When first extending your business abroad, look for target markets that speak the same native language as you. If that's not the case, or if you want to take your international growth to the next level, you should consider investing the time to translate your shop into the language of the country or area you're targeting.
Similarly to local pricing and currency, over 80% of foreign purchasers prefer to explore an eCommerce site in their native language, making a translated store an effective strategy for increasing international sales. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to build numerous Shopify stores to provide a shopping experience in various languages.
To begin, look through Shopify's list of appropriate translation software. These are solutions that integrate directly into Shopify's multi-language area, where you will handle your content's translation. Most applications include a 7–14 day free trial period, so browse, test, and then choose an app that you feel most comfortable with.
After you've chosen and installed your desired translation app, go to the Languages part of your admin and activate the language into which you wish to translate your store.
You're now ready to start translating your text in your preferred app. If you're targeting a market in a language you already know, you may start translating the material yourself. However, it is unlikely that you will be able to communicate in the language of the market into which you are expanding. There are two choices to examine in these situations:
- Use a tool like Deepl to produce machine-translated material in the language of your choice. This is a quick and easy approach to start marketing in another language. Machine translations will not cost you anything other than your time.
- Machine translations are getting better by the day, but they aren't perfect, especially in some languages like Turkish. If you feel that machine translations are insufficient based on consumer feedback, search the Shopify experts marketplace for partners that can manually translate your content into the language of your choice. A job like this might cost anything from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on how much information you need to translate. Check out this post for additional information on how to locate specialist help in the Experts Marketplace.
To start off with, machine learning is probably the best option rather than taking up too much time with manual translations. If you start to see growth in new regions that you’re targeting and develop consistent new customers, it might be time to consider manual translations.
When translating your Shopify store, it can be quite hard to work out where to start. The best pages to start with are your high-traffic and product pages. Followed by your legal/terms of service and then start to develop the rest.
Don’t forget to include email notifications and any other marketing materials sent out from your Shopify store.
Once you’re ready for new customers in a new region, make sure that your languages are in the relevant domain. You can do this by going into your domains section and setting it as default or a language option on the store.