Bilingual Website Development

Websites that speak
Welsh and English.

I build bilingual Welsh and English websites for public sector organisations, charities and businesses across Wales. Not an English site with a translate button bolted on the side, but one that works properly in both languages, from the menus right down to the error messages.

If you're a public body in Wales, the Welsh Language Standards mean your website can't treat Welsh any less favourably than English. Plenty of charities and businesses go bilingual anyway, because that's who their audience is. Either way, you want a developer who's done it before and knows where the awkward bits are, rather than one finding out on your budget.

I also do this for agencies who've won a Welsh client and want someone who can handle the bilingual side without a crash course.

Going bilingual touches almost everything, which is why it's far easier to plan in from the start than to add later. The things I sort out:

Every page, menu, button, form and error message in both languages
A language switcher that takes you to the same page in the other language, not back to the homepage
Layouts that cope when the Welsh runs longer than the English, so nothing wraps awkwardly or falls off the end of a button
hreflang tags and tidy URLs, so Google shows Welsh pages to Welsh searchers and English pages to everyone else
The right language tags, so screen readers pronounce Welsh as Welsh
A translation workflow that suits your team, whether that's in-house translators, an agency or a spreadsheet going back and forth

Most of my bilingual builds are on WordPress with WPML, which is what runs Meic's site. It's mature, it handles pages, menus and forms, and your translators can work in it without needing me. If something lighter suits a smaller site better, I'll say so.

How a build runs

Of course every build is different, and I can adjust to your requirements - but this is the rough approach I'll take for every project.

01. Discovery

We sit down, in person or over a call, and go through your goals, what isn't working now, and the practical bits of being bilingual: who writes the content, who translates it, and how long that takes.

02. Design

The structure comes first, then the visual design on top of it, checked with real Welsh copy rather than lorem ipsum. Welsh has a habit of running longer than English, and it's better to find that out in a design than on launch day.

03. Development

Where I get into my flow. Everything gets built in both languages side by side, across every device size and browser, with every content row properly editable in each. Accessibility, speed and SEO get handled as I go rather than bolted on at the end.

04. Testing

Your dedicated window to sit with the site in both languages and make sure you're happy with how it looks, reads and works.

05. Launch

More a moment than a phase, and one I've done hundreds of times, so downtime stays at the absolute minimum. Also a fair excuse for a small celebration.

06. Support

However much or little you want. Some people take it from here themselves, some want me on hand for updates, maintenance and content. Whatever suits.

Proof

Here's one I built earlier:

Meic.Cymru: Rebuilding Wales' Helpline Service for Under 25s

The free, confidential helpline for young people in Wales, rebuilt on WordPress with WPML so every page, resource and download works in Welsh and English, and built to meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.

Read the full story →

More work like this: Transport for Wales

"Alex is an exceptionally reliable developer who consistently delivers. He has excellent communication skills and can talk through trade-offs and make valuable suggestions."

Nathan Williams, Senior Development Manager, Promo Cymru

Frequently Asked Questions

Some things people often ask me:

Can you make our existing English site bilingual?

Often, yes. It depends how the site was built and how much content you've got. I'll have a look and tell you honestly whether it's worth adding Welsh to what you have or starting again.

Does a bilingual website cost more?

A bit, yes. There's more to design, build and test, and plugins like WPML have a yearly licence. The translation itself is usually the bigger cost, and that sits with your translator. Planning it in from the start is always cheaper than retrofitting it later.

Will having two versions of every page hurt our SEO?

No, not if it's set up properly. With hreflang tags Google understands the pages are translations of each other rather than duplicates, and you get to rank for Welsh searches too, which are a lot less crowded.

Do we have to have a bilingual website?

If you're a public body covered by the Welsh Language Standards, almost certainly. Your compliance notice will spell out exactly what's required. For everyone else it's optional, but if a good chunk of your audience speaks Welsh, it's a nice way to show you mean it.

Where are you based, and does it matter?

Cardiff, so Welsh projects are very much home turf. I'll happily come to you for the meetings that are worth being in the room for.

Next Step

Got a bilingual project coming up?
Tell me what you're working on, and I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit.

Book a meeting → Send an email →