Give every French page its own address, link each page to its translation, and add hreflang notes that point both ways. Never choose the language by cookie, browser setting or location alone.

Translated, and still found in English

A national association with members in Quebec and New Brunswick paid for a careful French translation of its website last year. Every page, from the home page to the membership form, has a French version.

Its French-speaking members still arrive from Google on English pages. A search in French brings up the English version, or another organisation's French page.

The French pages are there, and visitors who click the language button see them. Google, it turns out, has never seen them at all.

One address, two languages

On many bilingual sites the French page lives at the same address as the English one. A language button sets a cookie, and the next page arrives in French.

Googlebot does not click buttons or keep cookies from one visit to the next. It requests each address fresh and receives the English default every time.

Sites that choose the language from the visitor's browser settings or location fare no better. Googlebot mostly crawls from the United States and asks for no particular language, so it gets English.

How to tell what Google can see

A few quick checks show whether the French pages exist as far as Google is concerned:

If the private window shows English, or the sentence search finds nothing, the translation is invisible to search, however good it is.

A separate address for each language

Each French page needs its own address. A folder such as /fr/ on the same domain is usually simplest, since both languages share one site and the links it has earned.

A subdomain or a separate French domain also works, with more to manage. What matters is that the page's language comes from its address, not from a cookie or a guess.

Translate the addresses themselves where the system allows, so the French page's address reads in French. It shows in results and in links people share.

Linking each page to its partner

On every page, the language button should open that page's own translation rather than the French home page. Visitors keep their place, and Googlebot finds every translation.

Each page should also carry hreflang notes in its code, naming its own language and the address of its translation. These tell Google which version to show a French-speaking searcher.

The notes have to point both ways. If the English page names the French one but the French page does not name it back, Google ignores the pair.

Do not redirect by guesswork

Redirecting visitors automatically by browser language or location sends a French speaker on an English work computer to English pages, and an English speaker travelling in Quebec to French ones.

Offer the choice instead, on every page, and let the address carry it. Remembering a visitor's preference for the home page is fine, as long as every page keeps its own address.

A worked example

A corporate training firm in Vancouver runs workshops on leadership, customer service and workplace communication for companies across Canada, in English and in French.

Its course pages had been translated by a professional translator, but sat behind a button that set a cookie. Training managers in Montreal searching in French found the English pages, or other firms.

The French pages moved to their own folder, with addresses and page titles in French. Each course page now links to its partner in the other language and carries hreflang notes both ways.

The sitemap lists both versions, the language button leads to the matching page, and the contact form, its error messages and its confirmation email now exist in French too.

Google can now fetch each French page directly and knows which English page it translates, so it can offer the right one to someone searching in French.

More than the body text

A translation that covers only the main text leaves French visitors meeting English at every edge: page titles and descriptions in search results, menus, buttons, image descriptions.

Forms are the most common gap. Labels, error messages, confirmation pages and the emails a form sends all need French versions, or the visitor finishes in English.

Downloadable documents and the site search should follow, so that someone reading in French can complete every task in French.

Why machine translation is no shortcut

Running pages through a translation program is quick and cheap, and the result reads as machine work to anyone who speaks French. Terms of the trade come out wrong.

Google's quality guidelines list unreviewed machine translation among the kinds of automatically generated content they warn against. A translator's review is what takes it out of that group.

Use a translator who knows the subject, and plan for upkeep. Every change to an English page needs its French counterpart, with someone responsible for it.

The counter-case

One French summary page for occasional visitors needs no paired pages or hreflang notes. A clear address for that page and a link to it are enough.

An organisation whose French readers arrive through its own newsletters and member emails, rather than search, loses less while the translation stays hidden.

But a full translation that Google cannot see is half wasted. Giving each page its own address costs little when it is part of the build, and a good deal more afterwards.

Giving the French pages their own addresses

  1. Test the language button in a private window.
  2. Search Google for a sentence from a French page.
  3. Give each French page its own address.
  4. Link each page to its partner in the other language.
  5. Add hreflang notes that point both ways.
  6. Translate the titles, forms and emails as well.
  7. Stop redirecting visitors by guesswork.

Step three carries all the others. Without an address of its own, a French page cannot be linked, paired, listed in a sitemap or shown in Google's results.

Inventory hidden behind the site search form describes another way pages stay out of Google's sight: listings reached only by filling in a form.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Google show my English pages to French speakers?

Often because the French pages share the English addresses and appear only after a button sets a cookie. Googlebot keeps no cookies, so it only ever sees English.

How can I check whether Google sees the French pages?

Open a French page's address in a private window, search Google for a French sentence in quotation marks, and try Fetch as Google in Webmaster Tools.

Which address structure works best?

A folder such as /fr/ on the same domain is usually simplest. Subdomains and separate domains also work; what matters is that each language has its own addresses.

What are hreflang notes?

Lines in a page's code, or in the sitemap, that name the page's language and the address of each translation. They must point both ways to count.

Should the site redirect visitors by language?

No. Browser settings and locations are poor guides to the language someone wants. Offer the choice on every page and let each address carry its language.

Is machine translation good enough?

No. It reads as machine work to French speakers, and Google's guidelines treat unreviewed automated translation as automatically generated content. Use a translator who knows the subject.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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