A second language is a second market, not a copy of the site.
A German buyer does not type the same words, does not compare you to the same firms, and does not expect the same offer. A multilingual site is therefore a second version of your offer, with its own research and its own prices.
Who it is for
A second language is not for everyone with customers abroad.
Worth it if
- Enquiries already arrive from Germany, Austria or Switzerland, so you know the demand is there before you spend anything.
- You sell to the diaspora, and they increasingly search in the language of the country they live in.
- You sell to businesses, where an offer in their language decides whether you make the shortlist at all.
Not worth it if
- You want a second language because a competitor has one, and nobody on your side could answer an enquiry in it.
- The first language is not bringing enquiries yet. A second one multiplies what you have, and zero multiplied stays zero.
- All you need is the existing text translated. That is a job for a translator and it costs less there than with me.
The problem
Three ways a second language fails.
Translated, then invisible
The text is neatly translated and the page shows up for no German search at all. What got translated were the words you use, not the ones the buyer types.
Same site, different buyer
The offer, the proof and the tone stayed the same. What builds trust here can read as unserious abroad, and the other way round.
Google cannot tell them apart
Two versions of the same page without the right signals compete with each other. What ends up in the results is the wrong one, or neither.
Important
Why machine translation is not a multilingual site.
Translation solves the words. Everything else that decides whether a buyer arrives and clicks is still unsolved.
People search for other words
A literal translation of your service is often not the term that market uses for it. One word of difference is the difference between page one and no visits at all.
The competition is different
Abroad you are not up against firms from your town but against local players. The same text that passes here enters a stronger queue there.
Expectations are different
A German buyer wants a precise description, terms and deadlines before sending an enquiry. The page that reads as approachable here reads as unfinished there.
Numbers and contact are different
Currency, number and date formats, the shape of a phone number and how people get in touch. Small things a visitor uses to sense whether the page was written for them.
Google's own guidelines name machine translation published without human review as low value content. The tool is not the problem. Nobody looking at what came out of it is.
What you get
What goes into one language.
This is a list per language, not per site. A second language gets the same work as the first, over a smaller number of pages.
Search research
What people in that market actually type when they look for what you do, and how many of them there are. Before a single sentence is written.
A look at the competition
Who already holds page one for those searches, what they offer and at what price. That is where you see whether there is room and how you get in.
Adapted structure
Sometimes the set of pages matches the original, sometimes the market wants a different split. Structure follows the searches, not a translated menu.
Text written for that market
Offer, proof and call to action written in that language rather than carried across from another. This is the difference a buyer feels in the first ten seconds.
Technical setup for the language
Its own address, the signals search engines need, a language switcher and the sitemap. Described below, because none of it is visible and all of it decides.
Measurement per language
You see separately which language brings visits and which brings enquiries. Without that you cannot tell whether the second market pays or just costs.
The technical part
Four things that have to be right.
This is the part nobody sees, and it decides whether the language appears in search at all. Written plainly, because you should understand it even if you never touch any of it.
- 01
Its own address per language
Every language has its own address, written in the words of that language, not one URL that swaps the text. Without it there is nothing for Google to remember and nothing for a buyer to send to a colleague.
- 02
Every version points at itself
The German page says it is the original for German, not a copy of another. The opposite setup is a common mistake and it deletes the language from the results on its own.
- 03
Links between languages, both ways
Each version lists all the others, and they list it. That way a search engine knows this is not a duplicate but the same content for a different audience, and serves everyone their version.
- 04
A switcher that does not redirect on its own
The visitor picks the language, not their location. Automatic redirection locks a Bosnian in Germany into the German version and confuses the crawler.
The same system runs underneath the page you are reading: an address per language, mutual links and a switcher that never redirects by itself.
Three levels
The surcharge depends on who writes the text.
The surcharge is calculated on the base price of the site, per language. What separates the levels is not the number of pages but how much of the work stays with me.
Technical localisation
Surcharge per language20 to 35%For whomYou have an approved translation or a translator you already work with.
You provideFinished and approved text in that language, for every page.
I doThe language setup, addresses, links between versions, the switcher, and a check that every word landed where it belongs.
Localisation and content
Surcharge per language40 to 70%For whomYou have no text and you want the market to decide what the pages say.
You provideDetails of the offer, the pricing, and what already works in that market.
I doSearch and competitor research, the structure, text written for that market, and the whole technical setup.
Market strategy
Surcharge per language60 to 100%For whomYou are entering seriously, with your own offer and campaigns for that market.
You provideThe business decision on what is sold there and at what price, and who answers the enquiries.
I doEverything from the previous level, plus separate landing pages, the path from visit to enquiry, and a content plan for that market.
I write the foreign language text myself, from your material and in the terminology that market actually uses. If you want a native speaker to review it before it goes live, that is arranged and billed separately. The third level is more often a separate quote than a surcharge, because at that point it stops being the same site in another language.
Proof
The system I am selling runs under this page.
I would not charge a surcharge for something I have not been through myself. Here is what was actually built on the site you are reading.
An address per language, not a translated menu
Every page has its own address in every language, written in the words of that language. The menu, the sitemap and the links between versions are all generated from that one list, so they cannot drift apart.
Text written per language
No version was pushed through a machine. The Croatian version writes Croatian, the Serbian uses its own standard, the Montenegrin its own words, the German addresses you formally.
Prices per market, never by exchange rate
The figure hangs on the market, not on the language, and it is never converted at a rate. A Swiss buyer does not get German prices just because they read the same language.
Languages go live one at a time, and only once they have their own prices for that market. Until then they sit written but unpublished, because a half empty language is worse than none. That is the same advice I give you.
The process
How a language gets added.
The same order whether the language is built alongside the site or a year later.
- 01Choosing the market
I check whether there is real search demand there for what you do, and how long the queue in front of you is.
From youWhich market and why, and who will answer the enquiries that come from it.
- 02Search research
I collect the terms people there use to look for your service and see who already holds them.
From youThe names of products and services as buyers there call them, if you know them.
- 03Structure and text
I decide which pages that language gets and write the text for them, at the level we agreed.
From youOffer and pricing details for that market, and a review before it goes live.
- 04Technical setup
Addresses, signals, links between versions, the switcher and the sitemap. A check that every page has its counterpart in every language.
From youNothing. This part is mine.
- 05Launch and measurement
The language goes into search and I track separately how many visits and enquiries it brings.
From youPatience. First results in a new market do not arrive in the first month.
The price
What moves the surcharge.
The surcharge is a percentage of the base price of the site, counted per language. The range is wide because between the lowest and the highest level sits the whole question of who writes the text.
Lowers the price
- You have an approved translation or a translator you already work with
- The offer and the prices are the same as at home
- The language is built together with the site rather than added to a finished one
Raises the price
- I write the text instead of you supplying it
- The market needs a different structure, not the same pages in another language
- Pricing, offer or terms differ from the home market
- Every language after the first, because the work multiplies rather than divides
Not included
What is not done here.
A multilingual site tends to pull in questions that are not about the site, so I separate them straight away.
- Translating contracts, manuals and documents that are not on the site
- Certified translation, which needs a sworn translator
- Answering enquiries and dealing with customers in that language
- Ads and campaigns in that market, which are a separate job and a separate budget
Questions
What I get asked most.
- Can we start with one language and add another later?
- You can, and that is the usual path. From day one the site is built so that a second language needs only its own content and its own addresses, not a rebuild. Adding it later costs the same as adding it now, unless the structure changes in the meantime.
- Does the whole site get translated?
- Rarely, and usually it should not be. What gets translated is what has a purpose in that market: the offer, the proof and the path to an enquiry. Posts written for the home market normally have no business being in German.
- Who writes the German text?
- It depends on the level you pick. At the first level you or your translator supply it, at the second and third I write it, from your material and in the terminology of that market. If you want a native speaker to review it before launch, that is arranged separately.
- Will the site show a language automatically by country?
- No, and that is deliberate. Automatic redirection by location locks people into a language they did not want and confuses search engines. The language is offered clearly, in a visible place, and the visitor chooses.
- How long does adding a language take?
- It depends on the number of pages and on who writes the text. When you supply it, the technical part is the shortest part of the job. When I write it, research and writing take as long as a new site of that size. The deadline comes with the quote, after the first conversation.
- What if the second market brings nothing?
- That is why measurement is per language and why I recommend one language first. If after six months it brings no enquiries, stopping is better than adding a third. I will tell you that from the numbers, not from a feeling.
Next step
First, whether there is demand there at all.
Send the site address and the market you have in mind. I check whether there are real searches for what you do and who is already there, then say whether it is worth entering.