WPML

Are you looking for a WPML review to see if it’s the right multilingual plugin for you?

WPML allows you to translate any content, including pages, posts, custom post types, WooCommerce products, and even the text in your WordPress admin area. It also adds a language switcher so visitors can choose their preferred language with ease.

In this WPML review, we’ll help you decide whether this popular multilingual plugin is right for your WordPress website.

WPML Review: Why Use It in WordPress?

WPML is a popular WordPress multilingual plugin that helps you translate content, taxonomies, custom fields, themes, plugins, and more. This means you can deliver content in many different languages using a single WordPress installation.

WPML has an easy-to-use interface so you can manage your multilingual content, create translation tasks, and manually review each piece of translated content.

It also has built-in WordPress SEO features, to help search engines identify all the different languages on your website.

This allows them to show the right version of your content to people around the globe. For example, with WPML you can choose an SEO-friendly URL format for each language, and translate your page slugs, SEO titles, and meta descriptions into multiple languages.

Beyond that, WPML offers automated translations by integrating with Google Translate, DeepL Translator, and Microsoft Azure Translator. This can save you a ton of time and effort, especially if you plan to support lots of different languages.

WPML Review: Is It The Right Multilingual Plugin For You?

By translating your content into multiple languages, you can connect with a wider audience and grow your business online. With the right translation plugin, you can add multilingual content to your website, and deliver the right version of your site to the search engines.

In this WPML review, we’ll see if it’s the right multilingual plugin for your WordPress website.

1. Easy to Setup

WPML makes it easy to create a multilingual WordPress website. To start, you can install and activate WPML just like any other WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, WPML will automatically detect your site’s language. You can then go ahead and select the other languages you want to use and choose a URL format for those languages.

With that done, you can choose how much content you want to translate, and who will provide these translations.

If you’re unsure, then you can change these settings at any point in the plugin’s settings.

With that done, WPML is ready to use on your WordPress blog or website.

2. Supports 65 Languages

WPML comes with 65 pre-configured languages. You also have the option to create custom languages and variants, such as Canadian French.

For every pre-configured language, WPML provides a flag that links the language to the countries where it’s commonly spoken. If you create a custom language or variant, then you can use any of WPML’s ready-made flags or upload your own graphic.

Pro Tip: If you don’t already have a graphic that you want to use, then you can create one using web design software such as Canva.

3. Customizable Language Switcher

A language switcher gives visitors a quick and easy way to choose their preferred language.

WPML lets you add a language switcher above or below the post content, in a menu, or as a WordPress widget.

If you’re using one of the newer, block-enabled themes then you can also add a language switcher to any template or template part.

Even better, WPML’s language switcher is completely customizable so you can change the background color, add a flag, hide the language name, and more.

4. Translate Your Entire WordPress Website

With WPML, you can translate pages and posts, plus a wide range of other content. This includes custom post types and fields, navigation menus, and media.

You can translate even more text using WPML’s String Translation interface.

Essentially, this allows you to translate text that exists outside of pages, posts, and taxonomies. This includes your site’s tagline, widget titles, the text inside your WordPress admin area, and even translation-ready WordPress themes and plugins.

To start, simply find the string you want to translate. Then, just click the ‘+’ icon under the language you would like to use.

At this point, you’ll have the option to send this string for WPML’s automatic translation, or assign it to a translator.

5. Add Translators to Your Website

Do you already have translators to help you create a multilingual website with WPML?

With WPML, you can add these translators to your site and then assign them a language pair. With that done, this person will only appear as an option when the translation job matches their language pairs.

You can either assign a job to a specific user, or select ‘First Available.’ This gives everyone with the required language pairs the chance to take this job. In this way, you can often get your content translated more quickly.

If you don’t already have a translator, then WPML can help you connect with a professional.

If you do select a translator via WPML, then they’ll receive the work as a file, so they’ll never get direct access to your dashboard. This is great news for your WordPress security.

6. Automated Translation

Another option is using an automated translation service. The good news is that WPML integrates with Google Translate, DeepL Translator, and Microsoft Azure Translator to offer automated translation directly inside the WordPress dashboard.

You can either translate your entire website, or specific sections only. For example, you might translate your top-performing landing page to try and get even more sales.

WPML can automatically translate all kinds of content including pages, posts, and WooCommerce products. Although it doesn’t translate custom post types and custom fields by default, you can change this in the plugin’s settings.

No matter whether you translate an entire site or a specific page, it’s typically a good idea to review these translations manually. To help you out, WPML can hold its automated translations as a draft, so you can review and approve them manually.

WPML will display a notification when a translation is ready to review.

Alternatively, you can publish each translation immediately, but configure WPML to add these posts to a Translations Queue. Then, you can review this queue when it fits your schedule, which may be easier if you run a busy business website.

In addition, WPML has a powerful ‘Translate Everything Automatically’ feature.

When enabled, WPML will translate new pages and posts as you publish them. This means your site will always have up-to-date translations.

Just be aware that automatic translation does require credits. Some WPML licenses come with complimentary credits, or you can buy them on a pay-as-you-go basis.

If you share your WordPress dashboard with other people, then WPML can prevent other users from accessing the automated translation feature. This means you don’t need to worry about guest bloggers, members, or other users spending your credits.

7. New Translation Manager Role

Do you run a WordPress development agency?

With WPML, you have the option to create a Translation Manager. This user role has access to WPML so they can manage the site’s content, without necessarily having access to the rest of the WordPress dashboard.

When a client isn’t familiar with WordPress, there’s always a chance they might accidentally break something, or delete important content. By making them a Translation Manager, you can give the client permission to manage their translations while also protecting the WordPress admin area.

8. Multilingual SEO

After adding support for multiple languages, you’ll want to help people discover your multilingual content. The good news is that WPML can help search engines rank every version of your site, and then show it to people around the globe.

To start, Google recommends using a unique URL for each language. With that in mind, WPML lets you choose between subdomains, subdirectories, or setting up an entirely separate domain for each language.

You can also translate slugs, internal and outbound links, plus SEO titles and meta descriptions.

WPML will also automatically add and manage your site’s hreflang tags. These tags communicate the language and region of the target reader. In this way, they can help search engines show the correct language to each user.

Even if you add new languages and translations, WPML will maintain the correct hreflang relationship between all these translations.

In addition, WPML integrates seamlessly with AIOSEO. AIOSEO is the best SEO plugin for WordPress, so you’ll get a ton of additional features that can help optimize your multilingual WordPress website.

In particular, AIOSEO will automatically serve XML sitemaps across different languages. This helps the search engines discover and index all your multilingual content.

9. Support Multiple Currencies

If you run an online store, then you may want to change the displayed currency based on the shopper’s location. This can improve the customer experience and get you more sales.

The good news is that WPML integrates seamlessly with the WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency plugin.

You can download this plugin for free from the official WordPress repository and then add a currency picker to your WooCommerce product pages.

Although you can use this plugin on its own, when installed alongside WPML you’ll get access to some additional features. This includes offering unique payment gateways for each currency.

Since some gateways aren’t available in certain countries, this can improve the shopper’s experience by only showing gateways they can access.

10. Community and Professional Support

With its automatic translations and language detection, WPML is designed with ease of use in mind. However, sometimes you may benefit from some extra help.

To start, WPML has an online knowledge base that you can access 24/7. This includes a detailed Getting Started guide that’s ideal for new users.

There’s also the WPML blog where they cover a range of topics, such as how to translate your WooCommerce store and how to set up Google Analytics.

All the WPML plans include professional support, so you can submit a ticket and get help directly from WPML’s customer service.

You can also look through previous support threads. Simply type in some information about your problem and WPML will show matching support tickets that have already been resolved.

This is a useful shortcut that can provide answers much more quickly, especially if you’re facing a common WordPress error or problem.

WPML Review Pricing and Plans

WPML has a few different plans that are designed to suit businesses of all sizes.

There are 3 plans to choose from:

• Multilingual Blog. For €39, you can use WPML on one production and three development websites. You’ll also get access to the standard translation controls, so you can create multilingual content in the WordPress block editor. With that said, this is a good option for bloggers or website owners who want to translate small amounts of content, such as their highest-converting landing page.
• Multilingual CMS. Priced at €99, this plan allows you to use WPML on 3 websites. You can also translate more content, including your WooCommerce products and pages, and strings such as widget titles. Multilingual CMS also comes with 90,000 automatic translation credits. With that said, this plan is a good option for business websites and online marketplaces that want to translate lots of content, fast.
• Multilingual Agency. For €199, you can use WPML on as many websites as you want. That said, this plan is perfect for WordPress developers, agencies, or anyone who manages a portfolio of client sites. You’ll also get 180,000 translation credits so it’s a good option if you need to automatically translate content in bulk.

WPML Review: Is it Worth It?

After looking at the features, support options, and pricing, we’re confident that WPML is a great multilingual WordPress plugin for business websites.

It supports 65 languages by default, with the option to create your own variants. WPML can also help you connect with professional translators and offers automated translation services, so you can support additional languages with ease.

Do you only need to translate a small amount of content? For example, you might want to translate your site’s most important pages, such as your home page or Contact Us form.

In that case, the Multilingual Blog plan allows you to translate pages and posts in the WordPress content editor.

However, if you want to translate your entire website then we recommend upgrading to Multilingual CMS. This is particularly true if you use WooCommerce to sell digital products, physical items, or services online. With this plan, you can translate your WooCommerce products and pages, ready to sell to an international audience.

Even better, this plan comes with 90,000 automatic translation credits.

Finally, if you’re an agency or WordPress developer, then we recommend Multilingual Agency. With this plan, you can install WPML on an unlimited number of sites, so you can translate all your client content with ease.

We hope this WPML review helped you decide whether it’s the right multilingual plugin for you. You can also check out our guide on how to increase your blog traffic, or see our expert pick of the best analytics solutions for WordPress.

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