Six strategies for multisite and translation

Companies want to go multi-brand, multi-site and multi-language right away. Forrester predicts that in 2026, “consumers will reject surface-level personalization and fragmented experiences, demanding transparency, relevance, and trust”. One of the personalizations expected by global users is buying in their native language forcing global brands to focus more on multilingual content management than ever.

Even with modern translation services, there are challenges, as Sandra Wendland outlines in this DX Talk podcast series episode.

Let’s first discover a few of these challenges, particularly when architecting a headless DXP multisite environment, and then dive into some of the multisite translation strategies brands can adopt.

Having managed numerous translation projects, Wendland, who served as Global Digital Marketing Manager at Lionbridge and was Internet Marketing Manager at language services provider CLS Communication when this was recorded, provides these effective strategies.

“Often, you will have a style guide for your default language, such as English, but you also need to come up with style guides for each of your target languages,” advises Wendland. “For example, if you were to target markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, you need to decide if you would have an international German version or versions for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.”

Work together with your local offices and translators to bring in a blend of guidelines from headquarters and regional requirements. Balance between maintaining brand consistency and allowing flexibility for local adaptations.

This means combining translation and content creation. You can first translate, but then edit, copy-write, adapt and polish to give global brand messages a local feel and flavor that works for that market. This approach also significantly benefits local SEO by aligning content with regional search behaviors rather than just translating keywords.

“There are lots of tools like translation memory systems, online terminology databases and glossaries,” notes Wendland. “The problem with machine translation is that people think translation is now 100% automatic. But websites have marketing text and specialist language. You’re not going to create your best customer experience if you’re using 100% machine translation. You need the expertise of human translators. Your local translators will use machine translation for their own productivity, to increase their speed of translation, but you still need the expertise of these linguists, to help you reach your local audience in the best way.”

Figure out how you will get your source text out and your translated text back in. Many companies still work in a traditional copy-and-paste mode. 

Magnolia, for example, includes out-of-the-box integrations with leading translation services such as DeepL, Google Translate, Microsoft Translate, and AT Language Solutions. These tools utilize neural networks to decipher context and deliver accurate translations rapidly.

DeepL, for example, sets itself apart in the localization process by moving past rigid, literal translation. Instead, it provides a suite of AI-driven tools designed to adapt content to a target market's cultural nuances, brand voice, and specific context. Furthermore, its built-in tone controls enable users to instantly adjust the translation's formality to align with the target audience's cultural expectations perfectly.

To maintain brand consistency, DeepL offers a powerful Customization Hub and dynamic glossaries that go beyond simple "find and replace." When specific brand terms or style rules are applied, the AI intelligently adapts the surrounding grammar—such as case, gender, and tense—to keep the text flowing naturally. Combined with interactive features that allow users to select contextual alternatives in real-time, DeepL ensures that large-scale localization projects remain both accurate and on-brand.

By automating the initial translation layer, businesses can scale their multilingual content efficiently, reducing reliance on manual processes while still providing a solid foundation for human linguists to refine.

Discover how easily Magnolia supports additional languages to help global businesses deliver content at scale in our "AI in Action: From Hype to Hands-On" webinar.

Global Blue, a world leader in retail and payment services and their implementation partner Arvato Systems share how they went from week-long translation cycles and soaring agency costs to a streamlined, AI-powered workflow that delivers content in 14 languages in minutes.

“A lot of time in web projects is often spent on concept, on design, and translation comes right at the end,” says Wendland. “I would recommend involving your translators earlier on when your first content is created and starting some of the translations in parallel. The benefit of going in an iterative way is that you can improve your source language, with input from knowledgeable translators. You can also test your design: will it fit with verbose languages like German, Spanish and French, or will it fit with Chinese and Japanese where you need to take care of your line height, where you don’t want your characters to be too small, those kind of things.

“Involving your translators will also benefit your site as a whole. I would recommend an agile approach. Don’t do it sequentially. Get them involved and get started early on. Think agile, think in iterations. Continuously improve, then you’ll get through, hopefully.”

With more than 50 websites worldwide in over 30 languages, PERI, one of the world’s leading providers and manufacturers of formwork and scaffolding systems, needed a solid and flexible global brand platform.

The solution? A new hub for PERI’s globalized digital business strategy. Find out how Magnolia has enabled PERI to quickly create and customize websites and microsites, tailor them to local requirements, create and re-use high-quality content much faster than before, and maintain a global corporate look and feel.

Find out how construction manufacturer PERI runs more than 50 sites in over 30 languages with Magnolia.