A multilingual website or webshop: how to get it right
An English version of your site sounds like a job for later. Yet it is often one of the fastest ways to reach more customers: expats in your own city, tourists, business customers across the border. In this article you read when a multilingual website or webshop pays off, how to set it up, how to translate well and how Google shows the right language to the right visitor.
When does a multilingual website pay off?
Signs that a second language pays off
You already get emails or calls from speakers of other languages.
You are in a city or region with many international visitors.
Your webshop can deliver to Belgium, Germany or further too.
You work for international companies or teams.
Recognise one or more? Then a second language is not a luxury but an opportunity. You do not have to do ten languages at once: start with the language where the demand already is, usually English.
How to set up a multilingual site
There are three common ways to separate languages on your site. For most small and medium businesses a folder per language is the best choice.
Three ways to separate languages
| Folder per language yoursite.com/en/ | Subdomain en.yoursite.com | Own domain yoursite.co.uk | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple management | ✓One site | ~Separate parts | ×Separate sites |
| Combined findability | ✓All on one domain | ~Partly | ×Build per domain |
| Strong local signal | ~Medium | ~Medium | ✓Strong |
| Costs | ✓Low | ✓Low | ×Extra domains |
Translating: machine, AI or human?
A bad translation is worse than none: visitors drop off and you come across as less professional. Fortunately you do not have to choose between expensive and poor.
The smartest route to good translations
- Let the AI translateWith context: who you are, for whom and in what tone.
- Check the coreHave your main pages read by someone fluent in the language.
- Adapt locallyCurrency, phone numbers, addresses and examples.
- Translate the details tooButtons, forms, error messages and emails.
- Keep it upA new page gets its translation right away.
What Google needs
Google has to understand that your Dutch and English pages belong together, so a Dutch searcher sees the Dutch version and an English searcher the English one. Otherwise your pages get in each other's way.
- Every language has its own address
- Pages point to each other with hreflang
- Each page's lang attribute is correct
- Titles and descriptions are translated too
- The sitemap contains every language version
- No automatic redirect based on IP
That last one matters: do not send visitors to a language automatically based on their location. A Dutch person on holiday still wants Dutch. A clear language switcher works better. The full basics are in our SEO checklist for a new website.
Dutch and English from the start.Every NerrieBuilder site is bilingual by default, no extra plugin needed.
Try it free →A multilingual webshop
A webshop needs more than copy. A customer abroad wants to know what shipping costs, how returns work and whether they can pay the way they are used to.
Checklist for selling across borders
| Part | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Product copy | Translated, with sizes and units the customer knows |
| Shipping | Costs and delivery time per country, clear before checkout |
| Returns | Returns policy in the customer's language |
| Payment | Payment methods common in that country |
| VAT | The right VAT rules for selling to consumers in the EU |
| Emails | Confirmation and shipping emails translated too |
For VAT and rules on selling across borders, always get advice from an accountant: they depend on your turnover and the countries you sell to. How to set up a webshop in the first place is in our step-by-step webshop plan.
Multilingual with NerrieBuilder
In NerrieBuilder the platform, the studio and your site are bilingual by default: Dutch and English. Want another language? Ask the AI for an extra language and it makes your site multilingual with a language switcher. Your webshop with iDEAL and card payments lives in the same platform, so your website and shop grow together. Starting with a design? Pick one of the professional templates, or import your existing site and make it multilingual afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Is a multilingual website bad for my SEO?
No, as long as every language has its own address and the pages point to each other with hreflang. Then Google shows every visitor the right language.
Can I have my site translated with AI?
Yes, and with good context the result is strong. Do have your main pages read by someone fluent in the language.
Which languages does NerrieBuilder include by default?
Dutch and English. You ask the AI for an extra language and it makes your site multilingual with a language switcher.
Should I send visitors to their language automatically?
Preferably not based on location. A clear language switcher works better, because not everyone in a country speaks that country's language.