content for SEO

You might be thinking, yes, I can translate the content but what about search engine optimization?

With all the hard work that you put into optimizing each page, what happens when it gets translated?

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Here are some SEO tips to keep in mind when using Google Translate:

Use Hreflang Tags: Whenever possible, use hreflang tags to tell the search engine which language and location the website is relevant to.

This assists search engines in displaying the right language version depending on the location and language of the user.

Optimize Meta Tags in Each Language: Make sure each translated page has its meta title and description in the target language and is optimized.

This improves the ranking of a site and makes it easy to be noticed in the search list.

Translate Keywords Accurately: Include local keywords in your research and use them when organizing your content for your target market.

Sometimes a direct translation is not appropriate, and thus it is important to look at the particular culture of the language you are translating your keyword targeted at.

Maintain URL Structure: Do not use special characters in URLs. Instead, use underscores or hyphens, and use the target language in the URL (for French use /fr/, for German use /de/).

It assists search engines and users to find their way through your site.

– The image shows Cloudways Spanish landing page URL.

Avoid Duplicate Content: Make sure that your translated material is not seen as a duplicate copy by the search engines.

When employing the help of automatic translation tools, always edit the content by yourself to avoid copy and pasting.

Create a Sitemap for Each Language: Ensure sitemaps include all language versions of your pages and submit them to search engines to make the process of crawling as effective as possible.

Focus on Quality Content: Content translated should not be poor quality, boring or irrelevant. This means you should not engage in ‘thin content,’ and it should be valuable to your users in both languages.

Optimize Images and Alt Text: Images should also be translated and the alt text should also contain information that is relevant to the target language since search engines use this information for indexing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, setting up Google Translate for your WordPress site is one of the best and cheapest ways of reaching a diverse market by offering content in several languages.

Thanks to the easy WordPress plugin installation process you learned in this blog, you can add translation capabilities to your site without knowing how to code.

WordPress Google Translate also offers several navigation options, such as where to place your translation widget.

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