When running a WooCommerce store, offering multilingual support is key to reaching a broader audience and boosting sales. WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin) offers a seamless way to translate your store into various languages. However, configuring WPML for SEO can significantly impact your store’s visibility. Here are the best WPML settings to optimize your WooCommerce store for search engines:
1. Choose the Right URL Structure
WPML allows you to configure different URL structures for each language. For the best SEO results, use directory options (e.g., /en/ for English), as these help maintain a clean and organized site structure. Navigate to WPML > Languages > Language URL format to adjust these settings.
2. Translate Taxonomies and Attributes
Ensure that your product categories, tags, and attributes are translated. This allows search engines to index content properly in each language. Under WPML > Taxonomy Translation, you can manage translations for these elements, providing a comprehensive experience for international customers.
3. Optimize Product and Category SEO Metadata
Translating your product titles, descriptions, and category names is essential, but don’t overlook SEO metadata. Ensure your translated pages have distinct SEO titles and meta descriptions to rank well in local searches. Utilize plugins like Yoast SEO with WPML to manage multilingual SEO settings effectively.
4. Enable Automatic Redirect Based on Browser Language
Customize user experiences by redirecting visitors to their language preference. Enable language-based redirection under WPML > Languages > Browser Language Redirect. This feature enhances user engagement and reduces bounce rates, indirectly supporting your SEO efforts.
5. Translate Slugs for Product Pages
Avoid leaving slugs in the default language; translated slugs help with understanding and searchability in respective languages. Navigate to WPML > String Translation to adapt slugs into different languages.
6. Use the WPML SEO Plugin
Combine WPML with the WPML SEO plugin for enhanced integration with SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math. This ensures seamless handling of multilingual site maps and other SEO features, maintaining optimal visibility across all translated versions of your site.
Conclusion
By optimizing your WPML settings for SEO, you can effectively expand the global reach of your WooCommerce store while ensuring that all versions of your site are crawled and indexed appropriately by search engines. This not only improves user experience but also maximizes your potential market impact.