It may seem an easy proposition to turn your single language website into a multilingual one.  Surely you just translate the original text.

If only it were that easy!

Here are some initial tips to bear in mind:

• Spell check for each language before launching the site
• Try to avoid verbosity as the more you write the more it will cost you
• Ensure that your translator sends the translated text back to you in the correct format and be sure that they have not altered the code
• Keep the language style simple and straightforward and to avoid descriptions which would be impossible to convey in another language

Added to the above are localisation issues which we will go into on another blog later this week.