What is Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) used for?

Last reviewed: October 7, 2026

How does Adobe Experience Manager manage multilingual websites?

Adobe Experience Manager manages multilingual websites through four built-in layers, documented in Adobe's Experience League guide "Translating Content for Multilingual Sites":

• Language masters and language copies: Authors write content once in a language master, and AEM creates a language copy for each target language under its own language root. That keeps every locale's site structure parallel to the source, which makes updates traceable across markets.
• Multi Site Manager (MSM) and Live Copies: MSM keeps Live Copies of a source site synchronized through rollouts, so a regional site can reuse a master site while overriding local details such as contact information. Adobe's Experience League guide "Reusing Content: Multi Site Manager and Live Copy" states that MSM does not translate content; it creates the structure and deploys it, so translation still needs its own step.
• Translation integration framework: AEM connects to a translation provider through a translation integration configuration and gathers content into translation projects. Adobe supports human translation, machine translation, and an AI translation integration that connects AEM to a large language model.
• Manual XML fallback: When a provider has no AEM connector, AEM supports manual extraction and re-insertion of translation content in XML format. It works, but every content update becomes a file handoff.

The practical consequence: AEM supplies the multilingual structure, while translation quality, terminology, and review depend on the provider plugged into the framework. Connector options are compared in AEM translation integration options for enterprise websites.

What results have AEM teams reported from automating translation?

Both programs point to the same lever: once AEM content moves to translation and back without file handling, the bottleneck shifts from logistics to review, which is where launch time is actually won or lost.

How does content move from AEM to translation and back?

A connected AEM translation workflow runs in five steps:

1. Author the language master - Content teams create and approve pages, Experience Fragments, and Content Fragments in the source language first, because every language copy inherits from that master.
2. Connect a translation provider - An administrator installs the provider's connector and creates a translation integration configuration that tells AEM which provider, content types, and workflow to use.
3. Create a translation project - An author selects pages or assets and target languages, and AEM creates or updates the matching language copies and gathers the content into a translation project.
4. Translate and review with the provider - The provider applies translation memory and glossaries, routes content through machine, AI, or human translation, and runs any review steps before returning it.
5. Return, check, and publish - Translated content lands back in the language copies, where reviewers check it in context and publish it through AEM's normal activation process.

AEM tends to fit organizations that...

• Run many brand, regional, or language sites that share a common structure and benefit from language copies and MSM Live Copies.
• Need a CMS and a DAM on one platform, so translated pages and localized asset metadata stay in the same system.
• Reuse modular content across channels through Content Fragments and Experience Fragments, including headless delivery to apps.
• Already use other Adobe Experience Cloud products, such as Adobe Workfront or Adobe Analytics, and want content workflows connected to them.
• Have developers or an implementation partner to configure templates, components, and integrations.

When AEM may not be the right fit

• A small marketing site with a handful of pages and one or two languages, where AEM's implementation effort outweighs its multi-site features.
• Teams without in-house developers or an implementation partner, since templates, components, and connectors all need configuration before authors can work independently.
• Organizations that only need to translate an existing site quickly, where a translation proxy or a lighter CMS plugin can deliver new languages without a replatform.

Evaluation checklist: questions to ask before using AEM for a multilingual site

Which AEM deployment will you run?
AEM as a Cloud Service and on-premises AEM 6.5 use different connector packages and release models, so confirm the deployment before choosing integrations.

Which content types need translation?
List pages, Experience Fragments, Content Fragments, Forms dictionaries, asset metadata, tags, and Guides content separately, since each can follow a different workflow and cost profile.

Will you combine language copies with MSM Live Copies?
Decide early which sites inherit from a master and which diverge, because rollouts and translation projects interact, and conflicts are easier to prevent than to untangle.

Does your translation provider have a native AEM connector?
A connector moves content into translation projects automatically; without one, teams fall back to manual XML export and re-import for every update.

Who reviews translations before they publish?
Assign in-market reviewers and decide whether review happens in the provider's tool, in AEM, or both, so approval does not become the new bottleneck.

How does Smartling work with Adobe Experience Manager?

Smartling, a Gold-tier Adobe Technology Partner, connects to AEM through two purpose-built connectors: the AEM Cloud Connector for AEM as a Cloud Service and the AEM Touch Connector for on-premises AEM, where version 5.0x supports AEM 6.4 and above. Both build on AEM's native translation framework and translate pages, Content Fragments, Experience Fragments, i18n dictionaries such as those in Forms, DAM asset metadata, tags, and AEM Guides content, as described in the Smartling Help Center article "Translating with the AEM Cloud Connector." The connectors work with AEM's existing multilingual architecture, including language copies, live copies, and rollouts, and return finished translations automatically, so authors request translation without leaving AEM. Smartling also integrates with AEM Experience Workspace, Adobe's AI-powered authoring environment formerly called Adobe Document Authoring.

The payoff shows up in launch speed. IHG Hotels & Resorts cut the time to launch a new language from six to eight months to about a month, and IBM reduced average time to market by roughly 50% after connecting Smartling to AEM Cloud and Adobe Workfront. For connector evaluation criteria, see AEM translation integration options.

Questions connexes

• Quelles sont les principales différences entre AEM en tant que service cloud et AEM 6.5 sur site ?
• Quelles sont les meilleures options d'intégration de traduction AEM pour les sites web d'entreprise ?
• Comment gérez-vous le contenu multilingue sur AEM Cloud Service ?
• Comment choisir un CMS multilingue ?