While Google Translate offers convenience, its limitations become starkly evident in the realm of website translation. Here are five specific reasons highlighting these shortcomings:
Google tries to translate text visible to users, but without understanding the underlying code or functionality it often falls short. The more complex your website is, the harder it is for Google Translate to reliably detect and translate all your content. For example, dynamic content and complex web applications like pop-up overlays, lead forms, or booking engines are not found by Google Translate and if the content is not detected it won’t get translated. This leaves your website full of partially translated content which causes visitors preferring other languages to feel alienated and unappreciated.
Translating all this content requires more than just a one-time effort; it often necessitates a continuous translation process or a system that can handle real-time translation effectively. Just a few examples of this would be personalized product recommendations, account information, interactive forms, applications, searches, notifications, chatbots, customer support, and currency and time zone information.
Ironically, Google itself does not value Google Translate as an efficient SEO practice. In the digital age, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital for ensuring that websites are easily discoverable by the intended audience. Google Translate’s automated translations do not take into account SEO considerations such as keywords, meta descriptions, or alt texts tailored to the target language and culture. This oversight can significantly impact the visibility of a translated website on search engines, limiting its reach and effectiveness.