Setting up a multilingual website without SEO mistakes
Going multilingual is more than translating. Where it goes wrong with hreflang and duplicate content, and how to set it up right.
Adding a second language seems simple: translate and done. In practice the translation is the easy part. The hard part is telling Google which version is for whom, without your language versions competing. This piece shows how.
What hreflang does
hreflang is the signal that tells search engines which page belongs to which language and region. Without it Google may show the wrong version, or see your Dutch and English pages as duplicate content and ignore one. Set well, they point to each other and reach the right visitor.
Where it goes wrong
The classic mistakes are always the same:
- hreflang references that do not point back (the link must be mutual).
- Wrong language or region codes.
- A language version that quietly falls back to the other, so "English" still shows Dutch.
- No x-default for visitors outside your languages.
How to set it up right
Choose a clear URL structure (for example the second language under /en), put mutual hreflang in the markup and the sitemap, and make sure each language has real, own content instead of a fallback. Measure after launch whether Google indexes the right versions.
Translation stays human work
Technology solves the findability, not the quality. A good translation is its own text per language, not a machine copy. The technology makes sure the right visitor finds that text.
This is how we build multilingual corporate websites that rank well in every language.