Multi-language websites

In the UK, making your website available in more than one language can make a real difference. For public bodies and local authorities, it can be a legal or moral responsibility to serve diverse communities. For charities and businesses, it’s a simple way to make sure services and information are open to everyone who might benefit from them.

At Castlegate IT, we offer two proven approaches to creating multi-language websites.

1. Neural Machine Translation (NMT) uses artificial neural networks to translate words in the context of the full sentence, rather than in isolation. This approach produces natural-sounding translations that preserve tone, pace, and flow.

NMT is:

Extremely reliable
Fast to deploy
Affordable for large-scale rollouts
With over 100 languages available on installation, you can begin speaking to your customers in their own language the same day.

GTranslate.io is our preferred NMT tool. It’s a powerful and reliable way to make websites accessible in multiple languages, and comes with a range of useful features and benefits:

NMT accuracy – uses Google’s latest AI-powered translation engines for fluent, context-aware results across 100+ languages.
Instant multilingual website – automatically translates all site content, including menus, dynamic text, and metadata, without manual duplication.
SEO-friendly – creates unique language-specific URLs (e.g. /fr/, /es/) so translated pages are indexed separately by Google and other search engines.
Seamless integration – compatible with WordPress, Shopify, Joomla, Drupal, and most CMS platforms; installation via plugin or JavaScript snippet.
Customisable translations – human-edit interface allows fine-tuning of AI output directly on the live site for brand and tone consistency.
Automatic content detection – newly added pages or posts are translated automatically, reducing maintenance workload.
GDPR and privacy compliance – processes translation requests securely via encrypted APIs, with EU-hosted data options.
Performance-optimised – translated pages are cached and served from a global CDN for fast load times in every language.
Analytics and tracking – integrates with Google Analytics to measure multilingual traffic and user behaviour.
Scalable pricing and support – free and paid plans for different traffic levels, with professional translation and technical support available.

2. The WordPress Multilingual Plug-in WPML creates a duplicate of every page in your chosen target languages. Each page is fully editable, allowing territory-specific content and layout. This approach is ideal for businesses with established international divisions or customer bases, where precision and localisation are key.

You can work with your own translators or choose from a vetted network of professionals to ensure quality and cultural accuracy.

WPML – key features and benefits

Native integration with WordPress – built specifically for WordPress, WPML stores translations in the site’s own database rather than serving them from an external service, giving you full ownership and control of multilingual content.
Hybrid translation workflows (AI + human post-editing) – automatically translate content using WPML’s AI Translator or external neural engines (such as DeepL or Microsoft Azure), then refine it manually for tone, nuance, and context.
Professional and collaborative translation management – supports human translation by your own editors or professional agencies through its Translation Management module, with shared glossaries and translation memory.
Granular control over content – choose exactly what to translate (pages, posts, menus, custom fields, taxonomies, widgets), with full support for complex ACF and WooCommerce configurations.
True SEO integration – each language version can have its own meta data, schema, and URL structure (subdirectory, subdomain, or separate domain), providing maximum SEO flexibility and authority management.
Compatible with most major plugins – designed to work seamlessly with Yoast SEO, WooCommerce, ACF, Elementor, and most WordPress themes, reducing the risk of conflicts that can occur with automated overlays.
Editor-friendly workflow – its translation dashboard and job queue make it easy for content teams to manage multilingual updates in step with the main site, without relying on external APIs or browser widgets.
Performance and compliance – translations are served directly from WordPress (no third-party calls), improving page speed and supporting GDPR compliance by keeping all data within your hosting environment.
Extensible and future-proof – offers a well-documented API so developers can integrate translation logic into custom post types, theme templates, and advanced plugins.

Multi-language websites