Creating a multi-language website

That is SEO-, User- And Budget-Friendly

This article only looks at service or B2B websites; eCommerce sites present a whole load of other challenges around payment gateways, currency, shipping etc. I've also assumed you're using one of the common CMSs and so have access to plugins.

Should you have a multi-language website?

1. Are your primary markets in other countries?
2. Do they speak other languages?

If you answered yes to both of these, you should be looking at manually-translated (ie, not Google Translate) content for most - if not all - of your site content.

If you answered no, is it enough to provide a single page in another language with your pertinent information on it, that users can browse to from the menu or a flag dropdown?

Could you use a Google Translate plugin to offer local language easily and cheaply - and it doesn't really matter that the translation may not be perfect?

But, assuming you do want manual, site wide translations...

Subdomains or country-level Top Level Domains (ccTLDs)?

• Pros of subdomain (eg fr.website.com)
  • One backend site, so some build and maintenance cost savings
  • User can navigate easily to different language pages
  • GeoIP can serve up the most appropriate language to the user based on their IP location
  • If you can buy the ccTLDs too and redirect them, you can market your ccTLD website in that location for greater brand presence.
• Pros of ccTLDs (eg www.website.fr)
  • Implies a greater presence of company in that country.
  • More flexibility in terms of what content is on the site.
• Cons of subdomain
  • If you currently have a .co.uk domain, that implies a greater affiliation with the UK, and may dilute the location-presence you're trying to achieve with your translations.
  • Competent developer needed to:
    • Tie up Google Search Console with language and territory targetting
    • Correct Hreflangs need to be coded on the site
    • Install and maintain translation plugins like PolyLang
    • Choose the best plugins to work with the site, the hosting requirements etc.
    • Install and test GeoIP tracking to serve up correct language
    • Install manual language selection, mapped to corresponding content
    • Ensure the website can handle non-Roman characters and right-to-left text directions.
• Cons of ccTLDs
  • Each domain need entirely separate backend website - so increased costs for updates, hosting, maintenance etc.
  • GeoIP won't send users to correct domain, they need to arrive at the right site or manually select the right language from a list.

Considerations

For the business

• Can you afford to maintain multiple languages?

• You will need to find a translator to work within the website to ensure all content is translated, and translate and localise any edits or new content?
• Images, marketing materials etc will also need translating too.
• Enquiries that come in from non-English speakers will need to be handled by staff - how will this be done?
• Don't forget Open Graph and meta data - these will need translating too, so that that are pulled into previews on social media and search engines.
• How will the culture of the target country affect your business goals? Is a translated website enough? Or will you need a local presence in that country?

For the user

• Will you have translated URLs or English URLs? The latter is better for you as it will be easier to manage content and translations. The former offers a better experience for the non-English speaker, but not if the process breaks because a developer has incorrectly matched up an English URL with a translated one!

• Will you offer multi-directional text? Eg top to bottom, right to left? Look into how important this is for your market. Remember it could have an impact on how the site is built - for example, how would a responsive website handle this?
• Content needs to be localised, not just translated. It needs to read well in the context of the market and other websites offering the same thing in that territory. It needs to speak to the concerns that different cultures may have to work to greatest effect.
• Don't forget to look at Country/Language combinations and how you're going to present these. For example, a Canadian flag in the drop down - does this go to French or English pages? How would they choose the other language? GeoIP for Swiss users - do you serve up French or German content?

For search engines

• Tie up your Google Analytics with the website to separate out your different subdomains or domains so you can measure visitor behaviour from different territories.
• Make sure your Hreflangs and territory targetting code is implemented, and specified in Google Search Console.
• Your target keywords won't be the same in different countries (not just translated, but localised), so you'll need to research them. It will be best to have a local translator or marketing agency do this for you, rather than try to guess!
• Remember, if you're going to use Google Adwords, the ad text will need to be translated too, and relevant to the landing pages. So you'll need a marketing or PPC-experienced translator to manage these.
• Some countries use different search engines, like Baidu in China, which has 70% market share. What might you have to do differently to rank in Chinese search?