Adding a second language should let a buyer understand your offer and complete the next step in that language. Before approving a multilingual website quote, agree which pages, messages and updates are included. A translated homepage alone leaves that question unanswered.
This guide is for an established business adding a language to an existing site. It is an acceptance checklist, not a promise of traffic or a requirement to translate your entire archive.
1. Define the audience and the service you can support
Start with the buyer you can actually serve. Which language do they read? Where can you deliver? Who will answer an enquiry in that language? A language version and a country offer are separate decisions: Spanish does not automatically mean Spain, and English does not automatically mean US delivery.
Write down any differences in availability, delivery areas, currency and contact hours before translation starts. If both language pages describe the same offer, keep those facts aligned. If they describe different regional offers, make the differences visible and agree who approves them.
For the quote, request a list of included pages and buyer actions. Avoid an undefined line such as “multilingual setup included.” It tells you little about what your buyer will receive.
2. Translate a complete route through the site
Choose a useful starting route: a service or category page, its supporting details, and the contact step. Then include the small messages that can stop a buyer along that route. The following is a suggested scope worksheet, not a platform requirement.
| Area | What to include | What to test |
|---|---|---|
| Main offer | Page heading, description, relevant specifications and limits | A reader can understand what is available without opening the original language |
| Navigation | Menus, page names and language choice | Links stay within the intended language where a translation exists |
| Enquiry | Labels, required fields, errors, confirmation and message draft | A buyer can prepare a usable enquiry and knows what happens next |
| Supporting information | Relevant delivery, returns or service terms | Important restrictions agree with the offer page |
| Search and sharing | Page title, description and image alternatives | Shared and search-facing information represents the translated page |
If a document remains untranslated, label its language before the download. If an important page is missing, agree whether it will be translated, omitted from that route or linked with a clear language notice. Do not leave the buyer to discover the gap halfway through an enquiry.
3. Ask for a shareable address for each language
Google recommends distinct URLs for language versions rather than relying on cookies or browser language settings to change one address. Its multilingual-site guidance also explains that language-dependent delivery can make some versions harder for its crawler to discover.
As the owner, ask for two example links before approving the approach. Open each in a fresh browser session and send it to someone else. The agreed language and main content should appear without a previous visit or a special browser setting. Your developer can choose an appropriate URL structure for the existing platform.
A browser translation button can help an individual visitor read a page. It does not, by itself, demonstrate that your site has published a separately maintained language page. Ask what the proposed translation tool actually produces and how corrections will be retained.
4. Check switching and search signals separately
Test the language selector from an internal page, not only the homepage. Where an equivalent translation exists, the expected destination is that page. If none exists, the destination and its label should make the fallback clear. Let visitors choose; Google advises against automatically redirecting people based on an assumed language.
Search annotations are a separate check for your developer. Google’s localized-version documentation describes how equivalent pages identify one another using hreflang, including return links and the page itself. Ask for a checked example pair, not a screenshot of an installed plugin. Correct annotations help communicate the relationship; they do not guarantee indexing or rankings.
You can verify the buyer-facing switch yourself. Ask the developer to record the search checks separately so a working menu is not treated as proof that every search setting is correct.
5. Rehearse an enquiry on a phone
Start from the translated offer on a phone. Read the details, open the menu, switch languages and return. Fill the enquiry fields with clearly labelled test information, including a missing required field to inspect the error message. Check that long translated text remains readable and buttons are usable.
For a WhatsApp or email draft, inspect the destination and prepared message before sending. For a form, arrange any actual test submission with the site owner and confirm where it is received. An on-screen success message alone is not proof of receipt. See the contact-form troubleshooting guide if those two results disagree.
Agree what language the first reply will use. If your team cannot support that language, explain the arrangement on the page before the buyer writes. Translation should match the service you can provide.
6. Make future updates part of the handover
Decide who updates the second language when a product, delivery condition or service changes. Record the paired pages, the person who checks the wording and how unfinished translations are identified. Keep factual changes together so an older language page does not advertise an offer you have stopped providing.
Before acceptance, request a short record: included page pairs, deliberately untranslated items, enquiry-test results, search checks and unresolved items with an owner. Then change one harmless sentence in a test copy and confirm that your team understands the update process. That exercise is an editorial recommendation, not a Google requirement.
For a small business, a narrower language launch with a complete, maintainable buyer route can be more useful than a large translated archive with gaps. Agree the route first, then use it to compare scope and accept the finished work. The website content checklist can help organise the facts your translator and designer need.
