How do you build a multilingual website?

Give each language its own pages and URL, have each version written natively, connect the versions with hreflang and adapt local details such as currency, payment methods and date formats. Arabic also needs a right-to-left layout.

Is machine translation good enough for a multilingual website?

It is a useful starting point, but a page published as-is often sounds unnatural and misses the words people actually search for. Have each version written or fully rewritten by a fluent writer for that market.

A tag in the page code that tells search engines which language and country each version of a page is for, and where the other versions are, so each searcher sees the right one.

Should each language have its own URL?

Yes. Search engines index pages, and each page should be in one language. Subfolders such as /vi/ and /nl/ are the simplest structure for most businesses.

What changes for an Arabic website?

Arabic is read from right to left, so the layout is mirrored, the page uses the dir="rtl" setting and an Arabic font, and every page is checked by someone who reads Arabic.

What Makes a Good Multilingual Website?

A multilingual website works when each language has its own pages and URL, each version is written natively for its market rather than machine-translated, and search engines can tell the versions apart through hreflang. Local details such as currency, payment methods and date formats should fit each country. For Arabic, the whole layout also runs from right to left.

Why does each language need its own pages?

Search engines and AI assistants index pages, and each page should be in one language. If a button switches the language but the URL stays the same, search engines usually see only one version, and your other markets find nothing in their own language.

There are three common structures:

Subfolders, such as example.com/vi/, example.com/nl/ and example.com/ar/. Easy to manage, and all versions share one domain. This is the structure we recommend for most businesses.
Subdomains, such as vi.example.com. Also workable, with a little more setup.
Country domains, such as example.vn or example.nl. A clear local signal, but more domains to run and promote.

Why not use machine translation?

Machine translation is a useful starting point, but a page published as-is often sounds unnatural to native readers and misses the words they actually search for. A Vietnamese customer searches for "thiết kế website", not a literal translation of an English phrase. A Dutch reader expects a direct, modest tone, and a Saudi reader expects polished, formal Arabic.

Have each version written natively, or fully rewritten by a fluent writer for that market. Research search phrases in each language too, because they rarely translate word for word. We show what this means for one market in website for the Vietnam market.

What is hreflang, and why does it matter?

Hreflang is a small tag in the page code that tells search engines which language, and if needed which country, each version is for and where the other versions are. With hreflang, a searcher in Hanoi sees your Vietnamese page and a searcher in Amsterdam sees your Dutch one.

A few rules keep it working:

Every version lists all the versions, including itself
The links work in both directions: if the English page points to the Vietnamese page, the Vietnamese page points back
An x-default version covers visitors whose language you do not offer
The codes are correct, such as en, vi, nl and ar, with a country code where needed (en-US, nl-NL)

Also translate the details people often forget: page titles, meta descriptions, image alt text, form labels, error messages and structured data.

Which local details matter?

Language is only part of it. Each market also expects:

Currency and number formats: Vietnamese dong in Vietnam (1.500.000 ₫), euros in the Netherlands (€ 1.250,00), Saudi riyals in Saudi Arabia
Familiar payment methods: bank transfer by QR code, MoMo and ZaloPay in Vietnam; iDEAL in the Netherlands; mada cards and Apple Pay in Saudi Arabia
Dates, times and phone numbers in the local format
Contact channels people already use, such as Zalo in Vietnam and WhatsApp in many other countries
Privacy and legal pages that fit the rules of each market
Photos and examples that local customers recognize

What changes for Arabic and other right-to-left languages?

Arabic is read from right to left, so the whole page is mirrored: the navigation, the text alignment, icons that point in a direction, forms and the order of steps. The page needs the dir="rtl" setting in its code, a font designed for Arabic, such as Noto Sans Arabic, and enough line height for Arabic script.

Numbers, brand names and email addresses still run from left to right inside Arabic text, so every page needs a check by someone who reads Arabic. Hebrew, Persian and Urdu work the same way.

How do visitors choose their language?

Give them a clear language switcher on every page that leads to the same page in the other language, not back to the home page. Avoid sending visitors to a language automatically based on their location: a Dutch speaker in Vietnam may still want Dutch, and search engine crawlers may only ever see one version.

How long does a multilingual website take?

Each extra language adds writing, checking and testing time. Planning all languages from the start is faster than adding them one by one later. See how long it takes to build a website and how much a website costs. If you are moving an existing site to a multilingual one, our website migration and SEO checklist applies too.

What we do

Atelier ATTENTION builds multilingual websites in English, Vietnamese, Dutch, Arabic, German and Russian, with each version written for its market, correct hreflang and right-to-left layouts for Arabic. See our multilingual website design service.