How to build a bilingual website for the UK and France

A second language on a website is not a button that you add at the end. It is a second version of the site, written for people who buy in a different way, search with different words and expect different details. Done well, each version reads as if it was made for its own market. Done badly, it reads as a translation, and visitors notice.

This guide is for a business that sells, or wants to sell, in the United Kingdom and in France. It explains when a second language is worth the work, how a bilingual site should be built, and the mistakes that make one version weaker than the other.

When a second language is worth it

A second language earns its place when real customers will use it. Good signs are simple: you already get enquiries from the other country, you can deliver your service or ship your products there, and someone in the business can answer a customer in that language. If a French customer writes to you and nobody can reply in French, a French website makes a promise that the business cannot keep.

It is also worth asking how customers in each market decide. A UK buyer and a French buyer may want the same product but ask different questions before they buy. If the answers differ, the pages must differ too. That is the difference between a bilingual site and a translated one.

If the second market is only an idea for later, start with one language done well. A site built on a structure that allows a second language can add it later without a rebuild.

Translation or writing natively for each market

A translation keeps the words. A site written for a market keeps the meaning and changes what must change. For a business that sells in both countries, the second approach is almost always the right one.

• Search words differ. People in France do not search with a French version of the English phrase. They use their own terms. Our SEO and Google Ads service does keyword research separately for each language and market for this reason. A translation of English keywords is not enough.
• Tone differs. French business copy usually takes the formal "vous". UK copy is often more direct. A word-for-word translation carries the tone of the first language into the second.

Machine translation can be a useful first draft. It must not be the final text. A native speaker who knows the subject must read every page, every button and every error message.

A separate address for each language

Each language needs its own address. The clearest pattern is a folder for each language on the same domain: one address under /en for English and one under /fr for French. Every page then exists twice, once in each folder.

With this pattern, search engines can list each version on its own, a shared link opens in the right language, and analytics can show each market separately.

The page addresses themselves can be translated too. A French visitor is better served by a French word in the address than by an English one. Whatever the pattern, keep it consistent across the whole site, and do not change it after launch without redirects from the old addresses.

Multilingual SEO: language alternates, titles and the switcher

Language alternates (hreflang)

Each page should tell search engines where its other language versions are. This is done with language alternates, often called hreflang. In plain words: the English page says "the French version of this page is here", and the French page says "the English version is here". Each version points to itself and to the others. If one side of the pair is missing or wrong, search engines may show the wrong language to a searcher, or treat the two pages as competitors.

A default version can also be declared for visitors whose language matches neither. On a site for the UK and France, that is usually English.

Keywords in each language

People in each market search with their own words. A direct translation of an English search phrase is often not the phrase a French searcher types. Before you write titles and headings, check the words people use in each language: the questions your customers ask, and the suggestions a search engine shows as you type, are good places to start.

Translated titles and descriptions

The page title and the short description are often the first text a searcher reads, in the search results. They must be written in the language of the page, for the market of the page. An English title on a French page tells the French searcher that the page is not for them.

What the language switcher must do

The language switcher must take the visitor to the same page in the other language. A visitor who reads a service page in English and switches to French should land on that service page in French, not on the French home page. If a page has no version in the other language, the switcher should say so or go to the nearest useful page.

Two more rules. Label each language in its own language: "English" and "Français", not flags, because a flag is a country and not a language. And do not force a language from the browser setting or the visitor's location. Suggest it, and let the visitor choose.

Local details that show care

A bilingual site is judged on small things. Each one is easy to get right and easy to forget.

• Spelling. UK English uses "optimise", "colour" and "organisation". A UK site in American spelling looks imported.
• Currency. Show pounds on the UK version and euros on the French version. In French, the euro sign comes after the amount, with a space.
• Dates and numbers. Both countries write the day before the month. French uses a comma for decimals and a space between thousands. French month names take no capital letter.
• Phone numbers. Show the number in international format so that it works from both countries, and make it a link that dials on a phone.
• Legal pages. A site that addresses French customers needs mentions légales, the French legal notice that names the publisher and the host. Both versions need a privacy notice written for their readers, and cookie consent where the site uses cookies that need it. French readers expect the RGPD and CNIL terms; UK readers expect UK GDPR terms.

Common mistakes

• Automatic translation only. The text is understandable but not convincing, and nobody checked the buttons, the forms or the error messages.
• One address for all languages. The language changes with a setting or a cookie, but the address stays the same. Search engines see one version only, and a shared link may open in the wrong language.
• Mixed-language pages. A French page with an English menu, an English footer or English image descriptions. This often happens with text that sits outside the main content.
• Forgotten forms and emails. The contact form, its error messages, the confirmation page and the automatic reply email are in one language only. This is the moment when a visitor becomes an enquiry, and it is often the part nobody translated.
• One version left behind. New pages, prices or offers are added to one language and not the other. The two versions slowly tell different stories.

How DMC Kreatif handles it

English and French are the two languages this studio works in every day. A bilingual site is built with a separate address for each language, translated page titles and descriptions, and language alternates for search engines, so each version can be found in its own market instead of being a translation added at the end. On an online shop, payment methods, tax display and delivery options are set up for each market, in the language of that market.

The number of languages is one of the things the quote depends on, together with the number of pages and whether copywriting is needed. Our cost guide explains what drives the price of a website. You can read how a website project runs, or send a short brief through the quote page. Within 48 h you get a concrete approach, a realistic timeline and a clear quote.