Multi-language website SEO: the setup Google wants
Separate pages per language, each fully in that language, linked to each other. Google's rules:
| Do | Google's words |
|---|---|
| One URL per language (example.com/es/) | "Google recommends using different URLs for each language version of a page rather than using cookies or browser settings" (Google Search Central) |
| One language per page | Google detects language from "the visible content of your page" and suggests "avoiding side-by-side translations" (Google) |
| Translate the main content | Versions "are only considered duplicates if the main content of the page remains untranslated" (Google) |
| Let people switch | "Avoid automatically redirecting users from one language version of a site to a different language version" (Google) |
| Label the versions | Use hreflang tags or a sitemap (Google) |
A subfolder like /es/ is easy to set up and stays on your domain; Google lists it as low maintenance (Google).
hreflang: what it does and the mistake that breaks it
hreflang tells Google that /es/servicios and /services are the same page in two languages, so it shows each searcher the right one. It doesn't set the language; Google detects that itself (Google).
The common mistake is one-way links:
"If two pages don't both point to each other, the tags will be ignored." (Google Search Central: Tell Google about localized versions of your page)
- Each version lists itself and every other version (Google).
- Use full URLs with https:// (Google).
- Add an x-default page for any language you don't cover (Google).
Is machine translation OK for SEO?
As a draft, yes; as a bulk shortcut, no. Google's spam policy lists, as scaled content abuse, generating many pages "through automated transformations like synonymizing, translating, or other obfuscation techniques" where "little value is provided to users" (Google Search Central: Spam policies).
Translate the pages a customer needs to hire you: services, prices, areas, contact, booking. Have a fluent speaker read each before it goes live.
Does a second-language site show up in AI answers?
It can. Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode both support Spanish, French, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese (Google Search Help: AI Overviews; Google Search Help: AI Mode). The same rule applies as for any page: it must be indexed and able to show a snippet (Google Search Central).
Who a second language brings in
Customers who search in it. In the US, Spanish is 61.1% and Chinese 5.1% of people who speak a language other than English at home; 48.2% of Chinese speakers and 61.0% of Spanish speakers speak English "very well" (US Census Bureau, 2018–2022 ACS). In Canada, 4.6 million people speak mainly a language other than English or French at home (Statistics Canada, 2021 Census).
Visits are not bookings, though. An accounting firm we run marketing for translated its guides. In the first two weeks, translations did most of the work: 62% of organic readers and 226 of 340 search clicks (66%) came through the 13 non-English versions, and 52% of impressions.
By November 11, 2026, only one second language had turned visits into bookings: 6 bookings from 980 visits, against 5 from 2,110 for English. The other languages brought 911 visits and 0 bookings.
Canada: French in Quebec is the law, not an option
If your business is in Quebec, the commercial content on its website must be in French. The Quebec government states that section 52 of the Charter of the French language requires commercial publications in French, including those on a website; in 2026 a company was fined $3,000 after failing to follow an order over commercial content on its site that was available only in a language other than French (Gouvernement du Québec).
Example
A dental office with Spanish-speaking staff
It adds /es/ with its eight service pages, insurance info and booking page, written by a fluent staff member, linked both ways with hreflang. Bookings from it can be handled in Spanish.
A contractor who machine-translated 300 blog posts
Hundreds of thin pages, nobody to take a call in that language. Better: delete them and translate the 10 pages a customer needs to hire.
A Montreal clinic
French is required. English is the optional second version.
Different for you?
- You want ChatGPT to list you for customers in their language: Where ChatGPT finds local businesses.
- You're pricing the build: Small business website cost.
- Traffic fell after adding or moving pages: Traffic dropped after a website redesign.
- You want the site built in two languages: Website agent.
- You want it found in search and AI answers: SEO & GEO agent.