Multilingual content can be a challenge to manage. Still, it can be easy to keep everything organized and under control with the right tools. This article will look at some of the best tools for managing bilingual or multilingual content.
We’ll also discuss how these tools can help you ensure that your content is error-free and consistent across different languages. So if you’re looking for a way to make managing multilingual content easier, read on! We’ll discuss some of the best options.
Why Do You Need Multilingual Content for Businesses?
As the world becomes more connected, businesses are increasingly looking to expand their reach into new markets. It means that they need to be able to communicate with potential customers in different languages.
According to a study by Common Sense Advisory, 76% of consumers say they would be more likely to buy a product if the information about it was available in their native language.
Furthermore, 40% of consumers say they would not buy a product from a company if the website were in a language they did not understand.
These numbers show that if you want to succeed in today’s global market, you need to be able to offer content in multiple languages. That is why many businesses hire professional online translation services to ensure the best quality of the content. It is not a waste of money but an investment.
Pros and Cons of Multilingual Content
Multilingual content has a lot of pros and cons that you might want to consider before expanding your scope to multiple languages.
Pros
It can help you reach new customers: As we mentioned above, offering content in multiple languages can help you attract new clients who might not have considered your products or services otherwise.
It can improve customer satisfaction: If your clients can find information in their native language, they’re more likely to be satisfied with your products or services. Several studies found that most online shoppers say they would be more likely to buy from a website that offers information in their language.
It can build trust: When customers see that you’re making an effort to communicate with them in their language, it builds trust and confidence in your brand. And when they know that you do not even try to make the user experience more friendly, they reject your offer even without consideration.
It can improve search engine rankings: If you want your website to rank high in search engines, you need to make sure it’s optimized for different languages. It means including international keywords and using the correct language codes. Your website will be placed higher because, in new markets, you can have fewer or no competitors.
It can help you avoid mistakes: When working with multiple languages, it’s essential to be extra careful to avoid errors. A mistranslated word or phrase could easily offend customers or potential clients, damaging your reputation.
Cons
It is more challenging to produce and manage: Obviously, having a monolingual website is more accessible and less time-consuming. Moreover, some content may be inappropriate or not engaging in some locales. You will need to prepare some unique articles, visual content, and offers.
It requires extra care to avoid mistakes: You must proofread all the content you publish. You may create your team if there is a budget, or you can use different services. We will cover the options in the next point.
It may require additional tools or services: If you do not know all the languages you target or do not have an international team, you will have to use reliable services and tools to translate everything needed. If you do not want to bother yourself with looking for freelancers, checking their work, and if they meet the deadlines, you can use some tools and services. For example, you may use a human translation API for small orders, maybe website updates. It will help you to make the translation process automatic and, at the same time, keep the quality of human translation. Suppose you need to translate the entire website content. In that case, you will need translation services or even localization services, which will translate what you need and ensure that it meets the requirements of the future clients, their culture and beliefs, and looks native to the new market.
Now that we’ve looked at some of the pros and cons of producing multilingual content, let’s talk about some of the various tools we can use for multilingual content.
Various Tools for Multilingual Content
If you’re looking for a way to manage your multilingual content, a Content Management System (CMS) is a great option. A CMS can help you keep track of all your content in one place. It can also automate some of the tasks involved in managing multiple languages.
These are some of the most widely-used ones by businesses worldwide:
WordPress
WordPress is a popular open-source CMS that can be used for various websites. It offers many features and plugins to make managing multilingual content easier.
Joomla
Joomla is another popular open-source CMS that can be used for everything from small personal websites to large corporate portals. It also offers several features and plugins for managing multilingual content.
Drupal
Drupal is a powerful open-source CMS often used for large and complex websites. Like WordPress and Joomla, it offers many features and plugins to help with multilingual content management.
Nitro by Alconost
Nitro by Alconost is a professional translation service that offers high-quality translations in many languages. They specialize in website, game, and app translations, but they can also translate other types of content. Aside from translation services, they also offer localization services to help you adapt your content for different markets.
Tools for Creating and Managing Multilingual Content
Aside from content management systems, there are several tools you might want to consider using for your multilingual content.
Grammarly
Grammarly is a tool that can help you check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You can set it up to check your writing in real time, or you can use it to check specific documents. It’s beneficial if you’re not a native speaker of the language you’re writing in.
Hemingway
Hemingway is another tool that can help you improve your writing. It’s designed to make your writing more straightforward to read. It can also help you spot grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Unicode Fonts
Unicode fonts are essential for any multilingual website or document. It is crucial because it ensures that your text will be displayed correctly regardless of its written language. They allow you to display characters from multiple languages in a single font.
Translation Memory System
It’s a no-brainer that a translation memory system will help you manage your multilingual content more effectively. A translation memory system stores all of your translated content in one place, making it easy to find and reuse previously translated text.
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a suite of tools that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. While you might not need all of these tools for managing your multilingual content, they can help create and edit documents.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is known for supporting various languages, from English and French to Xhosa and Hmong. It can be helpful if you need to create or edit documents in multiple languages. In addition, you need them to create the best visually appealing documents for your website or app users.
Conclusion
It’s no secret that multilingual content is a must-have for any business that wants to expand its reach. With the right tools, you can manage your multilingual content more effectively, ensuring that your message is communicated clearly and accurately to your target audience. Aside from these tools, you may need a localization service to help you look native everywhere and attract even more clients.