Why multilingual support is critical for international business

In today's globalized world, businesses have customers and potential team members all over the world, speaking different languages. While many can communicate in English, providing multilingual support can significantly enhance the customer experience and become a competitive advantage for your organization. While hiring a multilingual support team may be costly initially, this can be effectively accomplished by building a multilingual knowledge base.

Three main approaches to creating a multilingual knowledge base

Depending on the needs of the organization and the interest in managing different language versions of the knowledge base, the following three approaches can be chosen:

1. Multilingual knowledge base for multi-site settings

This works well if different articles are required for each language. For organizations that offer different services or features depending on the country/region where the customer is located, a multisite setup with different articles for each country/region is the best option.

• vantage: Each website can have its own design and flow, with the ability to tailor the customer experience to the client's language and region.
• drawbacks: The need to manage multiple websites or subdomains can be overly burdensome for smaller companies.

2. Managing multilingualism as distinct categories

This method is a good option if one wishes to manage articles in multiple languages on the same website. By dividing articles in different languages into different categories, businesses can manage all their content in one place.

• vantage: All content is centralized on one site and easily managed.
• drawbacks: The main category would be language, which may not fit the overall design of the site, and having subcategories may add complexity.

3. Translation of the existing knowledge base

For small and medium-sized businesses, this is the simplest and most common option. If you only need to provide the same articles in different languages, translating the knowledge base is the best solution. This is not only light and fast, but also avoids duplicate content.

• vantage: Save time and costs by automating translations with translation plug-ins.
• drawbacks: Specialized plug-ins are required, usually premium plug-ins, which may not work well for businesses with limited budgets.

I. UseWPMLTranslation Knowledge Base

WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin) is the most popular translation plugin for WordPress websites. It is easy to use and offers rich design and additional features such as customizable language switching buttons, category translations and more.

Setup Steps:

1. Installation and activation of plug-ins: Install the WPML plugin and activate it.
2. Setting the website language: Select the language of the existing content, e.g. English.

3. Add another language: Select the language you want to add, you can choose from more than 50 languages.

4. Configure customization options: Set the language switching buttons or the different versions of the media files.

5. Translated articles: A language symbol will appear next to the title of each article, click on the "+" sign to add a translation. Translations can then be added manually.

Automatic translation function:

WPML also offers an automatic translation feature that can save a lot of time. This is a paid feature, however, and requires an additional purchase.

II. UsePolylangTranslation Knowledge Base

Polylang is another popular multilingual plugin available in free and premium versions. It is suitable for organizations that want to translate their knowledge base for free.

Setup Steps:

1. Setting the language: Add the desired language and make sure to add the initial language of the site.

2. Selecting Media File Options: Decide whether to upload different images for each language.

3. Setting the default language: such as English.

4. Translated articles: Add a translation in the "Language" option on the right sidebar to create a new translated article.

Automatic translation function:

Polylang also provides Lingotek automatic translation service, which facilitates users to not have to translate manually.

III. UseTranslatePressTranslation Knowledge Base

Known for its visual translation interface, TranslatePress is perfect for businesses looking for a free multilingual plugin and wanting to streamline the translation process.

Setup Steps:

1. Installation of plug-ins: Find the TranslatePress setting on the Settings page.

2. Translated articles: Add "?trp-edit-translation=true" at the end of the URL to open the translation console and translate the content sentence by sentence.

Automatic translation function:

TranslatePress supports Google Translate auto-translation feature, but requires a Google Translate API key.

IV. UtilizationGTranslateTranslation Knowledge Base

GTranslate is a lightweight and easy-to-use plugin that utilizes Google Translate to provide multi-language support.

Setup Steps:

1. Installation of plug-ins: After activating the plugin, it will automatically start translating.
2. Setting the language: Set the language in Settings > GTranslate and select Show floating language selector.

Automatic translation function:

GTranslate automatically translates everything, and although sometimes the translation may not be perfect, it is the fastest solution.

reach a verdict

Building a multilingual knowledge base is not complicated. There are multiple solutions to choose from, and the best option is determined by time, budget and needs. By using these tools and plug-ins correctly, you can significantly improve your customer support experience and increase your competitiveness in the international marketplace.