Europe · Languages
Choosing a website language for European customers
Lucas Brasso de Morais · · 3 min read
Choose the first website language according to the customers who need to understand and contact your business. A second language needs complete content, review and its own discoverable URLs; translating only the navigation is not enough.
Begin with actual enquiries, not the language menu
Write down which customers you serve, how they search and which language they use to ask about the service. An international practice may use English throughout the sales process. A local household service may need the local language to answer the same practical questions.
Do not assume that an English website will satisfy every audience in a country. Equally, do not add a language that nobody can maintain. The first version should be complete and useful for a defined buyer group.
France and Italy: make the service understandable locally
If your buyers enquire in French or Italian, plan service descriptions, contact instructions and practical information in that language. A translated headline with English body copy can leave the visitor with the same unanswered questions.
For international projects, English may be a separate useful version. Agree who supplies or reviews the copy and how updates will be applied to both versions. The same visual design can be shared while the content remains a separate responsibility.
Switzerland and Belgium: scope the audience carefully
A German-speaking audience in Zurich, a French-speaking audience in Geneva and an international English-speaking audience require different content decisions. In Belgium, distinguish French, Dutch and English needs rather than treating them as interchangeable.
A bilingual or multilingual site should let a visitor complete the same practical task in each supported language. Service scope, contact labels and booking explanations matter as much as navigation labels. Extra versions require time for writing and approval.
Denmark and other international-facing markets
An English website can fit a business in Denmark when its customers already buy and enquire in English. If the intended audience is Danish-speaking, approved Danish content should be in the brief. In the Netherlands, the same distinction applies between international English-speaking customers and a Dutch-speaking local audience.
Be explicit about what is available at launch. A page describing an English-language service should not present itself as native-language localisation. Add further languages when you can provide useful content and maintain it.
Build language URLs that reflect real versions
Give each published language version a stable URL. Canonical and language-alternate signals should reference the versions that actually exist. A selector should not send a visitor to a missing translation or silently show a different language under the same address.
Google’s multilingual guidance explains the technical signals, but the first requirement remains useful content. The €399 landing page and €599 website offers each cover one agreed language. Additional language versions, translation and review are scoped separately before development.
Sources and further reading
Prices describe Lucas Brasso’s own offer, not a market-wide benchmark. These primary sources provide supporting technical guidance.