5 great multilingual website examples + what your business can learn from them
You are an international business looking to enter or expand into a new country. You understand the value that a multilingual website is going to bring to you: greater visibility on local search engines, a better experience for your international customers, a more familiar feel and better conversion rates.
You also know that it is a good idea to take inspiration from successful multilingual websites, so you can take into account and implement the key aspects of translation and localisation on your own website. In this blog post, we’ll show you 5 excellent examples of multilingual websites that communicate effectively with their audience and we’ll share what your business can learn from them. Let’s dive in.
McDonaldʹs
McDonald’s has more than 38,000 restaurants in over 100 countries around the world, and when two people from two different countries visit their website, they can see very different things. This is because McDonald’s doesn’t just translate their website copy for each country but localises content, images or layout to make the experience as meaningful as possible for each individual.
For example, when we visited the Italian version of the website at the time we were writing this blog post, the Home Page featured a Christmas promotion offering a deal from the 1st to the 25th of December. This marketing campaign may well be inspired by the Italian Christmas tradition of the Advent Calendar, which resonates with the local audience.
Meanwhile, Spain’s website highlighted the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 where the Spanish football team took part. They used a catchy phrase that resonates with football fans, encouraging them to visit McDonald’s.
Can you imagine translating the Spanish marketing campaign for the Italian market, whose national football team did not qualify for the World Cup? It would not go down well, and it shows why localisation is key to reaching your target audience effectively.
Main takeaways for your business
- Go beyond translation
- Use localisation to better resonate with the local culture of each country
- Create specific marketing campaigns for each territory
Apple
The largest technology company by revenue in the world, Apple have studied in detail each localised version of their website. On the United States’ website, the design of the Home Page is minimalist and they focus on the latest iPhone together with two campaigns, one encouraging people to get last-minute gifts for Christmas and another one promoting the Apple Card.
When looking at the localised version of the website in Saudi Arabia, the latest iPhone is also featured on the Home Page but there are some changes to include other high-end products that match the demand for luxury brands in this region.
Unlike the US website which includes a promotion to save 5% when using your Apple Card, there aren’t any references to prices or discounts on the Arabic country’s website, contributing to the overall feeling of exclusivity.
Main takeaways for your business
- Pay attention to the demographics and purchasing power of each country
- Adapt your offer, highlighting specific products for each country
- Adapt your campaigns with promotions for each territory
Ikea
Ikea is another great example of a multilingual website. The Swedish furniture company have successfully adapted their website in multiple languages, providing local pages that are specific to each region, both in message and content.
In the example below, Ikea knows that summer sales in Spain are popular and encourage people to make the most of their sales with a catchy tagline: ¡Ahorra o nunca con nuestras ofertas IKEA Family! (Save now or never with our Ikea Family offers!); the wording is very clever: the word Ahorra means “Save”, but also refers to the orthographically similar word “Ahora”, which means “Now”, hence the message encourages people to “Save now!”.
Main takeaways for your business
- Create unique content or use transcreation to truly connect with your customers
- Adapt your offer taking into account consumers’ habits in each market
De’Longhi
De’Longhi is a leading brand in home appliances including coffee makers, kettles and toasters. Their products are sold all around the world, so it’s no surprise that De’Longhi’s website is available in more than 40 different languages and dialects.
Having a truly global site that covers 40 + different countries and languages requires the right strategy when it comes to selecting the URL structure. They opted for subdirectories such as https://www.delonghi.com/it-it. This URL structure has the advantage of having an easy set-up and low maintenance since they use the same host.
Users can choose their preferred languages using a single window available at the bottom of the Home Page, thus avoiding visitors having to figure out how to select their preferred language.
The website is a good example of both a multi-regional and a multilingual website. The site has different versions for the USA and for Canada, and the content is available in both French and English in Canada. This approach really helps to make sure all potential customers in a country feel engaged, regardless of their language.
Main takeaways for your business
- Provide an effective way for users to select their preferred language
- Offer multi-regional and multilingual websites
- Consider the use of subdirectories to manage the different versions of your site
Wix
Wix is a cloud-based website builder that includes web hosting, drag-and-drop tools and ready-made templates to help you build your website without having specialist skills or hiring a web developer.
When it comes to their multilingual website, the overall design is the same for all languages. Nevertheless, they have taken care to translate all the different elements of the website, including graphics and pictures, to offer the best possible user experience.
All the features such as dashboards, the website builder and their automation tools have been translated into more than 20 languages to make them accessible to all users.
When it comes to their website templates, they go beyond translation, offering website templates that are fully localised and some others that are unique in each language.
Main takeaways for your business
- Provide a fully localised website, with all the features of your products available
- Provide your templates, such as newsletter templates, in multiple languages
Ready to create a multilingual website?
Translating a website goes beyond translating text (and images). You need to consider the cultural differences of each country in order to adapt your content and offering according to your potential customers. It is also important to pay attention to more technical elements, such as language selection options and the desired URL structure.
If these multilingual website examples have inspired you to create your own multilingual website, Ampere Translation can help get you started. Get in touch with us and we’d be happy to guide you through every step of your website translation journey.
FAQs
What is an example of a multilingual website?
A multilingual website is a site with multiple versions in different languages that are tailored to a specific region. Ikea is an example of a multilingual website available in more than 20 languages including Spanish, Swedish and Japanese.
How can I translate a website?
There are different options available to translate a website depending on your budget and specific needs. Some of the most popular options are:
- Professional translation services
- A freelancer translator
- Machine translation
- Machine translation post-editing
How do I build a multilingual website?
We recommend working with a language service provider and using one of the many translation plugins available to translate your website. These plugins are compatible with the most popular Content Management Systems including Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix and WordPress and make it easier to translate your website because it eliminates the need to download the source text and then upload the translated text.
