Although English has dominated global online business as the primary e-commerce language, studies around online shopping habits have shown that people prefer to explore and buy products from sites in their local language. 

As a result, the most obvious use case in favor of e-commerce website translation is that it opens up your selling potential to a global market — breaking down language barriers that might otherwise prevent potential sales. However, in addition to expanding your audience, e-commerce website translation has several other benefits, allowing you to attract and retain both local and global shoppers. 

Benefits of Translating Your E-Commerce Website

Translating your e-commerce website offers a myriad of benefits — here, we’ve listed just a few. 

Increased Traffic and Sales

By providing content in multiple languages, you can enhance your site’s SEO, allowing search engines to rank your pages more prominently in various language-specific search results. This can lead to a boost in organic traffic.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Beyond attracting visitors, translation is important for improving customer satisfaction because it fosters user engagement through personalized language options. Customers who can browse, shop, and communicate in their native language feel more appreciated and understood during their shopping experience— which is the surest way to receive positive feedback and reviews. 

Competitive Advantage

Offering a multilingual website can give your business a competitive advantage and set you apart in a crowded market. Additionally, having a translated website proves your dedication to effectively serving your global and local markets. As a result, you’ll attract a comprehensive audience, including those who prefer shopping in their native language, ensuring that your e-commerce platform stands out.

Key Elements to Consider in Website Translation

Although translating your e-commerce website has many benefits, there are several key elements that you should consider to ensure success. 

Language Selection

The first critical aspect is language selection. Choosing which languages to translate into requires quality market research and a thorough understanding of your target demographics. Taking this kind of strategic approach will help you identify the most relevant languages to help you serve and expand your customer base. Many website translation software tools will offer a plethora of languages for your customers to choose from when browsing your site.

Cultural and Regional Adaptation 

Beyond just language, cultural and regional adaptation plays a vital role. Recognizing and incorporating cultural nuances, idioms, and local preferences can create a more welcoming and engaging user experience. This also includes customizing images and adapting payment methods to better cater to your audience. 

Professional Translation Services vs. Machine Translation

Finally, consider whether you want to use a professional translation service, machine translation software, or a hybrid of both. While machine translation offers speed and cost-effectiveness, professional service can ensure accuracy and cultural appropriateness. Deciding when to leverage professional translators can make a significant difference in the quality and credibility of your website and improve user experience and satisfaction. 

Practical Steps for Implementing Website Translation

Implementing website translation involves several practical steps to ensure a seamless and effective process. 

The first step is planning the translation project. This involves setting clear goals and metrics for success, including identifying your key performance indicators (KPIs).

In the long run, these metrics will enable you to track performance post-translation effectively. Consider metrics like website traffic, bounce rates, time spent on-site, and conversion rates in different languages. 

Next, you’ll want to choose the right translation management system (TMS) that fits all your project’s needs. These systems streamline the translation process and ensure consistency and efficiency. 

Finally, you’ll want to set up a method for quality assurance and testing. You can use user reviews and testing to help ensure accuracy and usability. Additionally, conducting user testing in target languages can help identify potential issues and ensure your translated content resonates well with your audience. 

Not only will this help you improve your content, but it will also offer a holistic view of how the translated content is performing and being received. 

This comprehensive approach will help guarantee that your translated website meets high standards and delivers a user-friendly experience across different languages.

Measuring the Impact of Website Translation

To accurately measure the impact of website translation, it’s crucial to focus on key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics enable you to track performance post-translation effectively.

Website Traffic
Website traffic has several key pieces, including overall traffic, unique visitors, page views, session duration, bounce rate, top landing pages, and exit pages. Overall traffic, page views, and session duration can help you understand the reach and value of your website. Meanwhile, bounce rate, top landing page, and exit page traffic can indicate where your website and content might be lacking.

Traffic Sources
There can be many traffic sources to your website; however, some key ones to note are direct traffic, organic, and referral traffic. Direct traffic indicates how strong your brand presence and customer loyalty are. Meanwhile, organic traffic reflects the effectiveness of your SEO strategy  — and is very important in tracking your multilingual ranking. Finally, referral traffic gives you a sense of how strong your partnerships and PR efforts are. 

Conversion Rates
Finally, conversion rates are a very important KPI when monitoring the quality of your post-translated website. Some of the most important conversion rates to track are e-commerce conversion rates, landing page conversion rates, and cart abandonment rates. Higher e-commerce and landing page conversion rates indicate that your customers are receiving a clear message that resonates with them and leads them to action. Meanwhile, high abandonment rates could mean your customers are running into a consistent roadblock that’s stopping them from following through on a purchase.

Although your KPI tracking shouldn’t be limited to these metrics, taking a complete view of all your key performance indicators can help you make effective decisions that will move your business forward. 

Conclusion

Although English is generally accepted globally, translating your e-commerce website is a crucial step toward global expansion. Not only does it broaden your market reach, it will improve your user experience, boost conversion rates, and help you stay competitive in the global market. 

Whether you’ve already launched your e-commerce site or you’re just getting started, now is the time to start building a strategy and begin the translation process for your website. 

Want to translate your website in seconds? Check out GlobalLink Web’s 30-day free trial and take your website global in three easy steps.