Before you start developing a multilingual internet resource, you need to understand whether you need such a format in principle. To do this, it is necessary to analyze the audience and figure out what countries the visitors come from. If there are many foreigners, then the preparation of copies of the site in different languages makes sense.
Multilingual web product – this is primarily a convenience for your potential customers. They will be much more comfortable to study the information in their native language. You will have to translate the entire content of the site – not only the texts, but also small elements. So guests from Belarus will be able to see information in Belarusian, from Ukraine – in Ukrainian, etc. This approach increases user loyalty.
Features of SEO-optimization of multilingual resources
Initially you need to determine the specifics of the structure of multi-language. It may be in the form of internal sections, by creating subdomains for each of the languages or developing separate resources.
In reality, any of these options can be applied in practice, but optimization is easiest if the multilinguality structure is represented by subdomains. This will require less time and material costs.
It is necessary to provide a button to change the language. It is desirable that it has a text performance.
Choice of language in the multilingual sites
As we have said above, all the components of the site should be translated, otherwise guest loyalty can not be counted on.
Technical component in the creation and promotion of the multilingual site
The main technical points to be paid attention to when dealing with resources of this type are as follows:
standard meta tags – these elements of promotion are necessary to use, do not forget to monitor the correct translation of the titles and descriptions of pages of the Internet resource;
use rel=”alternative” – this special tag will allow the search engine to understand the languages in which a particular page can be displayed, features of its addition depend on the specific CMS;
NC preparation – do not make the same URL for pages in different languages, all addresses must be unique (if possible);
refuse auto-translation – do not use automatic services, because you will get unreadable texts, that customers will not like;
Sitemap.xml – the map must receive pages in all languages, you can configure this file using the help of Google
Creating internal relinking – redirection should be carried out only within a single language.
The degree of difficulty in configuring all the parameters depends on the features of the chosen CMS. Popular platforms, as a rule, have built-in plug-ins that simplify the work of building multilingualism.
CMS WordPress
Here is a paid plugin WPML.
Support for languages on the pages of the site
It will allow you to connect all the necessary languages and translate the content quickly and easily.
A free Polylang tool is also available.
CMS Joomla
This platform by default allows you to create multilingual resources, plugins are built in. However, this option is not always suitable, because the number of duplicate materials and menu items is large.
There is a free FaLang solution. It will help with the translation and remove duplication, but you should understand that the free version has few features.
CMS Bitrix
On this platform, a site with multi-linguality can be created using the existing internal set of features:
make a new site in the administrative panel;
choose a language in the settings;
transfer information into the folder, copying the public part.
Peculiarities of contextual advertising multilingual website
When using such a tool as contextual advertising, it is important to remember about the text and language of ads and pictures, their compliance with the geo-location of the target audience. Attention to the installation of links: they should redirect to the correct language version of the site.
If remarketing is used on the resource, check if the pages your guest has visited are displayed correctly.