How to design the architecture of a multilingual site

First of all, follow the recommendations applicable to all sites

Visitors reaching a page on your site will assess the professional nature of your business in a matter of seconds.

The first impression is often decisive. This is why we will propose a site with an original and professional graphic identity; we will study its ergonomics and navigation, and produce your text professionally in the languages of your choice. Visitors will therefore feel that they have come to the right place and will continue to browse your site.

Next, use a structure which makes it easy to add extra languages

If you are going to translate your site into several languages, from the start you must aim for a design which will make it easy to add translated pages.

Isolate the elements to be translated

For example, you can isolate the elements to be translated in a specific directory. This will avoid the need to go through the whole site to find the elements to be translated.

You could isolate all the elements to be translated in a database or specific file but don't forget that your translator will find it easier to work on sentences in context in a format which he is totally familiar with.

A translator will work more effectively with an html file containing continuous text than with a list of sentences ordered randomly in an Excel file. If you want a high-quality translation, you will have to provide the translator with sentences in context, taking care to remove all IT elements which are not significant for the translation.

Optimise your design by opting for a dynamic concept

By choosing a language which lets you create a dynamic site (ASP.NET, PHP, ColdFusion, etc.), you will be able to group all the shared elements of your site, such as page headers and footers, in a single place. The translator will therefore have to translate them only once; this will save you time and money, but you will also benefit from a consistent style.

Separate the programming logic from the texts to be translated

If your site requires some pages with programming, make sure you isolate the programming language. The translator will thus avoid handling files where there is a risk of injecting bugs and you will avoid having to test this page in all the site languages.

Don't forget to optimise the pages for search engines

You will certainly have to adapt certain pages to optimise them with a view to positioning certain key words in search engines. Choose a site structure which will allow your translator to make the necessary updates easily. Avoid an architecture which would require you to recompile your site completely each time it is changed: you will avoid a lot of worries.

Need help to adapt your site structure to multiple languages?

Our team has solid experience in website internationalisation and localisation.
Contact us now if you need any advice.