The major advantage of an online store is that you are not bound by location or warehouses to cater to your audience. Thus, if you are providing your products and services to international customers as well, translating your WooCommerce store in multiple languages is a nice touch. WooCommerce translation can easily be carried out by using plugins or you can do it manually too if you have the experience.
The option to translate your store into multiple languages not only widens your reach but also improves the shopping experience for your international customers. Although WooCommerce does not provide this functionality out-of-the-box, it is still easy to do and accessible through plugins.
In this article, we will review 2 ways you can translate your WooCommerce store; translation plugins or manually. Let’s get started!
Why Translate a WooCommerce Store?
As mentioned above, WooCommerce store translation can help you improve the shopping experience for international users. The ability to translate your site in their native language can help customers to explore your site better, engage, and purchase. Thus, it leads to increased traffic and sales.
It is also an important technique in increasing the conversion rate as it helps in personalizing the shopping experience, which is very important for retaining customers and receiving positive reviews. With such benefits, who would want to miss out?
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Best Ways to Translate WooCommerce Store
As mentioned above, there are 2 ways you can translate your WooCommerce store. First, we are going to discuss WooCommerce translation with the help of plugins. Below we have mentioned the best plugins in this category.
1. Using TranslatePress
This is a WordPress translation plugin that is completely compatible with WooCommerce. It enables you to translate your site from the front-end in minutes. It automatically translates your website using Google Translate or DeepL, which you can further change or customize if something is not accurately translated. TranslatePress is extremely easy to install and set up and does most of the work itself. It also has an intuitive user interface that makes translating fun and easy.
Key Features
- It offers 221 languages to translate your store into.
- Also translates image text.
- SEO-friendly.
- You can also show a custom login page for different languages.
- You can translate into one language only with the free version. For multiple translations, buy the premium version.
How it Works
So how do you configure the plugin for your WooCommerce store translation? First, install and activate the plugin. After activation, go to WooCommerce > Settings > TranslatePress > General. Here you can select your default language and additional languages that you want to translate your site into.
Other setting options include how to display the language switcher, such as a floating item, menu item, or shortcode. Once all general settings are completed, click on “save changes” and move on to the next part.
Next, you will click on the “translate site” tab on the bar above, which will redirect you to Translation Editor. This editor shows you a preview of your site with the editing options on the left column. Simply click on the text you want to translate, click on the blue pencil, and type in the translation on the left side. Once you are done, click on the “save translation” button and you are done. You can also automatically translate your WooCommerce site by integrating Google Translate.
2. Using WPML (WordPress Multilingual)
WPML is a popular translation plugin for WooCommerce that is suitable for small to large businesses. It completely translates your site, along with page, posts, product taxonomies, and theme text. It is compatible with major and multiple plugins, themes, and extensions to make sure your site is always functioning properly.
Key Features
- Consists of over 40 languages and their variants.
- Compatible with WooCommerce and automatically detects areas of translation.
- Powerful Translation Management System that enables you to convert users into translators and give them specific translating jobs.
- Integrates with multiple translation services that do the work for you.
How it Works
To get started, create an account on the WPML website, select the Multilingual CMS plan to translate your WooCommerce site. Next, go to WooCommerce > Plugins > Add new and search for the WPML plugin to install and activate it.
After activation, register the plugin by entering the site key, which you can find on your account on the WPML website. Next, you need to go to Plugins > Add new > Commercial and look for 4 other WPML plugins: String Translation, Translation Management, Media Translation, and WooCommerce Multilingual. Once downloaded, activate these plugins as well.
Now go to WPML > Languages, on the first page you have to set the site’s current language and then select the languages you want to translate it into on the next page. All the selected languages will be added to the language switcher, which you can display anywhere on your site.
Once all settings are done, click on the “Let’s continue” button to start translating your site. Here you can fill out basic information regarding translation in store pages and available currencies. Finally, to translate your site, go to WooCommerce > WooCommerce Multilingual, here you will see all the languages you selected, click on the + icon for the language you want to translate into. A product translation page will appear, just type in the translated text in the given fields.
And that’s it! Don’t forget to check the “translation is complete” box and click on the “save and close” button.
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How to Manually Translate WooCommerce Store
WooCommerce provides you 2 options through which you can manually translate your site and even create custom translations. These software are PoEdit and Loco Translate.
1. With Loco Translate
With the Loco Translate plugin, you first need to install and activate it. This plugin provides in-browser translation editing and automatic translation services. To start, go to WooCommerce > Loco Translate > Plugins and select WooCommerce. Next, click on “Add New Language”, select from the list of languages, choose the custom option and then click on the “Start translating” button.
2. With PoEdit
PoEdit is an advanced software and thus is suitable for developers. It works on the POT file in WooCommerce to translate your site. Go to PoEdit > File > New catalog from POT file. Next select the plugin or theme you want to translate, along with the language. Once the translation is finished, update the .po file in the catalog.
You can find a detailed guide to manually translate your WooCommerce store on the WooCommerce official site.
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Final Words
Now that wasn’t as difficult as you thought it might be! You can easily translate your store manually, although professional help will be required or automatically with the help of a plugin. Ultimately, the method of choice depends on expertise and budget. With WooCommerce, you don’t have to create multiple sites to cater to international customers, instead, you can bring the native experience to them with your multilingual site.
