Setting up Shopify in multiple languages - advantages and implementation

As a Shopify merchant, you can sell your products across national borders and thus expand your target group. To do this, you should at least offer your store in English to reach more people and potentially increase your sales.

In this article, I would like to give you everything you need to know if you are thinking about setting up Shopify in multiple languages.

What are the advantages of multilingualism in your Shopify store?

The advantages of multilingualism on Shopify include increasing your reach, improving customer loyalty and ultimately increasing your sales.

#1 Expansion of the target group

• Reach international customers: If you offer your store in several languages, you can reach customers from different countries who might otherwise have difficulty understanding your products. This is particularly important in highly globalized industries.
• Reach a wider target group: You not only address customers in your home market, but also reach people who live in your region but speak a different language.

#2 Improved user experience

• Build trust: Customers feel more comfortable when they receive information about products and ordering processes in their native language. This promotes trust and reduces the likelihood of customers abandoning the purchase.
• Better customer service: With a multilingual website, you can offer your customers an optimized shopping experience, as they don't have to overcome language barriers to find their way around or receive support.

#3 Higher conversion rate

• More sales: Studies show that people are more likely to buy from a store if the content is available in their native language. Multilingualism can therefore lead directly to a higher conversion rate.
• Fewer abandoned purchases: Customers who can discover and understand products in their own language have fewer uncertainties when buying and are more likely to complete the purchase.

#4 SEO advantages

• Better visibility in search engines: Multilingual content allows you to appear in international search engine rankings. If you offer your store in English and French, for example, you can rank better in both English-speaking and French-speaking markets.
• Local SEO optimization: By using linguistically adapted URLs and hreflang tags, you improve local search engine optimization so that your website can be found better in different countries.

How to set up your Shopify store in multiple languages?

By default, Shopify offers the option of operating the store in five different language variants; Shopify Plus extends this function to twenty. It is important to note that your Shopify theme is compatible with multiple languages. 

To add another language, go to "Settings" > "Languages" in your Shopify admin area and activate the option for multilingual URLs. The store must then be translated into the respective language. Shopify does not offer an integrated full translation function, but there are apps that make this possible. Here are the three most common apps:

• Langify: A popular app for translating content into multiple languages.
• Weglot: A fully automated translation solution that is easy to integrate.
• Shopify Translate & Adapt (Shopify's own solution): Offers basic functions for translating your store.

Alternatively, you can of course do the translation manually without the app. However, depending on the size of the store, this can be a challenge. The apps also help you to integrate settings such as your Shopify SEO setup correctly for multiple languages. I therefore advise you to use one of the apps. Let's take a closer look at them.

1. langify

Functions:

• Manual translations: You can translate every page, product description and other content yourself.
• SEO support: Supports multilingual SEO, including the customization of meta titles, meta descriptions and hreflang tags.
• Flexible language selection: You can add multiple languages and switch between them manually.
• Design integration: Adaptation of language switching for a seamless design in the frontend.

Advantages:

• Full control over all translations.
• SEO-optimized.
• Supports the translation of legal pages, product descriptions, checkout and notifications.

Disadvantages:

• No automatic translation function (all translations must be done manually).
• Time-consuming if many products or pages need to be translated.
• Additional costs per language.

Price: About 17.50 USD per month, plus additional fees for many languages.

Ideal for: Traders who need manual control and precise translations.

2. weglot

Functions:

• Automatic translation: Automates the translation process and can add language versions immediately.
• Manual adjustments: After the automatic translation, you can edit the translations as required.
• SEO support: Generates SEO-friendly URLs and automatically adds Hreflang tags.
• Multichannel translations: Also translates content from apps, pop-ups and widgets.

Advantages:

• Fast setup with immediate translation into many languages.
• Easy to integrate, without in-depth technical knowledge.
• Supports more than 100 languages.
• Automatic SEO optimization for multilingual content.

Disadvantages:

• Automatic translations may contain inaccuracies that need to be corrected manually.
• Limited number of words in the cheaper tariffs.
• Higher monthly costs compared to other solutions.

Price: From around EUR 15 per month for small stores (with a limit of 10,000 words), higher rates for larger stores.

Ideal for: Retailers who need fast, automatic translations and are prepared to bear higher costs for a more comprehensive solution.

3. shopify translate & adapt

Functions:

• Manual translations: You can manually translate various elements such as products, categories and legal pages.
• Automatic suggestions: The app offers basic translation suggestions for content that you can customize manually.
• Multilingual support: You can add and maintain several languages at the same time.
• SEO support: You can customize SEO-relevant content such as meta titles and meta descriptions for each language.

Advantages:

• No additional costs as it is a native Shopify app.
• Provides basic translation functions without additional apps.
• Easy to use and directly integrated into Shopify.
• Supports manual and automatic translation suggestions.

Disadvantages:

• No complete automatic translation (the automatic function is rudimentary).
• Less extensive functions compared to other apps.
• Not ideal for very complex stores with many languages and pages.

Price: Free of charge (native component of Shopify).

Ideal for: Retailers who are looking for a simple, free solution for basic multilingualism and do not require comprehensive translation functions.

Overview of the translation apps

My recommendation:

• Langify is ideal for Shopify merchants looking for full control over translations and an SEO-optimized solution.
• Weglot is suitable for those who prefer a fast, fully automated solution and are prepared to pay higher costs for it.
• Shopify Translate & Adapt is a good choice for merchants who are looking for a simple, free solution directly from Shopify and do not need extremely extensive translation functions.

Conclusion: Configuring Shopify in multiple languages - easier with the right app

The advantages of multiple languages are obvious. A better user experience, higher conversion and more visibility in search engines. I therefore always recommend integrating at least English into Shopify stores and thus offering two languages. At Golden Web Age, we usually use Weglot for this. In addition to the automatic translation, the very good user-friendliness is also impressive, so it is worth implementing integration with the app from a medium-sized store onwards. If you have any questions about a multilingual setup, we will be happy to help you. As a Shopify agency we support customers in all areas of e-commerce.

FAQ about Shopify multilingualism