WPML.org offers site content in 11 different languages. Over the years, we have learned that providing content in a client’s native language boosts site traffic, increases sales, and improves support satisfaction.
92% of our traffic is from outside the US, 55% are not native English speakers
Traffic to WPML.org represents people interested in reaching a global market. If you’re only focused on the United States market or English-speaking market, you’re missing some possible growth potential.
In 2020, most of our traffic came from these countries:
WPML.org traffic by country
Of course, many visitors from these countries also speak English, but of the top 10 most popular browser languages of our users, less than half were English:
Traffic to WPML.org by language
By making our site available in many different languages, WPML can target SEO keywords in multiple languages and demonstrate credibility in a potential client’s native language.
Localized sales funnels drive up conversions
It’s important to make the purchase process as easy and straightforward as possible to secure sales for your business. One way of doing this is by translating your product pages, shopping cart, and checkout pages.
When we look at who is purchasing WPML, it’s clear that most of our sales come from Europe. German billing addresses have made up 11.9% of our new sales for 2020, followed by the US and Italy at 7.8% and 7.6%, respectively.
WPML sales by purchaser’s billing country
Translating your sales funnel is only one way of making it easier for multilingual potential clients to make a purchase. Using local currencies and relevant payment gateways can also make the decision to purchase a product or service an easier one.
Local support makes your clients happier and costs less to you
Before we offered support in several languages, helping non-English speakers with complex support issues was a huge challenge. When we realized that some clients are using Google Translate to read our replies and write to us, we realized that we had to start offering support in their languages.
Today, most of our clients can get native support. Offering support in our clients’ languages makes clients a lot happier and requires less time from our supporters.
The languages of our support tickets over the last year break down as follows:
Support tickets opened by language
Remember that the WPML plugin is a technical product, aimed at professional web developers. If you are offering support for consumer products, you can expect even higher demand for local support.
Start building a multilingual site with a great team
WPML partners with plugin and theme authors to make it easy to start taking advantage of the benefits a multilingual site offers. We work closely with our recommended partners to ensure ongoing compatibility. This saves you time and money on troubleshooting issues and frees you up to start landing clients from around the world.
2 Responses to “How a Multilingual Site Can Help Grow Your Business”
I totally agree with you. At present, targeting the US market alone is not the answer. And when it comes to targeting people outside the US, we definitely need a multilingual site.
I totally agree with you. At present, targeting the US market alone is not the answer. And when it comes to targeting people outside the US, we definitely need a multilingual site.
Thanks for your comment, Amy!