What is the purpose of multilingual e-commerce?
A multilingual e-commerce site offers numerous advantages to companies that want to expand internationally. First, it allows you to reach a wider audience. Every day, millions of people browse the Internet in languages other than their own. By offering your website in multiple languages, you are opening the door to potential customers who might otherwise be unable to understand or interact with the site.
Secondly, a multilingual e-commerce site can increase consumer confidence. When a visitor sees that the site is available in their native language, it immediately creates a sense of familiarity and comfort.
This can positively influence their decision to purchase or interact with the company. In addition, a multilingual site also demonstrates a commitment to international customers, who feel more valued and appreciated.
How to structure a multilingual website correctly
The correct structure of a multilingual website is essential to ensure an optimal user experience. Here are some tips on how to structure your multilingual website:
- Use specific URLs for each language: when creating a multilingual website, it is important to use specific URLs for each language. For example, if you have a website in Italian and another in English, you could use "www.example.com/it" for Italian and "www.example.com/en" for English. This will help search engines understand which version of the website to show users based on their search language.
- Use hreflang tags: hreflang tags are an essential element for a multilingual website. These tags tell search engines which version of the website to show users based on their language and geographical location. Make sure you use hreflang tags correctly for each page of your multilingual website.
- Offer a language selector: To ensure a smooth user experience, it is important to offer a clearly visible language selector on your site. This will allow users to select their preferred language and navigate between the different versions of the site.
Cuborio automatically creates all the optimisations for a multilingual e-commerce site. Simply activate one or more languages without publishing them, so that you can complete the translation of all content before making it available to search engines and the public. With one click, you can access the **SYSTEM** ⇒ **LANGUAGE LIST** section and, for the languages you want to activate, simply click on the relevant activation button and save.
Doing multilingual SEO
In addition to a proper website structure in multiple languages, it is also essential to implement an effective multilingual SEO strategy.
Here are some tips for multilingual SEO:
- Keyword research: Keyword research is fundamental to any SEO strategy, but it is even more important when it comes to a multilingual website. You need to identify the relevant keywords for each language and optimise your content accordingly.
- Unique content for each language: Make sure you create unique content for each language. Simply translating content is not enough. Search engines reward websites with original, quality content. Adapting content to the linguistic needs and preferences of different countries can improve your visibility and increase your chances of ranking in search results.
- Meta tag optimisation: Meta tags are important elements of SEO optimisation. Make sure you use unique meta tags for each language, including relevant keywords and an accurate description of the page content.
- Image and video localisation: If your site contains images and videos, be sure to localise them according to language. This means you should translate the text in images and videos to make the experience more personalised for users of different nationalities.
- International link building: Building quality links from relevant websites in different languages can help improve the ranking of your multilingual website. Look for international link building opportunities and collaborate with influencers and relevant websites to obtain quality links.
Cuborio is a CMS designed to simplify management for the site owner, so much so that to translate a page into another language, simply go to the backend at the top right and select the desired language from those available. Then click on the main menu under **Content** ⇒ **Pages** 2. Click on a page to translate. Pages marked in yellow are those still to be translated into the selected language, while those in green are those already translated. At this point, simply replace the text in the default language (usually Italian) with the text translated into the selected language and click on **SAVE**.
Conclusion
A multilingual e-commerce site is an extraordinary opportunity for companies that want to expand internationally. Offering visitors a personalised experience in their native language can increase trust, improve the user experience and increase sales opportunities.
However, it is important to structure the site correctly and implement an effective multilingual SEO strategy to maximise results. Follow the tips provided in this article and get ready to reach a global audience with your multilingual e-commerce site.
