The Easiest Way to Make Your Online Store Multilingual

Wednesday, July 10th, 2013
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Does your online store sell to customers all over the world? If so, have you ever wanted to provide the content in your store in different languages but thought it was way too difficult? If you answered yes to the above, Google has the solution you need in its Website Translator Plugin. To get started, simply login with your Google account here:

https://translate.google.com/manager/website/add

Once you have logged in, simply enter the URL of your online store as per Google’s instructions. Select the appropriate plugin settings and then click on the Get Code button. Google will then provide two pieces of code. The first is a meta tag that needs to go at the top of your pages before the closing </head> tag. The second is the Website Translator plugin that you need to place in the appropriate area of your pages.

Assuming your online store system supports the Google Plugin, implementation is simple.

  1.  Be sure to paste the meta tag in your online store as per Google’s instructions. In Nexternal, the necessary field is the Head Addendum located in Layout under the Advanced Layout.
  2. Paste the plugin code in a place that will appear throughout the entire shopping experience, not just on the store’s catalog pages. In Nexternal, the Top HTML is a good field to use.
  3. Consider using HTML buttons (Add to Cart, Check out, etc..) so that the labels on them can also be translated by Google. In Nexternal, you can select this option in the Buttons area of the layout section.
  4.  BE SURE (notice the all caps), that your eCommerce system specifies that on the country field associated with your customer’s profile. Without this, you could have all sorts of issues with address validation and credit card authorizations. For Nexternal clients, this is provided by default.

With the right eCommerce platform, Google can make it take a few minutes to offer your content in the customer’s native language. Let your global conquest begin!

Craig is the VP of Sales at Nexternal and is known in the industry as an expert in eCommerce, systems integrations, and online marketing. Craig has been with Nexternal since 2000 and his passion and experience are apparent to all who work with him.