Website Language Translation

[thunderousity]

I wasn't sure where to put this thread but seeing it is a php based one I've put it here. Feel free to move it somewhere appropriate if need be.

 

I was contemplating translating my site to other languages.

 

I already use Google Translate on my site but that has it's limitations.

 

The main reason for translating the site is so that my pages rank higher in search for the native language.

 

I assume that to get to my website pages currently is by searching in English first and then use the Google translate functionality on my site to change it to a different language.

 

Translating the site has its added overhead that whenever I change a page I have to translate that into other languages. However, my site relies heavily on numbers and statistics and on dynamic PHP/SQL so the wording doesn't alter that much across my pages.

 

Are there any tools, tips or gotchas in achieving this?

Is it worth the effort - I'm thinking about translating to Chinese and Spanish for obvious increases in potential traffic.

[justsomeguy]

You can use something like Zend_Translate in the Zend Framework to help with that. That would let you set up some links or another way for the user to switch languages, and the backend would figure out which language they are using and get the appropriate text from an array or collection of strings in various languages.

 

http://devzone.zend.com/1859/

[thunderousity]

You can use something like Zend_Translate in the Zend Framework to help with that. That would let you set up some links or another way for the user to switch languages, and the backend would figure out which language they are using and get the appropriate text from an array or collection of strings in various languages.

 

http://devzone.zend.com/1859/

 

Wow didn't know this existed.

 

I've had a quick read and watched a few videos. Looks like I'll need to get my head around the Zend Framework but I can see some real potential in Globalising my site.

 

Food for thought.