# When to translate your site, and which pages first

You translate for demand you can see, not for a hope. This page shows when to add a language, which pages to do first, and how to ship them right. It is written for a small product site you can edit yourself.

Updated 2026-09-14 · Source: https://porteur.ai/guides/when-to-translate-your-site

## The moment to add a language

Translate when you already see demand and can serve it. Do not add a language because a rival did.

- Search Console shows impressions or clicks from that country over the last 28 days
- You sell or can sell there, including price, tax and shipping or delivery
- Support can answer in that language within your normal SLA

A second language is a second site's worth of work. You will translate, publish, update, support and report twice. Budget time for it from now on.

## Which pages pay first

Start where people decide and where your current search demand lands. Translate the smallest set that can sell and support the sale.

- The home page: yourproduct.com to yourproduct.com/fr/
- Pricing: /pricing to /fr/prix with local currency
- Your top three guides or docs that already get clicks: for example /guides/getting-started, /guides/integrations, /guides/security
- Any landing page you run paid or email traffic to in that market

A good first release is four to six pages that cover discovery, evaluation and sign up. Add support pages next if tickets in that language rise.

## Reading Search Console for signals

Use the Performance report. You are looking for countries and queries in other languages where you already get seen or clicked.

1. **Find countries with demand** Open Performance. Switch to Countries. Sort by Impressions. Note countries where impressions or clicks exist and you can serve the product.
2. **Check queries for language fit** Stay in Performance. Switch to Queries. Filter by Page for your home page. Scan for queries in the target language. Save examples like “logiciel de prise de rendez-vous” if you sell scheduling software.
3. **Find pages to translate** Switch to Pages. Filter to your top URLs. For each, view Queries then add a Country filter. If a page earns in the target country, shortlist it for that locale.
4. **Track a baseline** Export 28-day Impressions, Clicks and CTR for shortlisted pages and the home page. You will compare after launch.

If you have no impressions yet, ship content in your current language first. Translate only after Search Console shows a toe-hold or your go-to-market opens that country.

## Pick a structure that fits your size

Choose the URL pattern before you translate. It decides links, hosting and upkeep. Google says cctld, subdirectory and subdomain all work. Parameters are discouraged as of 2026.

| Option | Example | SEO signal | Ops impact | Use when |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Country domain | example.fr | Strongest geo signal, separate site | Separate hosting and links | You commit to a distinct French site and brand |
| Subdirectory | example.com/fr/ | Keeps one host and link profile | Simpler deploys and analytics | You want one domain with clear locales |
| Subdomain | fr.example.com | Usually treated as part of the site, can be seen as separate | Separate deploys possible | Your stack or team needs separation at the subdomain level |
| URL parameter | example.com?lang=fr | Discouraged for language | Hard to index and manage | Do not use for language versions |

For a small team, a subdirectory is usually the least work. You keep one site and one link profile, and you can add /fr/, /es/ and so on in time.

## Language rules that prevent disasters

- One language per URL. Do not mix languages on a page
- Do not redirect by IP or browser language. Show a language switch instead
- Implement hreflang to declare language and region pairs, and keep them reciprocal
- Use ISO codes in hreflang. Use x-default for a fallback or selector page
- Translate titles, meta descriptions, slugs, alt text and structured data
- Translate internal links. A French page links to French pages
- Provide a language switcher with real links, one anchor per language
- Use a sitemap per language or add hreflang entries in one sitemap

> Do not auto redirect by IP or browser language. Googlebot crawls from the US, it would never see your other versions. Show a switch.

Hreflang chooses which version to show to a searcher. It does not merge ranking signals. Your content still needs to earn links and clicks in that market on its own merit.

## How to translate a page that can rank

Translate for what people search in that language. Not word for word. Build the page for the same intent in that market.

1. **Confirm intent and keywords in the target language** List the top queries from Search Console that already hit your page. Translate them roughly. Search them in a private window for that country. Note how rivals phrase the topic.
2. **Draft with a machine, review by a human** Use a translator to draft if you like. A human must review. As of 2026, Google lists unreviewed automatic translations as scaled content abuse.
3. **Localise details that break trust if wrong** Currency, dates, units and examples. Change $ to €, dd/mm/yyyy to the local format, and replace US-only examples with local ones where it helps clarity.
4. **Translate the on-page SEO** Update the title, meta description, H1, slug, alt text and any JSON-LD. For example, /pricing becomes /fr/prix with a French title under about 60 characters.
5. **Wire the links** On /fr/prix link to /fr/signup, /fr/contact and French guides. Add a language switcher on all translated pages with direct links to their siblings.
6. **Add hreflang** On both versions, add hreflang entries that point to each other with the correct ISO codes. Include x-default if you use a selector page.
7. **QA before launch** Check for mixed language blocks, broken internal links and missing alt text. Load the page on a mobile device. Then request indexing.

A good French pricing page reads like it was written in French, uses euros, links to French help, and declares hreflang=“fr” to its English twin with hreflang=“en”.

## Hreflang without tripping over it

You can add hreflang in the head, the sitemap or the HTTP header. Keep entries reciprocal and use the correct ISO language and region codes.

- en and fr only: use hreflang="en" and hreflang="fr"
- For a country variant: use hreflang="fr-fr" and hreflang="fr-ca" as needed
- Add x-default to a selector or fallback page
- Do not point hreflang to non-canonical URLs
- If you use a sitemap, include all alternates for each URL in the same group

Search Console’s International Targeting report is gone. You will validate hreflang with your own checks and by watching performance by country after launch.

## Avoiding spam and scale traps

Translate to help people, not to flood the index. As of March 2024, Google acts on scaled content abuse. That means mass pages made to manipulate rankings, no matter how they were produced.

- AI-assisted writing is fine. Unreviewed automatic translations are not
- Do not publish every blog post in ten languages on day one. Publish what you can maintain
- Give each page data or an answer of its own. Thin rewrites will not hold search over time
- Do not host third-party content to borrow your own site’s reputation in another language

A small, accurate /fr/ that answers the same jobs as your /en/ will beat a large, brittle one you cannot keep up to date.

## Measuring impact and keeping parity

You win when the new locale earns its own impressions and clicks, and when its pages convert. Track both from week one and keep the content in step with English.

1. **Watch Search Console by country and page** In Performance, filter by Country and by Page for your new /fr/ URLs. Compare 28-day Impressions, Clicks and CTR to your baseline.
2. **Watch behaviour and conversion** In your analytics, build segments by page path that starts with /fr/. Compare signups per visit to the /en/ versions.
3. **Fix gaps fast** If a French page ranks on English queries, re-check the title and H1. If CTR is low, rewrite the French title and meta description for clarity.
4. **Set a maintenance rhythm** When you update /pricing, update /fr/prix the same day. Keep a checklist and an owner. Plan a quarterly review for any locale with low traffic.
5. **Know when to pause or retire** If a locale stays flat with no sales and you cannot support it, unpublish and 301 to the parent language. Remove hreflang entries for retired URLs.

A healthy /fr/ will show rising impressions in France within a few weeks, then clicks, then signups. If not, fix the pages, not the hreflang first.

## Common mistakes and quick fixes

- Mixing languages on one URL. Split them. One language per URL
- Using ?lang=fr for language. Move to /fr/ or fr.example.com and set hreflang
- Auto redirecting by IP. Replace with a visible switch and links
- Missing reciprocal hreflang. Make pairs point to each other on both pages
- Leaving English slugs and alt text. Translate both
- Linking from /fr/ pages to /en/ docs. Link to /fr/ docs or do not link until you have them
- Forgetting structured data. Translate text fields in your JSON-LD where relevant

Fix one at a time and recheck in Search Console after each change. Most issues show up as low CTR or the wrong page ranking in the wrong country.

## Questions

### Should I translate my whole site or only key pages?

Start with the home page, pricing and the top three guides that already get clicks. Translate more once those earn and you can maintain them. A second language is ongoing work, so keep scope small at first.

### Do I need a country domain for SEO?

No. A country-code top-level domain is the strongest geographic signal, but subdirectories and subdomains work too. For a small team, a subdirectory like /fr/ keeps life simple and keeps all links on one host.

### How do I tell Google about my language pages?

Use hreflang to declare language and region pairs. Add it in the head or in your sitemap, keep entries reciprocal, and use ISO codes and x-default as needed. Do not rely on IP redirects or scripts to switch versions.

### Is it safe to use AI for translation?

Yes, with a human review. As of 2026, Google does not penalise AI-assisted writing, it acts on pages made at scale without value. Unreviewed automatic translations are listed as scaled content abuse.

### What if Search Console removed the International Targeting report?

You can no longer set geo-targeting for gTLDs there. Validate hreflang in your code or sitemap, and then watch performance by country and page in the Performance report. The data you need is still there.

### When will I see results after adding a locale?

If demand already exists, you should see impressions within a few weeks, then clicks, then signups. If not, recheck the titles, descriptions and on-page copy in that language before you change structure.

## Read next

- [International SEO for a small product: structure, language, and when to start](https://porteur.ai/guides/international-seo): Pick a structure, set one language per URL, add hreflang, and know when to expand. A short plan for founders shipping their own product site.
- [Multilingual website SEO: one language per URL, and everything translated](https://porteur.ai/guides/multilingual-website-seo): Set up a multilingual website that ranks: one language per URL, fully translated content, hreflang, a real switcher, and a sitemap for each language.
- [hreflang implementation: head, sitemap or header, and the checks](https://porteur.ai/guides/hreflang-implementation): Add hreflang the right way, avoid errors and verify it works. Examples for head, sitemap and HTTP header, the rules, checks and what it won’t do.
- [Subdomain vs subdirectory: what Google says and what to choose](https://porteur.ai/guides/subdomain-vs-subdirectory): Google says both can work. Here is how to choose for blogs, docs, languages and new products, and how to move with clean redirects.
- [The Search Console performance report, column by column](https://porteur.ai/guides/search-console-performance-report): Every column in the Google Search Console performance report explained with the traps that trip small sites, and how to act on each.
- [GEO vs SEO: what changes, what does not](https://porteur.ai/guides/geo-vs-seo): GEO names you in AI answers, SEO ranks you in results. Here is what overlaps, what changes, and five steps to win citations without ditching SEO.

Paste your URL to get a free 30‑second read of your site, the searches around it and rivals, with three full findings that show which pages to localise first. Free check: https://porteur.ai/