Guide to Multilingual Shopify Stores

Expanding your Shopify store to support multiple languages can significantly enhance your global reach and cater to a diverse customer base. This guide will walk you through the process of making your Shopify store multilingual, from choosing the right tools to implementing language-specific SEO strategies.

Step 1: Choose the Right Multilingual App

Shopify supports multilingual capabilities through third-party apps like Langify, Weglot, or Shopify’s own Multi Lingo. These apps can translate your store’s content and switch between languages based on user preference.

• Installation: Select a multilingual app from the Shopify App Store and install it.
• Configuration: Follow the app’s instructions to set up languages and initiate content translation.

Step 2: Translate Your Content

Once the app is set up, translate all aspects of your store’s content, including:

• Product descriptions
• Pages
• Navigation menus
• Checkout and policy pages

Step 3: Implement Language Switcher

Allow customers to easily switch between languages with a language switcher. This is typically provided by the multilingual app.

<!-- Example HTML for a language switcher dropdown -->
<select onchange="location = this.value;">
  <option value="?lang=en">English</option>
  <option value="?lang=fr">Français</option>
  <option value="?lang=de">Deutsch</option>
</select>

Step 4: Localize the Customer Experience

Beyond translation, localize content to suit cultural nuances and local market preferences. This includes adapting:

• Currency
• Measurement units
• Cultural references

Step 5: Optimize SEO for Each Language

Implement SEO best practices for each language to ensure your store ranks well in local search engines.

• Use hreflang tags to tell search engines about the language variations of your pages.
• Optimize meta titles and descriptions for each language.

<!-- Shopify Liquid for setting hreflang tags in theme.liquid -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="{{ shop.url | append: '/en' }}" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="{{ shop.url | append: '/fr' }}" />

Step 6: Test and Iterate

Regularly test the user experience for each language. Use analytics to understand where improvements can be made and iterate based on customer feedback.