How Website Translation Connects Cultures Through Localization

Your website isn't just a digital storefront but a bridge to new audiences across the world. Even if you run a local business, you still need to make yourself understood by people who speak a different language. Limiting yourself to English-speaking customers means missing out on sales and leaving money on the table.  The solution is at your fingertips: create a multilingual site or translate your existing one. If you're starting from scratch, use an easy website builder with multilingual capabilities. For example, Wix supports over 180 languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Afrikaans, Thai, German, and others. 

According to a global survey by CSA Research, 40% of consumers would refuse to buy from websites that don’t offer content in their native tongue. 76% said they're more likely to make a purchase when the product details are presented in their own language. These findings suggest that having a multilingual site can increase sales and expand your reach. It’s also an opportunity to improve the customer experience, which can strengthen your reputation and drive up revenue. Here’s what you should know about it. 

What Are the Benefits of a Multilingual Website? 

Imagine sitting down at a café while traveling abroad. The menu is filled with dishes that look delicious, but you don't understand a word. You try to guess from the photos or translate with your camera, which leaves you feeling awkward and frustrated. That’s what happens when potential buyers land on your website and can't navigate it in their own language. They might turn to Google Translate or other apps to make sense of the content, but the experience feels clunky. In fact, 65% of the consumers surveyed by CSA Research said they prefer content in their language, even if the translation quality is poor. This shows that familiarity and convenience often outweigh perfect grammar or polished phrasing, shaping the customer experience. 

As shown above, having a multilingual website can strengthen brand loyalty, drive repeat business, and reduce churn. Plus, it allows you to connect with your audience on a more personal level and earn their trust.  This approach can also help with SEO. Google and other search engines index pages by language and region, among other factors. A multilingual website is more likely to rank for keywords in different languages, which can boost organic traffic. 

The result? Increased brand awareness, greater visibility, and lower advertising costs.  Speaking of advertising, running ads in a foreign language without a translated landing page can hurt conversions.  Say you’re targeting a global audience, and some of your ads are in German but lead to a web page in English. With this approach, you risk confusing buyers and creating a poor user experience. On top of that, your advertising dollars will go to waste. 

Still on the fence about building a multilingual website? Here are other key benefits you might not be aware of:

• Access to new markets
• Competitive differentiation
• Increased credibility 
• Higher click-through rates 
• Lower bounce rates
• Reduced customer service load
• Better marketing ROI 

For example, shoppers are less likely to contact support when they can find answers in their own language. Translating FAQs, product instructions, or policy pages reduces the load on customer service, freeing up your team to focus on more complex cases. 

Website Translation vs. Localization: What’s the Difference? 

If you plan to expand internationally, you may need to do more than just translate your site. In this context, translation should serve as one component of a broader localization strategy.  Localization involves adapting your content to resonate with the cultural expectations, social norms, and language subtleties of a specific audience. This process goes beyond translation, calling for changes in visual design, formatting standards, and even legal compliance.  Take the beauty brand Sephora, for example. If you access its website from the U.S., you'll see a different layout, color palette, currencies, and units of measurement than someone in Mexico, Spain, or New Zealand. Website translation doesn’t account for cultural differences, but it’s still essential for most businesses with an online presence. If done right, it can boost engagement, reduce friction in the buying process, and make your content accessible to a wider audience. 

How to Make Your Website Multilingual

Creating a multilingual website is more or less complex, depending on how you go about it. Consider the following options:

• Use a plugin or extension designed for this purpose, such as Wix Multilingual 
• Translate your content manually or with the help of AI 
• Switch to a headless CMS or localization platform
• Deliver geo-targeted content with automatic language detection 

If, say, you have a one-page website targeting local customers, you can manually translate it into the languages your audience speaks. Other solutions, such as a headless CMS or geo-personalization software, are suitable for large enterprises scaling into many regions at once.  Small- to medium-sized businesses would benefit most from a website builder with multilingual capabilities. This option is fast, convenient, and budget-friendly, saving you hours of hard work. 

Listed below are three no-code platforms you can use to create a multilingual website:

Wix 

More than two million websites use Wix Multilingual, a free add-on that supports over 180 languages. The app can be accessed from the Editor and includes 3,000 credits for automatic translation. This easy website builder also works with Weglot, Weblang, Bablic, and other translation apps. Simply set up your site, then visit the Wix App Market to install the desired add-ons.

Pros:

• All-in-one website builder
• Large selection of translation apps
• User-friendly interface 

Hostinger 

Hostinger features a built-in translation tool that allows you to display your content in more than one language. Activate it from your dashboard, then translate each page manually or with a third-party translation app, such as Linguise. 

Pros:

• Built-in multi-language feature
• Compatible with third-party translation apps
• Intuitive and easy to use 

Duda 

Just like Hostinger, Duda offers a translation tool accessible from the Settings menu. The key difference is that, once installed, it automatically translates your content using Google Translate, a built-in feature.

Pros:

• Supports 55+ languages
• Built-in Google Translate integration
• Update translated pages with Duda's re-translation tool

Reach More Customers with a Multilingual Website 

Having a monolingual website isn’t the worst thing, but it can limit your growth potential. By excluding non-English speakers, you’re narrowing your market reach and leaving money on the table.  However, this doesn’t mean you need to completely overhaul your site. Instead, consider using a website builder with multilingual capabilities. While you’ll still have to put in some legwork, your efforts will be worth it in the long run.