Expanding your website to support multiple languages can dramatically increase your reach. But there's more to multilingual sites than just translating text. Here's how to do it right, from URL structure to content management.
URL Structure Strategies
You have several options for structuring multilingual URLs:
Subdirectories (recommended):
- example.com/en/about
- example.com/fr/about
- Easy to manage
- Good for SEO
- Works with any hosting
Subdomains:
- en.example.com/about
- fr.example.com/about
- More complex setup
- Treated as separate sites by search engines
Separate domains:
- example.com, example.fr
- Most complex and expensive
- Necessary for some markets/regulations
We recommend subdirectories for most cases—they're simple, SEO-friendly, and easy to maintain.
Language Detection and Switching
How do users get to the right language?
Don't auto-redirect based on location:
- A French person in Canada might prefer English
- Auto-redirects frustrate users
- Can hurt SEO
Instead:
- Detect browser language preference
- Show suggestion to switch: "View in français?"
- Let users easily switch anytime
- Remember their preference
Language switchers should be:
- Clearly visible in header/footer
- Show language names in native script (Français, not French)
- Maintain the user's current page when switching
Translation Approaches
You have several translation options:
Professional translation:
- Highest quality
- Expensive
- Time-consuming
- Best for customer-facing content
Machine translation (Google Translate):
- Fast and cheap
- Lower quality
- Can embarrass your brand
- Only for user-generated content
Hybrid approach (recommended):
- Professional translation for key pages (home, products, legal)
- In-house for blog and supplemental content
- Never machine-translate without human review
Remember: bad translation is worse than English-only.
Technical Implementation
Proper technical setup:
HTML lang attribute:
<html lang="en"> or <html lang="fr">
Hreflang tags (for SEO):
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="..." />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="..." />
This tells search engines about your language variants.
Content Management:
- Keep translations synced
- Track which pages are translated
- Handle missing translations gracefully (fallback to default language)
- Consider using a translation management system for larger sites
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Don't make these mistakes:
Hardcoded text:
- Separate all text from code
- Use translation files (JSON, YAML, etc.)
- Never embed translatable text in code
Image text:
- Avoid text in images (can't be translated)
- Use actual text with CSS styling instead
- If images have text, create versions per language
Date/number formats:
- 11/12/2025 means different things in US vs Europe
- Use locale-appropriate formatting
- Consider time zones
Assuming text length:
- German text is often 30% longer than English
- Design UI with variable text lengths in mind
- Test with actual translations, not lorem ipsum
When Multilingual Makes Sense
Add languages when:
- You have significant traffic from specific language regions
- You're expanding to new markets
- Your competitors offer those languages
- You can maintain quality translations
Don't add languages just because you can. One well-translated language is better than five poorly translated ones.
Start with your most important market, perfect it, then expand.
Monitor analytics for each language to ensure the investment is worthwhile.
Multilingual websites can significantly expand your reach, but they require proper planning and ongoing maintenance. Use subdirectory URL structures, implement proper hreflang tags, invest in quality translation for key content, and design with variable text length in mind. Done well, multilingual sites open new markets. Done poorly, they can damage your brand.