WPML Multilingual CMS Review – WordPress Translation Plugin

If your website only speaks one language, you’re leaving money on the table. Today’s internet is global. Whether you run an online store, a service-based business, a blog, or a digital product platform—people from around the world are visiting your site. And if they can’t read your content in their native language, there’s a good chance they’ll bounce. That’s where WPML Multilingual CMS Plugin comes in.

WPML is the most widely used multilingual plugin for WordPress. It powers over a million multilingual sites worldwide and gives you complete control over your site’s translations—without having to manage multiple installs, duplicate themes, or complex code.

In this article, we’ll explore what WPML offers, who it’s best suited for, and how it can help you build a fully translated, SEO-optimized, conversion-friendly website with ease.

What Is WPML?

WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin) is a premium plugin that allows you to translate every part of your WordPress site—including posts, pages, custom post types, WooCommerce products, menus, widgets, theme texts, and more.

It seamlessly integrates with:

• The WordPress admin interface

• Popular themes and page builders (Elementor, Divi, Avada, etc.)

• WooCommerce for multilingual stores

• SEO plugins like Yoast and Rank Math

• Translation services and automatic machine translation tools

WPML Multilingual CMS doesn’t just show a translated version of your site—it actually stores and serves separate, fully indexed versions of your content in each language. That means better user experience and more visibility in global search engines.

Who Should Use WPML?

WPML Plugin is perfect for:

• Business websites with an international audience

• eCommerce stores selling to customers in different countries

• Service providers offering content in multiple languages

• Bloggers and publishers targeting diverse readers

• Digital product creators with global customers

• Nonprofits or NGOs with multilingual donor bases

• Agencies building multilingual websites for clients

Whether you need to translate into 2 languages or 20, WPML scales with your project and keeps everything manageable.

Key Features at a Glance

Translate pages, posts, custom fields, taxonomies
Translate WooCommerce products, checkout, emails
Compatible with Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Gutenberg
Translate theme and plugin strings
Automatic translation with DeepL, Google, or Microsoft
Manage translations manually or via external translators
SEO optimization per language (URLs, meta, sitemaps)
RTL language support
Language switchers in menu, widget, footer, or custom placement
Works with WPBakery, ACF, Toolset, WooCommerce, and more
Integration with translation agencies
Full compatibility with WP CLI

Let’s dive into these features in more detail.

1. Full-Site Translation Control

WPML Multilingual CMS gives you the power to translate every layer of your website, including:

• Pages and posts

• Custom post types (e.g. events, testimonials, portfolio items)

• Categories, tags, and taxonomies

• WordPress menus

• Footer and sidebar widgets

• Theme and plugin interface text (via String Translation)

• Page builder content (Elementor, Divi, etc.)

Translations are stored in your database—not dynamically loaded—so they’re fully indexable by search engines.

Whether you’re building a multilingual SaaS website or an international blog, you maintain complete control over each translated version.

2. WooCommerce Multilingual Integration

Running an online store? WPML has a powerful companion plugin called WooCommerce Multilingual.

With it, you can translate:

• Product names and descriptions

• Variations and attributes

• Product images and gallery captions

• Cart, checkout, and account pages

• Emails and notifications

• Tax, shipping, and payment method details

• Coupons and order summaries

You can even sync stock and inventory across languages so you’re not managing products multiple times.

Combined with automatic translation, you can launch a multilingual store in days, not weeks.

3. Automatic and Manual Translation Options

WPML gives you multiple ways to translate content:

Manual Translation

Translate each post or page yourself using the built-in translation editor. Great for full control and accuracy.

Automatic Translation

Use integrated APIs from DeepL, Google Translate, or Microsoft Translator to auto-translate content. You can review and edit the output afterward.

WPML includes a translation credit system. You get a monthly quota of free credits, with options to top up affordably.

Translation Management

Delegate translation tasks to:

• Other WordPress users

• External freelancers

• Professional translation agencies (like Translated, ICanLocalize, etc.)

With built-in workflows, WPML helps you assign, track, and review translations easily.

4. Compatible With Popular Page Builders

Most modern WordPress sites use page builders—and WPML plays nicely with all of them:

• Elementor – Translate all widgets, dynamic content, and popups

• Divi – Translate layouts, modules, global elements

• Beaver Builder – Full module and template translation

• WPBakery – Translate grid, tabs, rows, and visual elements

• Gutenberg (Block Editor) – Fully compatible with blocks and reusable content

You don’t need to recreate designs manually. WPML hooks into the builder’s structure and enables side-by-side or inline translation.

5. String Translation for Theme & Plugin Text

Many plugins and themes include text that doesn’t appear in posts—like:

• “Add to Cart”

• “Search results for”

• “Subscribe to our newsletter”

• Footer credits

• Form button labels

WPML’s String Translation module lets you scan and translate all these elements, including text from:

• Theme files

• Plugin interface

• Widgets and shortcodes

• Customizer options

This means you don’t need to mess with .po files or Loco Translate. Everything is centralized and easy to manage.

6. Multilingual SEO Support

Translating your content is one thing. But ranking in different countries? That’s where WPML’s SEO features stand out.

You can:

• Set unique URLs per language (/en/, /fr/, or subdomains)

• Add separate meta titles and descriptions per language

• Create language-specific sitemaps

• Translate slugs and permalinks

• Integrate with Yoast SEO, All in One SEO, and Rank Math

The result? Your content ranks in the right country, in the right language—without duplication penalties.

7. Flexible Language Switcher Placement

Want to let users switch languages?

WPML gives you full control over how and where the language switcher appears:

• Navigation menus

• Sidebar widgets

• Header/footer bars

• As a floating dropdown

• Inside content with shortcodes

• Custom HTML integration

You can customize flags, labels, dropdown styles, and alignment—or disable flags entirely for a clean, text-only switcher.

8. RTL and Multilingual Formatting

Need to support Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Urdu?

WPML Multilingual CMS supports right-to-left (RTL) languages out of the box. It automatically adjusts:

• Text alignment

• Page layout

• Directional icons

• Menu positioning

It also works flawlessly with multilingual fonts, Unicode characters, and multilingual editors like TinyMCE.

9. Integration With Translation Agencies

If you want professional, human-translated content, WPML connects with certified translation services:

• ICanLocalize (owned by WPML team)

• Gengo

• TextMaster

• Translated.net

• Lionbridge

• OneHourTranslation

You can send pages directly from your WordPress dashboard to a translation team and have them delivered and published automatically.

This is ideal for larger companies or clients with strict translation needs.

Real-World Use Case: A Travel Blog in 4 Languages

One of my clients runs a travel blog with stories, hotel guides, and itineraries. She started in English but quickly noticed traffic coming from Spain, Germany, and Brazil.

We used WPML to:

• Add Spanish, German, and Portuguese as secondary languages

• Translate category names, blog posts, and menus

• Sync custom post types like “Trip Itineraries”

• Translate SEO metadata using Rank Math

• Add a floating language switcher

• Use DeepL for first drafts, then manually reviewed them

After launch, her international traffic increased by 70%—and she received her first collaboration deal with a hotel chain in Barcelona.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• The most powerful multilingual solution for WordPress

• Supports any number of languages

• Translate all content types—posts, products, fields, menus, strings

• Compatible with major themes, plugins, and builders

• SEO-friendly with proper URL and meta structure

• Automatic and manual translation options

• Multi-user translation workflow

• Trusted by over a million WordPress sites

• Excellent documentation and support

Cons:

• No free version (premium plugin only)

• Slight learning curve for beginners

• Translation credits cost extra for high-volume sites

• May conflict with poorly coded themes/plugins

Pricing & Licensing

WPML is a premium-only plugin, with three plans:

Multilingual CMS is the most popular plan because it includes:

• Page builder support

• WooCommerce support

• String translation

• Translation management

• Custom fields and ACF support

All licenses include one year of support and updates, with renewal discounts.

Final Verdict: Is WPML Worth It?

Without a doubt—yes.

WPML Multilingual CMS is the most mature, stable, and feature-rich multilingual plugin for WordPress. It works seamlessly with nearly any theme or builder and gives you full control over content, SEO, translation workflow, and language visibility.

If you’re serious about building a global WordPress site that ranks, converts, and scales, WPML is the tool you can trust.

Where to Get WPML

You can get the WPML Multilingual CMS plugin directly from the official site. Install it, activate your license, and start translating your WordPress site with full confidence.