Web Design and Development

7 Key Points to Know for Developing a Multilingual Website

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Developing a multilingual website is somewhat more complex than designing one solely in English for obvious reasons&period; However&comma; with User Experience &lpar;UX&rpar; at the forefront of modern design trends&comma; multilingual content has become a necessity for <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;seo-strategy-will-skyrocket-google-ranking&sol;">good SEO ranking<&sol;a> and brand recognition&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">According to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;designingit&period;com&sol;blog&sol;what-is-a-multilingual-website-and-why-your-business-needs-one" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">published data<&sol;a>&comma; 56&percnt; of users prefer using websites in native languages instead of English&comma; with 75&percnt; preferring to shop on multilingual eCommerce storefronts&period; This has prompted many companies to invest in site localization and expansion into different language-speaking regions&period; So&comma; what are the considerations you should take into account when developing a multilingual website in 2021&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Appropriate the UI for Right-to-Left Languages<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">When designing a website for multilingual content&comma; you should consider right-to-left &lpar;RTL&rpar; languages&period; Arabic languages will require you to appropriate your <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;coolest-web-design-tips-needed&sol;">web design<&sol;a> to accommodate their content&period; Users who prefer using their native Arabic languages on your website will be extremely happy with your foresight&period; On the other hand&comma; left-to-right &lpar;LTR&rpar; speakers like those from the West will be none the wiser since pages in those languages won’t be affected&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Culturally Neutral Multimedia is Important<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Once you decide that your website will be multilingual&comma; you should be mindful of your multimedia going forward&period; Choosing the right visuals and videos for your website can present a localization problem depending on your site’s purpose on the market&period; It might be a good idea to use stock photography with neutral images&comma; lacking any culture-specific clothing or appearances&period; It’s very easy to drive away users with poorly chosen multimedia on a multilingual website&comma; so take the time to curate yours thoroughly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Think About Font Compatibility Upfront<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Font compatibility is an essential part of what makes web design for multilingual pages tricky&period; To avoid any practical issues&comma; you should use <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;fonts&period;google&period;com&sol;">Google Fonts<&sol;a> and its alternatives to choose the fonts to use on your site&period; This will ensure that any font you choose does indeed display different alphabets and special characters properly&period; Based on W3&comma; it’s best to use fonts with UTF-8 encoding from the moment you create original content in your CMS&period; Most importantly&comma; drawing fonts from cloud resources will let you change them easily going forward&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Take Text Expansion into Consideration<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Text expansion refers to the literal size expansion of written content that happens during translation&period; Whether you translate or localize your content&comma; rest assured that some expansion will happen&period; Using <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pickwriters&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Pick Writers<&sol;a> to find the best translation service to assist you in localizing your written content will mitigate that&period; Likewise&comma; you may want to think about future translation before you write original content to make it as simple to translate as possible later on&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Seamless Switching Between Languages is Crucial<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Not every visitor to your website from France will want to see its content in French&period; Depending on how many languages you plan to feature&comma; it may be a good idea to simply make English default and offer manual language-changing options&period; As such&comma; you should make switching between languages as easy as possible&period; Placing a drop-down menu in your navigation header doesn’t take a lot of time&comma; and it will significantly improve your website’s UX&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Universally Translate All Content<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Once you set up your languages&comma; you should strive to translate all the content on your website into every other language by default&period; Don’t create a language preference and aim to accommodate every user’s preferences&period; This will not only improve your UX but also increase your site’s SEO ranking&period; Partially translating content even though you have a multilingual website will have the opposite effect and paint a poor image of your brand&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>International Search Engine Optimization &lpar;SEO&rpar;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Applying SEO to your content is important no matter if you blog&comma; sell items online or provide SaaS services&period; International SEO is just as important&comma; and using language-specific keywords for each language will help you <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;effective-ways-boost-websites-ranking&sol;">rank better<&sol;a>&period; Refer to tools such as Google AdWords and SEM Rush to find the right keywords and phrases for each language&period; This will help your site reach local audiences in different countries thanks to specific SEO keywords&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>In Conclusion<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">While building a multilingual website may be harder to do than an English-only one&comma; the benefits far outweigh the costs of development&period; You will effectively establish a presence in various markets and allow people from across the globe to enjoy your content however they prefer&period; Start by exploring which languages to use and how you will translate content before approaching web design itself&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Bio<&sol;strong>&colon; Merissa Moore is a digital content developer&comma; copywriter&comma; and editor with experience in a plethora of fields including digital marketing and business development&period; She is a writer with a commitment to quality and a passion for communicating practical information to her readers&period; Merissa tends to spend her off-time writing blog posts and going through personal development literature&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

Share
Published by
Hardik Patel

Recent Posts

Invisible Insulation: Secondary Glazing with Perspex Sheets around Me in Older Homes

Having a heritage house in Australia presents a set of its own challenges, especially in…

22 hours ago

Challenges Men Face in Midlife

Midlife is a complex and often misunderstood stage of life, typically occurring between the ages…

2 weeks ago

AI vs Generative AI: What Professionals Need to Learn to Stay Relevant

Understanding the Difference Between AI and Generative AI Artificial intelligence has been transforming industries for…

2 weeks ago

Why Coffee is a Great Choice for Your Private Parties

Universal Appeal and Guest Satisfaction Coffee is one of the few beverages that almost everyone…

2 weeks ago

Transitioning to a Healthier Lifestyle Through Better Liquid Choices

Sometimes switching to a healthier lifestyle starts with small changes in your fridge. For example,…

3 weeks ago

AC Milan vs SSC Bari Timeline: Results, Stats & Highlights

The AC Milan vs SSC Bari Timeline is a fascinating journey through Italian football history,…

4 weeks ago