SEO
4 Technical SEO Tips For Multilingual Websites
Multilingual websites extend content in multiple languages, empowering audiences to access information in their preferred language.
On the other hand, they help businesses maximize their reach and engagement with global audiences.
But that’s not all!
By implementing the best technical SEO practices, businesses can unlock a treasure trove of greater benefits.
For instance, strategic optimization of several technical elements can help businesses effectively capture language-specific queries and improve their visibility and rankings in search engine result pages (SERPs).
This can boost website traffic, accelerating the chances of high conversions and revenue.
However, several challenges might impact multilingual website performance.
In this post, we will share four technical SEO tips to optimize multilingual websites for the best outcomes.
Let’s begin by looking at the key issues with multilingual websites.
Lack Of A Solid URL Structure
URLs allow the target audience to navigate different language versions of the multilingual website, enhancing user experience.
Besides this, they inform search engines about the page’s content to ensure proper indexing and language targeting.
A lack of well-structured URLs can negatively impact user experience and lead to incorrect indexing.
Poor Content Translation And Optimization
Translating the content into multiple languages while maintaining its context and SEO parameters intact is challenging for multilingual websites.
For instance, translating Spanish content into English while incorporating relevant keywords in the respective language can be tricky. Additionally, literal translations can change the meaning of the original content, weakening the content and SEO strategy.
Duplicate Content Issues
The search engines can interpret multiple URLs with the same content as separate pages.
This can lead to duplicate content issues (+ penalty!)
Automatic Redirects
Automatic redirects from one language to another version based on the user’s browser can prevent them (and search engines) from viewing various versions of your website.
Technical SEO Tips For Multilingual Websites
Now that you know the key challenges, let’s explore the four technical SEO tips to combat them and improve your multilingual website’s performance.
1. Focus On The URL Structure
Creating dedicated URLs for each language and country version sends signals to help search engines like Google index the website accurately. This practice increases the chances of your website pages appearing in search results in multiple languages.
The result? Improved rankings in SERPs!
So, specify the regions you want to target with languages to cater to the target audience.
Here are a few crucial approaches to consider while determining the URL structure.
Separate Domains Or ccTLDs (Country Code Top-Level Domains)
This approach involves using separate domain names or ccTLDs specific to each language or country version of a multilingual website.
ccTLDs are two-letter domains assigned to individual countries.
Here are a few examples:
- mybusinessname.es
- mybusinessname.fr
- mybusinessname.com
Here, the domain “.es,” “.fr,” and “.com” reflect the Spanish, French, and English versions of the website, respectively.
This approach makes it easy for search engines and users to identify the content is intended for specific countries. This way, separate domains can help you with clear regional targeting.
However, buying and managing multiple domains can be an expensive venture. In addition, building backlinks and authority for each can consume resources, time, and effort.
Subdirectories With gTLD (Generic top-Level Domain)
This approach involves using subdirectories reflecting different country or language versions of a multilingual website within a single domain (same gTLD).
Here are a few examples:
- mybusinessname.com/es
- mybusinessname.com/fr
- mybusinessname.com/en
Here, “.com” reflects the gTLD domain extension while “/es,” “/fr,” and “/en” depict respective subdirectories for Spanish, French, and English versions of the multilingual site.
This practice allows you to centralize hosting and SEO efforts under a single domain.
However, the users might get confused about whether the subdomains represent country or language for several cases (fr – country or language).
Subdomains With gTLD
This approach involves using subdomains to highlight different countries or language versions of a multilingual website while maintaining the same gTLD for the main domain.
See the examples below:
- es.mybusinessname.com
- fr.mybusinessname.com
- en.mybusinessname.com
Here, “.com” reflects the gTLD domain extension while “es,” “fr,” and “en” before the domain name represent respective subdomains for Spanish, French, and English versions of the multilingual site.
Implementing and managing this approach can require rigorous efforts and time. Again, the structure might confuse the users.
However, localized hosting is cost-effective and can help improve the website page’s speed.
URL Parameters
This approach involves using a URL parameter to the URL to specify the country or language version.
Here are a few examples:
- mybusinessname.com/page?lang=fr
- mybusinessname.com/page?lang=es
- mybusinessname.com/page?lang=en
The URL parameters “?lang=fr,” “?lang=es,” and “?lang=en” depict French, Spanish, and English versions.
Google doesn’t recommend this approach because URLs with parameters can confuse the search engines, negatively impacting the indexing.
2. Translate And Optimize The Pages
Accurate page translation and optimization can help you reach the target audience and communicate the brand message effectively.
So, begin with content translation.
If you rely on tools like Google Translate, proofread the content closely for accuracy.
While Google has incorporated new AI-powered features to provide accurate translations based on context and intent, do not take any risk.
Even minor errors and inaccuracies can alter the intended meaning of the content, thus hurting the user experience.
When proofreading, pay special attention to elements like:
- Time and date format.
- Units of measurement (length, volume, weight, etc.).
- Cultural references (idioms, metaphors, etc.).
- Currency (monetary format, currency symbol, conversion value, etc.).
The key thing to remember here is that everything on your web page should resonate with the target audience’s language, including the writing style and visual elements.
So, avoid using phrases and visuals that are culturally inappropriate.
Here’s how you can optimize the content:
Use Multilingual Keywords
Don’t forget to translate the keywords!
However, rather than sticking to exact translations, use popular search terms in respective languages that can appeal more to native speakers. Finding effective multilingual keywords for the target markets that align with your content can amp up the SEO efforts.
Optimize The Vital SEO Elements
Translate the below-shared non-visible content elements to ensure your international SEO efforts are successful.
Not doing so can send false information to search engine bots indexing your website.
- Meta descriptions: Create compelling meta descriptions by including relevant keywords in languages as per the target audience. Although they don’t contribute to rankings directly, they can positively impact the click-through rate of the pages.
- Title tags: Add title tags that convey the page’s information for each language. Include a multilingual keyword to ensure search engines understand the context and provide rankings. However, refrain from using clickbait.
- Image alt texts: Write accurate and helpful alt texts describing the images for each language. Besides improving the page’s accessibility, they improve the chances of images appearing in Google search results in multiple languages. Note: The length of the meta descriptions, title tags, and image alt text will vary according to the search engines. For instance, writing meta descriptions of 150-160 characters is a good practice to achieve rankings in Google SERPs. However, for the Chinese search engine Baidu, you should maintain meta descriptions of around 120 Chinese characters.
- Internal links: Add internal content links to relevant and helpful pages in the same language. For instance, link a French page to other relevant French pages on the website. This practice will help simplify user navigation while helping search engines discover relationships between pages.
3. Use Hreflang Tags
Hreflang is an HTML attribute that signals search engines of content variations.
See what a hreflang tag looks like:
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-us” href=”http://myexample.com” />
Here:
- <link rel=”alternate”> reflects the alternate version of the webpage.
- hreflang=”en-us” highlights the language (English) and region (United States) of the alternate version. The attribute “en-us” indicates the page targets English speakers in the US region.
- href=”http://myexample.com” represents the URL of the alternate version.
Since they represent unique language variations, appropriate hreflang implementation can prevent duplicate content issues and penalties.
The key points to remember while implementing hreflang tags:
- Place them either in the <head> section of the HTML page, HTTP headers (PDFs and other non-HTML files), or within the <loc> tags of an XML sitemap.
- Consider including a language and, optionally, a region code. The language code should be in ISO 639-1 format, and the region code should be in ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format.
- Add them to all the pages with language variations, including the main version (self-referential). This indicates to Google that there’s a link between the pages, or the search engine might misinterpret the hreflang annotations.
- Include a default page using the “x-default” hreflang tag. It helps users select a suitable language when they can’t find an appropriate version.
Check out this beginner’s guide for hreflang implementation for complete details.
Note: Hreflang tags tell search engines like Google and Yandex about the content variation, but they are not directives. Besides, search engines like Bing and Baidu do not count on hreflang tags. Instead, they leverage “content-language” meta tags to gauge content variation.
4. Provide A Language Selector
Good practice for multilingual websites is to provide a country language selector.
A language selector refers to a user interface (UI) component that empowers users to select a language they prefer while exploring a multilingual website.
They help address different language speakers from the same country, distinguish between languages, and communicate effectively with customers.
This can help uphold your SEO efforts by offering better usability and website crawling.
Plugins can provide language selectors. However, there may be better choices than showcasing national flags according to the target audiences.
For instance, if a US-based website aims to attract Spanish-speaking Canadians and Italian-speaking Americans, there may be better options than using Spanish and Italian flags.
The reason?
- Flags specify countries, not languages.
- Multiple countries can speak the same language.
- A country can have several official languages.
- Visitors can get confused seeing multiple flags and make the wrong decision.
What should you do?
You can refer to a language in its native way of representation.
For example, use “日本語” rather than “Japanese” and “Deutsch” rather than “German.”
Additionally, you can use ISO 639, an international standard.
It consists of a set of two-letter codes to classify languages. For instance, English is represented by the code EN, French by FR, and more.
Leverage any suitable method to enable users to select their preferred language.
Final Thoughts
Following the aforementioned technical SEO tactics for multilingual websites will help you overcome the key challenges, ensuring that each page on your website is well-structured and optimized.
Besides providing a good user experience, these tips will make it easier for search engines to find and index your web pages in all languages.
Moreover, beyond the technicalities, focus on the language-specific search engine behavior and the SEO best practices of the target countries.
On the content SEO front, understand the local culture, language, and how users interact with the search engine.
Content that resonates with the audience in terms of language and relevance drives value for the target audience.
More resources:
Featured Image: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock
SEO
Google’s John Mueller On Website Recovery After Core Updates
John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, provided guidance this week regarding the path forward for websites impacted by recent search algorithm updates.
The discussion started on X (formerly Twitter) by SEO professional Thomas Jepsen.
Jepsen tagged Mueller, asking:
“Google has previously said Google doesn’t hold a grudge and sites will recover once issues have been solved. Is that still the case after HCU?”
Mueller’s response offered hope to site owners while being realistic about the challenges ahead.
Addressing Recovery Timelines
Mueller affirmed Google’s stance on not holding grudges, stating, “That’s still the case.”
However, he acknowledged the complexity of rankings, saying:
“…some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle.”
That’s still the case. That said, some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle. https://t.co/WDy7Q4dpzb has some more.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024
Mueller pointed to a Google help document explaining the nuances. The document reads:
“Broad core updates tend to happen every few months. Content that was impacted in Search or Discover by one might not recover—assuming improvements have been made—until the next broad core update is released.
Do keep in mind that improvements made by site owners aren’t a guarantee of recovery, nor do pages have any static or guaranteed position in our search results. If there’s more deserving content, that will continue to rank well with our systems.”
The Comments Sparking Debate
Jepsen probed further, asking, “Is a core update what’s needed for HCU-affected sites to recover (assuming they’ve fixed their issues)?”
Mueller’s response highlighted how situations can differ:
“It depends on the situation… I realize there’s a big space between the situations, but generalizing doesn’t help. Sometimes it takes a lot of work on the site, a long time, and an update.”
It depends on the situation. https://t.co/F9s3Hli9t7 and https://t.co/pLdm29PjPD has some on that. I realize there’s a big space between the situations, but generalizing doesn’t help. Sometimes it takes a lot of work on the site, a long time, and an update.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024
The thread grew as user @selectgame raised concerns about Google Discover traffic, to which Mueller replied:
“Google Discover is affected by core updates as well as other parts of Search (and there are more policies that apply to Discover).”
Google Discover is affected by core updates as well as other parts of Search (and there are more policies that apply to Discover). If you’re seeing these changes when a core update rolled out, that might be what you’re seeing.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024
Growing Frustrations
Prominent industry figure Lily Ray voiced mounting frustrations, stating,
“…many HCU-affected websites – which have been making all kinds of improvements over the last 7 months – have only seen further declines with the March Core Update.
I have seen some sites lose 90% or more of their SEO visibility since the HCU, with the last few weeks being the nail in the coffin, despite making significant improvements.”
Ray continued:
“And in my professional opinion, many of these sites did not deserve anywhere near that level of impact, especially the further declines over the past month.”
Mueller hasn’t responded to Ray’s tweet at this time.
John, any chance you can comment on the fact that many HCU-affected websites – which have been making all kinds of improvements over the last 7 months – have only seen further declines with the March Core Update?
I have seen some sites lose 90% or more of their SEO visibility… https://t.co/lvYRAScRQQ
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) April 29, 2024
Looking Ahead
As the search community awaits Google’s next moves, the path to recovery appears arduous for many impacted by recent algorithm reassessments of “Helpful Content.”
Site improvements don’t guarantee immediate recovery, so publishers face an uphill battle guided only by Google’s ambiguous public advice.
Why SEJ Cares
The March 2024 core update has proven disastrous for many websites, with severe traffic losses persisting even after sites try to improve low-quality content, address technical issues, and realign with Google’s guidelines.
Having clear, actionable guidance from Google on recovering from core update updates is invaluable.
As evidenced by the frustrations expressed, the current communications leave much to be desired regarding transparency and defining a straightforward recovery path.
How This Can Help You
While Mueller’s comments provide some insights, the key takeaways are:
- Regaining previous rankings after an algorithm hit is possible if sufficient content/site quality improvements are made.
- Recovery timelines can vary significantly and may require a future core algorithm update.
- Even with enhancements, recovery isn’t guaranteed as rankings depend on the overall pool of competing content.
The path is undoubtedly challenging, but Mueller’s comments underscore that perseverance with substantial site improvements can eventually pay off.
FAQ
Can SEO professionals predict recovery time for a website hit by core updates?
SEO professionals can’t pinpoint when a site will recover after a core Google algorithm update.
Reasons for this include:
- Google releases core updates every few months, so sites may need to wait for the next one.
- It can take months for Google to reassess and adjust rankings.
- How competitive the query is also impacts if and when a site recovers.
Does making site improvements after a core update ensure recovery in rankings and visibility?
After making improvements following a Google algorithm update, regaining your previous rankings isn’t guaranteed.
Reasons why include:
- Your impacted content may not recover until the next core update, provided you’ve implemented enough site improvements.
- Google’s search results are dynamic, and rankings can fluctuate based on the quality of competitor content.
- There’s no fixed or guaranteed position in Google’s search results.
What is the relationship between Google Discover traffic and core search updates?
Google’s core algorithm updates that impact regular search results also affect Google Discover.
However, Google Discover has additional specific policies that determine what content appears there.
This means:
- Improving your content and website quality can boost your visibility on Google Discover, just like regular searches.
- You may see changes in your Discover traffic when Google rolls out core updates.
- Your SEO and content strategy should account for potential impacts on regular searches and Google Discover.
Featured Image: eamesBot/Shutterstock
SEO
5 Things To Consider Before A Site Migration
One of the scariest SEO tasks is a site migration because the stakes are so high and the pitfalls at every step . Here are five tips that will help keep a site migration on track to a successful outcome.
Site Migrations Are Not One Thing
Site Migrations are not one thing, they are actually different scenarios and the only thing they have in common is that there is always something that can go wrong.
Here are examples of some of the different kinds of site migrations:
- Migration to a new template
- Migrating to a new web host
- Merging two different websites
- Migrating to a new domain name
- Migrating to a new site architecture
- Migrating to a new content management system (CMS)
- Migrating to a new WordPress site builder
There are many ways a site can change and more ways for those changes to result in a negative outcome.
The following is not a site migration checklist. It’s five suggestions for things to consider.
1. Prepare For Migration: Download Everything
Rule number one is to prepare for the site migration. One of my big concerns is that the old version of the website is properly documented.
These are some of the ways to document a website:
- Download the database and save it in at least two places. I like to have a backup of the backup stored on a second device.
- Download all the website files. Again, I prefer to save a backup of the backup stored on a second device.
- Crawl the site, save the crawl and export it as a CSV or an XML site map. I prefer to have redundant backups just in case something goes wrong.
An important thing to remember about downloading files by FTP is that there are two formats for downloading files: ASCII and Binary.
- Use ASCII for downloading files that contain code, like CSS, JS, PHP and HTML.
- Use Binary for media like images, videos and zip files.
Fortunately, most modern FTP software have an automatic setting that should be able to distinguish between the two kinds of files. A sad thing that can happen is to download image files using the ASCII format which results in corrupted images.
So always check that your files are all properly downloaded and not in a corrupted state. Always consider downloading a copy for yourself if you have hired a third party to handle the migration or a client is doing it and they’re downloading files. That way if they fail with their download you’ll have an uncorrupted copy backed up.
The most important rule about backups: You can never have too many backups!
2. Crawl The Website
Do a complete crawl of the website. Create a backup of the crawl. Then create a backup of the backup and store it on a separate hard drive.
After the site migration, this crawl data can be used to generate a new list for crawling the old URLs to identify any URLs that are missing (404), are failing to redirect, or are redirecting to the wrong webpage. Screaming Frog also has a list mode that can crawl a list of URLs saved in different formats, including as an XML sitemap, and directly input into a text field. This is a way to crawl a specific batch of URLs as opposed to crawling a site from link to to link.
3. Tips For Migrating To A New Template
Website redesigns can be can be a major source of anguish when they go wrong. On paper, migrating a site to a new template should be a one-to-one change with minimal issues. In practice that’s not always the case. For one, no template can be used off the shelf, it has to be modified to conform to what’s needed, which can mean removing and/or altering the code.
Search marketing expert Nigel Mordaunt (LinkedIn), who recently sold his search marketing agency, has experience migrating over a hundred sites and has important considerations for migrating to a new WordPress template.
This is Nigel’s advice:
“Check that all images have the same URL, alt text and image titles, especially if you’re using new images.
Templates sometimes have hard-coded heading elements, especially in the footer and sidebars. Those should be styled with CSS, not with H tags. I had this problem with a template once where the ranks had moved unexpectedly, then found that the Contact Us and other navigation links were all marked up to H2. I think that was more of a problem a few years ago. But still, some themes have H tags hard coded in places that aren’t ideal.
Make sure that all URLs are the exact same, a common mistake. Also, if planning to change content then check that the staging environment has been noindexed then after the site goes live make sure that the newly uploaded live site no longer contains the noindex robots meta tag.
If changing content then be prepared the site to perhaps be re-evaluated by Google. Depending on the size of the site, even if the changes are positive it may take several weeks to be rewarded, and in some cases several months. The client needs to be informed of this before the migration.
Also, check that analytics and tracking codes have been inserted into the new site, review all image sizes to make sure there are no new images that are huge and haven’t been scaled down. You can easily check the image sizes and heading tags with a post-migration Screaming Frog crawl. I can’t imagine doing any kind of site migration without Screaming Frog.”
4. Advice For Migrating To A New Web Host
Mark Barrera (LinkedIn), VP SEO, Newfold Digital (parent company of Bluehost), had this to say about crawling before a site migration in preparation for a migration to a new web host:
“Thoroughly crawl your existing site to identify any indexing or technical SEO issues prior to the move.
Maintain URL Structure (If Possible): Changing URL structures can confuse search engines and damage your link equity. If possible, keep your URLs the same.
301 Redirects: 301 Redirects are your friend. Search engines need to be informed that your old content now lives at a new address. Implementing 301 redirects from any old URLs to their new counterparts preserves link equity and avoids 404 errors for both users and search engine crawlers.
Performance Optimization: Ensure your new host provides a fast and reliable experience. Site speed is important for user experience.
Be sure to do a final walkthrough of your new site before doing your actual cutover. Visually double-check your homepage, any landing pages, and your most popular search hits. Review any checkout/cart flows, comment/review chains, images, and any outbound links to your other sites or your partners.
SSL Certificate: A critical but sometimes neglected aspect of hosting migrations is the SSL certificate setup. Ensuring that your new host supports and correctly implements your existing SSL certificate—or provides a new one without causing errors is vital. SSL/TLS not only secures your site but also impacts SEO. Any misconfiguration during migration can lead to warnings in browsers, which deter visitors and can temporarily impact rankings.
Post migration, it’s crucial to benchmark server response times not just from one location, but regionally or globally, especially if your audience is international. Sometimes, a new hosting platform might show great performance in one area but lag in other parts of the world. Such discrepancies can affect page load times, influencing bounce rates and search rankings. “
5. Accept Limitations
Ethan Lazuk, SEO Strategist & Consultant, Ethan Lazuk Consulting, LLC, (LinkedIn, Twitter) offers an interesting perspective on site migrations on the point about anticipating client limitations imposed upon what you are able to do. It can be frustrating when a client pushes back on advice and it’s important to listen to their reasons for doing it.
I have consulted over Zoom with companies whose SEO departments had concerns about what an external SEO wanted to do. Seeking a third party confirmation about a site migration plan is a reasonable thing to do. So if the internal SEO department has concerns about the plan, it’s not a bad idea to have a trustworthy third party take a look at it.
Ethan shared his experience:
“The most memorable and challenging site migrations I’ve been a part of involved business decisions that I had no control over.
As SEOs, we can create a smart migration plan. We can follow pre- and post-launch checklists, but sometimes, there are legal restrictions or other business realities behind the scenes that we have to work around.
Not having access to a DNS, being restricted from using a brand’s name or certain content, having to use an intermediate domain, and having to work days, weeks, or months afterward to resolve any issues once the internal business situations have changed are just a few of the tricky migration issues I’ve encountered.
The best way to handle these situations require working around client restrictions is to button up the SEO tasks you can control, set honest expectations for how the business issues could impact performance after the migration, and stay vigilant with monitoring post-launch data and using it to advocate for resources you need to finish the job.”
Different Ways To Migrate A Website
Site migrations are a pain and should be approached with caution. I’ve done many different kinds of migrations for myself and have assisted them with clients. I’m currently moving thousands of webpages from a folder to the root and it’s complicated by multiple redirects that have to be reconfigured, not looking forward to it. But migrations are sometimes unavoidable so it’s best to step up to it after careful consideration.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Krakenimages.com
SEO
Studio By WordPress & Other Free Tools
WordPress announced the rollout of Studio by WordPress, a new local development tool that makes it easy for publishers to not just develop and update websites locally on their desktop or laptop but is also useful for learning how to use WordPress. Learn about Studio and other platforms that are make it easy to develop websites with WordPress right on your desktop.
Local Development Environments
Local Environments are like web hosting spaces on the desktop that can be used to set up a WordPress site. They’re a fantastic way to try out new WordPress themes and plugins to learn how they work without messing up a live website or publishing something to the web that might get accidentally indexed by Google. They are also useful for testing if an updated plugin causes a conflict with other plugins on a website, which is useful for testing updated plugins offline before committing to updating the plugins on a live website.
Studio joins a list of popular local development environments that are specific for WordPress and more advanced platforms that are that can be used for WordPress on the desktop but have greater flexibility and options but may be harder to use for non-developers.
Desktop WordPress Development Environments
There are currently a few local environments that are specific to WordPress. The advantages of using a dedicated WordPress environment is that they make it easy to start creating with WordPress for those who only need to work with WordPress sites and nothing more complicated than that.
Studio By WordPress.com
Studio is an open source project that allows developers and publishers to set up a WordPress site on their desktop in order to design, test or learn how to use WordPress.
According to the WordPress announcement:
“Say goodbye to manual tool configuration, slow site setup, and clunky local development workflows, and say hello to Studio by WordPress.com, our new, free, open source local WordPress development environment.
Once you have a local site running, you can access WP Admin, the Site Editor, global styles, and patterns, all with just one click—and without needing to remember and enter a username or password.”
The goal of Studio is to be a simple and fast way to create WordPress sites on the desktop. It’s currently available for use on a Mac and a Windows version is coming soon.
Download the Mac version here.
Other Popular WordPress Local Development Environments
DevKinsta
DevKinsta, developed by Kinsta managed web host, is another development environment that’s specifically dedicated for quickly designing and testing WordPress sites on the desktop. It’s a popular choice that many developers endorse.
That makes it a great tool for publishers, SEOs and developers who just want a tool to do one thing, create WordPress sites. This makes DevKinsta a solid consideration for anyone who is serious about developing WordPress sites or just wants to learn how to use WordPress, especially the latest Gutenberg Blocks environment.
Download DevKinsta for free here.
Local WP
Local WP is a popular desktop development environment specifically made for WordPress users by WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting provider.
Useful Features of Local WP
Local WP has multiple features that make it useful beyond simply developing and testing WordPress websites.
- Image Optimizer
It features a free image optimizer add-on that optimizes images on your desktop which should be popular for those who are unable to optimize images on their own. - Upload Backups
Another handy feature is the ability to upload backups to Dropbox and Google Drive. - Link Checker
The tool has a built-in link checker that scans your local version of the website to identify broken links. This is a great way to check a site offline without using server resources and potentially slowing down your live site. - Import & Export Sites
This has the super-handy ability to import WordPress website files and export them so that you can work on your current WordPress site on your desktop, test out new plugins or themes and if you’re ready you can upload the files to your website.
Advanced Local Development Environments
There are other local development environments that are not specific for WordPress but are nonetheless useful for designing and testing WordPress sites on the desktop. These tools are more advanced and are popular with developers who appreciate the freedom and options available in these platforms.
DDEV with Docker
An open source app that makes it easy to use the Docker software containerization to quickly install a content management system and start working, without having to deal with the Docker learning curve.
Download DDEV With Docker here.
Laragon
Laragon is a free local development environment that was recommended to me by someone who is an advanced coder because they said that it’s easy to use and fairly intuitive. They were right. I’ve used it and have had good experiences with it. It’s not a WordPress-specific tool so that must be kept in mind.
Laragon describes itself as an easy to use alternative to XXAMPP and WAMP.
Mamp
Mamp is a local development platform that’s popular with advanced coders and is available for Mac and Windows.
David McCan (Facebook profile), a WordPress trainer who writes about advanced WordPress topics on WebTNG shared his experience with MAMP.
“MAMP is pretty easy to setup and it provides a full range of features. I currently have 51 local sites which are development versions of my production sites, that I use for testing plugins, and periodically use for new beta versions of WordPress core. It is easy to clone sites also. I haven’t noticed any system slowdown or lag.”
WAMP And XAMPP
WAMP is a Windows only development environment that’s popular with developers and WordPress theme and plugin publishers.
XAMPP is a PHP development platform that can be used on Linux, Mac, and Windows desktops.
So Many Local Development Platforms
Studio by WordPress.com is an exciting new local development platform and I’m looking forward to trying it out. But it’s not the only one so it may be useful to try out different solutions to see which one works best for you.
Read more about Studio by WordPress:
Meet Studio by WordPress.com—a fast, free way to develop locally with WordPress
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Wpadington
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