In my post, I show you how to add Google translate to your WordPress website, step by step. Google translate is free to use. It is easy to install and configure. You can add it to your WordPress blog in minutes.
To add Google translate to WordPress. Install the Google language translator plugin. Then, configure languages. Finally, display Google language translator on your website.
Let us do that step by step.
Step One – Install The Google Translate Plugin
First, install the Google translate plugin from the WordPress plugin library.
Go to ‘Plugins’ on your WordPress admin menu, and select ‘Add New’ from the popup.

Next, type ‘Google language translator’ into the search bar.

Find ‘Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator’ and select ‘Install Now.’

Then, select ‘Activate’.

Once activated, a Google language translator option appears under ‘Settings’ on your WordPress admin menu.

Step Two – Configure Google Translate
Go to ‘Settings’ on your admin menu, and select ‘Google language translator’ from the popup.

The first section is ‘Main settings.’ Tick the box to activate the plugin.

Next, select the original language of your blog content. Then, choose the languages you want to be activated.

On the top, there is a preview.

Small flags represent the activated languages. Drag and drop the flags to change their position.
Under ‘Preview,’ there is ‘Flag settings.’ You can select the size of the flags and the country you want to represent ‘English,’ ‘Spanish,’ and ‘Portuguese’ languages.

Below ‘Main settings’ is ‘Language Switcher Settings’. You can adjust the translator widget.

The Google language translator tool has a floating widget option. A preview of the floating widget is at the bottom of your screen. You can make changes.
If you don’t want to have a floating widget, untick the ‘Check to allow’ box.

Once you have completed the set-up, click on ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom of the page.

The next step, display Google translate on your WordPress website.
Step Three – Add Google Translate To WordPress
How To Add Google Translate To Your Sidebar
Go ‘Appearance’ on your WordPress admin menu, and select ‘Widgets’ from the popup.

On the next page, on the right, is the WordPress sidebar. On the left are widgets you can use in the sidebar.
Search for ‘Google language translator’ and drag it to the sidebar.

Once in the sidebar, give the widget a title.

Finally, select ‘Save’ to add Google translate to your website.

Now the widget is live on your site.

How To Add Google Translate To WordPress Blog Posts
Go to ‘Settings’ on your WordPress admin menu, and select ‘Google language translator’.

Scroll down the page until you locate ‘Usage.’ Copy the text to the right of ‘For usage in pages/posts/sidebar:’.

Next, go to your blog post and paste the copied code where you want Google translate to appear.

Finally, update or publish your post.

Google translate is live on your blog post. If you enabled the floating widget, that appears in the bottom-left.

How To Add Google Translate To A WordPress Menu
Select ‘Google language translator’ from the WordPress menu.

Next, scroll down to ‘Usage’ and click on the ‘How to place a single language in your WordPress menu’ link.

Copy the HTML code.

Next, go to ‘Appearance’ on your WordPress admin, and select ‘Menus’ from the popup.

From ‘Add menu items,’ select ‘Custom links.’

In the URL box, type the hash (#) symbol. Then, click on ‘Add to menu.’

In the description box, paste the code from the Google language translator.

If you don’t see a description box, go to the top of your screen and select ‘Screen options’. Tick the ‘Description’ box.

Now, you have text in the description box. You can edit this code, ‘Spanish’ tells Google what language to use. ‘Español’ is the label your visitors see on your menu. If you want to change the language, replace ‘Spanish’ and change the menu label.
For example, to translate your text to German, change ‘Spanish’ to ‘German’ and change ‘Español’ to ‘Deutsche.’
Once you have made your changes, select ‘Save Menu.’

There is an option in your menu to translate your blog content.

Once translated, there is an option to return to the original language.

How To Add Google Translate To WordPress Video Tutorial
Conclusion
Google language translator is an excellent free tool. The translations are not perfect, but they help visitors understand your blog content.
Configuration is easy and takes just a few minutes.
On your website, have the Google language translator on the sidebar, within blog post content, or on your menu.
If your plan is to make your site multi-lingual, I recommend you hire a translator. Google translate does an excellent job, but there are errors.
For more WordPress tutorials, check out my WordPress category. Or visit my YouTube channel, don’t forget to say hello in the comments.
Before you return to your blog to add Google translate, would you kindly spare one minute to leave a comment? I appreciate all feedback.