Building a multilingual real estate website is about reaching a wider audience and increasing credibility and client trust. By providing property information in multiple languages, you demonstrate your commitment to meeting potential buyers’ multilingual needs.
Furthermore, having a multilingual real estate website can also significantly improve your SEO ranking. Content translated into multiple languages allows search engines like Google to index your site in various languages. That’s why this article will guide you on how to build a free multilingual real estate website easily!
Why go multilingual for a real estate website?
Providing a multilingual real estate website is all about increasing the competitiveness of your business. Here are some benefits of a multilingual website that are essential for your real estate business.
- Expand market reach – With a multilingual website, you can attract international buyers who don’t speak the local language. As a result, you can increase your chances of finding potential buyers from the global market, speed up transactions, and expand your customer base.
- Increase client trust – Providing content in their language makes potential buyers feel valued and more comfortable. As a result, this can speed up buyer decision-making, strengthen customer loyalty, and enhance your business reputation.
- Boost SEO performance – Multilingual content helps your site appear in search results in different countries. This increases visibility on search engines, generates higher organic traffic, and increases the chances of conversion.
- Improved user experience – Appropriate language allows site visitors to understand property information without language barriers. This increases site visit duration, reduces bounce rate, and creates a better user experience, encouraging them to make contact or purchase.
Essential features for a multilingual real estate website
In addition to the benefits provided, you should also know what features should be present on a real estate website. Here are some essential features to ensure that visitors, both local and international, can easily find the property they are looking for and feel comfortable browsing your site.
1. Language switcher
A language selector or switcher is a must-have feature that lets users easily choose their preferred language, typically through a dropdown or flag icons. It ensures that users from different regions can browse the site without language barriers. A user-friendly language switcher enhances accessibility and keeps visitors engaged, leading to lower bounce rates and a better overall user experience.
2. Location-based filtering
Location-based filtering helps users search for properties in specific areas, cities, or even neighborhoods. When paired with multilingual options, this makes it easy for users to find relevant listings in their region of interest. This feature saves users time and improves search accuracy, increasing the chances of a successful inquiry or sale.
3. Multi-currency support
Multi-currency support is crucial for international buyers to view property prices in their native currency. This feature dynamically converts prices based on the user’s location or preference. It simplifies the buying process for global clients, making your site more user-friendly and encouraging international sales.
4. Contact form with localized details
It is key to have a contact form that adapts to the user’s language and region. It should include localized phone numbers, address formats, and an option to choose the preferred language for communication. This personalizes the communication process, making potential buyers feel more comfortable reaching out and improving the chances of a follow-up.
Recommendation free plugins for multilingual real estate
To create a multilingual real estate website for free, leveraging the right plugins is essential. You need two types of plugins, a real estate plugin to manage and display property listings and a translation plugin to ensure your website is available in multiple languages. Here’s how to choose the right plugins for each.
How to choose a good real estate plugin
Here’s a guide on how to choose a good real estate plugin.
- The plugin should offer an intuitive interface, making it easy for you to add and manage properties without technical expertise.
- Look for plugins that allow you to customize property fields, categories, and labels so your listings align with your business needs.
- Ensure the plugin integrates with popular page builders like Elementor, so you can easily design your site without having to write custom code.
- The plugin should support integration with multilingual plugins to ensure your listings are translated properly.
One of the real estate plugins you can use is the Estatik plugin. This highly recommended plugin for WordPress offers a user-friendly interface with extensive customization options. The plugin works seamlessly with Elementor, making it perfect for building visually appealing real estate sites.
Key features:
- Quick Demo Setup
- Customizable fields (text, numbers, attachments, etc).
- Frontend property management
- Sorting by price, date, and popularity
- Customizable search widget and property labels.
To support your site’s multilingualism, you should also find a good translation plugin in addition to real estate plugins.
How to choose a good translation plugin
Here’s a guide on how to choose a translation website plugin.
- Choose plugins that offer automatic translation with the option to revise content later for better quality.
- The plugin should handle SEO in multiple languages, including translated URLs, meta tags, and alt text for images.
- Ensure the plugin offers an easy-to-use language switcher that integrates well with the site’s design.
One of the website translation plugins you can use is the Linguise plugin translation. It is a lightweight auto-translation plugin that connects to a powerful AI translation service, providing high-quality translations.
Key features:
- High-quality automatic translation with AI models
- SEO-optimized translations (including URLs, meta tags)
- Integration with WordPress menu for language switchers
- Multilingual content editing and management
- And many more.
These two plugins—Estatik for managing your real estate listings and Linguise for translating your website—work together seamlessly, providing an excellent solution for building a free, multilingual real estate website.
How to build a free multilingual real estate
Now you know what plugins you can use to create a multilingual real estate website. This time, we will try to make the website with the two plugins above. Here are the steps.
#1 Choose a website builder or CMS
To build a free multilingual real estate website, you can choose a CMS like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal or use a website builder like Wix or Squarespace. However, WordPress is a popular choice because it’s free, flexible, and has many themes and plugins for real estate and multilingualism. WordPress is also highly compatible with hosting that supports the automatic installation.
If you’re using hosting with cPanel, WordPress installation can be done instantly through the Softaculous Apps Installer feature. Simply go to cPanel, select WordPress from Softaculous, fill in the installation details (such as website name and admin), and click “Install.” The process only takes a few minutes, and WordPress will be ready to use.
#2 Customize your real estate theme
Once WordPress is installed, the next step is to choose and customize a real estate theme to showcase your property professionally. You can find various real estate themes for free on WordPress and paid ones on platforms like ThemeForest.
Import the theme you’ve purchased and customize it in Appearance > Themes on the WordPress dashboard. After selecting and activating the theme, use the Customize feature to adjust elements such as colors, fonts, and layout. You can also add widgets or plugins to enhance functionality, such as a mortgage calculator or direct contact feature.
#3 Install Estatik plugin
After that, we will try to install the Estatik plugin on your WordPress. To install the plugin, select the Plugin menu > Add New Plugins > search for the Estatik plugin, as follows. Then choose Install Now > Activate.
If the plugin is already installed, open the menu on the left sidebar and select Adjust Plugin to Your Needs.
After that, the plugin will auto-select for Single Owner, as this is the free version. Then select where your current country is.
Next, if you have a Google Maps API key, fill in the following column. Otherwise, you can continue to the next step.
After that, below are some recommended pages that you can add to the website. Click Continue.
In the next step, you can add a demo listing property by selecting Yes on the following display. If you have chosen the Finish Step, this product listing demo will make it easier for you to publish your real estate property.
At this point, you have successfully activated the Estatik plugin for your real estate website.
#4 Listing your property
Once successfully installed, you can visit the My Listings menu, and the default demo listing from Estatik will appear. You can edit, duplicate, or delete each of the following property listings.
If you want to add a new listing, click Add new property or directly Duplicate on one of the demo listings. In addition, you can also edit the listing quickly by selecting the Quick Edit menu on the three-dot icon.
Next, we will try to preview the previous property listing. Here is what it looks like.
#5 Activate the Linguise translation plugin
After successfully setting up the Estatik and real estate listing plugins, it’s time to set up the website translation plugin. Here, we will use the Linguise automatic translation plugin, which is integrated with various web builders and CMS, including WordPress.
Right away, you can use a free trial for one month with a limit of up to 600,000 words per month by creating a Linguise account first and adding the website URL and language. Then, you will get access to the dashboard and API key that you need to paste into WP.
If so, go to your WordPress dashboard and install the Linguise Plugin.
If it is installed, open the Linguise menu, then on the API Key menu, paste the API obtained from the Linguise dashboard, and click Apply.
Once the plugin is active, you can also reset the number of languages added to the language switcher.
In addition, the language switcher will also be automatically created by default, but you can still set it up through WordPress or the Linguise dashboard. As above, you can preview it in the Language List Preview section.
Here’s a look at the real estate website along with the Linguise language switcher that was successfully created.
#6 Automatically translate real estate website
Now let’s try auto-translating to another language, such as the following.
Tips for localizing multilingual real estate website
When it comes to creating a multilingual real estate website, localization plays a crucial role in making your site relevant and accessible to a diverse audience. Below are some tips for localizing your real estate website effectively, ensuring that users from various regions can easily find and interact with your listings.
Optimize URL structure for every location and language
Optimizing the URL structure for different languages and locations is crucial for both enhancing user experience and improving SEO performance. A well-structured URL helps search engines easily identify the language and region a page is targeting, and it also makes navigation clearer for your users, ensuring they find relevant content quickly.
For example:
- URL for targeting USA audience: https://yourwebsite.com/property/minimalist-apartment-in-miami
- URL for targeting German audience: https://yourwebsite.com/immobilien/minimalistische-wohnung-in-miami
By incorporating location and language-specific elements into the URL, you ensure that users in different regions can easily find the page in their preferred language while also improving the page’s relevance in local search results. This not only benefits user experience but also boosts SEO by ensuring that the correct version of your page appears in the right regional search queries.
Use Google My Business for local properties
Google My Business (GMB) is an essential tool for improving the visibility of your real estate website in local SEO and search results. By setting up a Google My Business profile, you can ensure that your properties show up on Google Maps and in local search results, making it easier for potential buyers or renters to find you. This is particularly important for local real estate businesses that want to attract customers from specific regions.
When creating a listing for your real estate business, be sure to include accurate location information, business hours, and direct contact details. Additionally, you can add photos and details about the properties you offer to increase engagement. As users increasingly turn to Google for local searches, this helps your listings stand out, driving more organic traffic to your website. For example, if you have properties villas in Bali, Indonesia, showing up in local search results for “rent villa Bali” or “Villa in Bali”. Here is one example of GMB when I searched rent villa in Bali.
Optimize local keywords
Optimizing local keywords is one of the most effective ways to ensure your site ranks well for searches in specific regions. This means going beyond generic keywords like “real estate” and incorporating local terms such as city names, neighborhoods, and popular landmarks.
For example, instead of just targeting “3 bedroom villa in Bali,” try using “3 bedroom villa in Bali, Seminyak.” Bali itself has various regions, so you can add the Seminyak location to target customers who are looking for villas in Bali, especially the Seminyak area.
When optimizing for local keywords, make sure to use them naturally within your content, headings, meta descriptions, and image alt tags. Don’t forget about long-tail keywords, which are more specific and can capture more niche searches. By optimizing for these keywords, you increase the chances of reaching buyers who are specifically looking for properties in your area, thus improving your SEO optimization and driving more localized traffic.
Create local blog content that supports SEO
Creating local blog content is an essential strategy for improving SEO and engaging with a targeted audience. By writing blog posts that are relevant to specific locations, you provide valuable content that both users and search engines can find useful. It’s important to incorporate local keywords and topics that resonate with people in those regions, which can drive organic traffic and improve your site’s visibility in local search results.
For example, here are a few blog title ideas:
- “10 Best Neighborhoods to Buy a Home in Sydney”
- “Top Real Estate Investment Opportunities in Berlin”
- “What to Know Before Buying a Property in Miami”
- “The Ultimate Guide to Moving to London’s Best Areas”
Here is one example of content localization that provides about where you can find villas with stunning views. Not only does it provide that information, but the article eventually aims to recommend some villas from that real estate.
These types of localized blog posts not only provide helpful information to potential buyers in specific regions but also optimize your site’s SEO by focusing on local search terms. Creating localized content boosts your site’s authority in a given area, making it more likely to rank higher in search results for those specific regions.
Ensure server and CDN support fast local access
The speed at which your website loads is a critical factor in user experience and SEO rankings. To ensure that users from different regions can access your multilingual real estate website quickly, it’s essential to have server and Content Delivery Network (CDN) support. A CDN stores copies of your website across multiple locations worldwide, ensuring that content is delivered from the server closest to the user and minimizing load times. For example, if you have clients in Europe and Asia, a CDN ensures that your site loads just as fast for them as it does for users in the United States.
A faster website leads to a better user experience, which directly impacts your bounce rate and conversion rate. Google also takes page speed into account for SEO rankings, so having a fast-loading site can improve your position in search results. For real estate websites, where listings are often image-heavy, using a CDN can significantly reduce the time it takes for images and property details to load, keeping potential clients engaged. This can ultimately increase the chances of users reaching out for more information or scheduling property viewings.
Conclusion
Building a multilingual real estate website is a strategy to reach a global audience and improve your business’s real estate and SEO performance. By offering property information in multiple languages, you not only cater to international buyers but also increase website traffic and chances of ranking in different regional search results. Optimizing your site’s content for various languages and locations enhances the user experience, making it easier for potential clients to navigate and find relevant listings in their preferred language.
To ensure a seamless multilingual experience, you can use Linguise, a powerful translation plugin that optimizes SEO and user engagement. With its AI-powered translation and multilingual content management, creating a Linguise account helps you effortlessly create a fully localized real estate website, boosting your SEO and broadening your market reach.
