Why Your Website Should Be Multilingual (Not Just Auto-Translated)

Make your site discoverable and welcoming in any language with real localization, not just machine overlays.

I built this site in three languages from day one: English by default, Russian (my native), and Dutch (the one I’m learning). More may follow. Below are my rock-solid reasons why every site should be multilingual.

1) People search in their own language

Dedicated pages per language get their own impressions and rankings. Use hreflang.
Docs: Google Search Central — Localized versions.

2) Meaning and tone land better

Idioms, headlines, and microcopy (“Sign in”, errors, empty states) need human choices, not literal machine phrasing.

3) Not everyone uses auto-translate

Some in-app browsers and managed environments don’t offer translation. “English-only + hope Chrome translates” is brittle.

4) It’s respectful — and it converts

Many can read English, but prefer their native language for trust and comfort.

5) Your audience actually grows

English powers ~49% of websites, but it’s not everyone’s reading language. ~1.5B speak English (L1+L2 ≈18–19% of the world).
Sources: W3Techs — Content languages; Wikipedia/Ethnologue — Speakers by language.

6) It impacts revenue and engagement

“Can’t Read, Won’t Buy”: 76% prefer buying in their language; 40% never buy from other-language sites.
Source: CSA Research — Consumers Prefer their Own Language (overview: csa-research.com).

7) SEO rewards native pages

Separate URLs + correct hreflang (incl. x-default) reduce cannibalization and route the right users to the right versions.
Docs: Google — Localized versions • x-default blog.

8) Localization is more than text

Dates, numbers, currency, measurements, examples, screenshots. Use platform i18n APIs like ECMAScript Intl: MDN reference.

9) Support burden goes down

Clear, precise terms in each language = fewer “what does this mean?” tickets.

10) It’s easier than ever

Use GPT for a fast draft; humans fix tone, domain terms, and QA. Ship real localized pages, not a machine overlay.

TL;DR

Auto-translate is a great assistant, but “auto-only” leaves traffic, trust, and revenue on the table. The winning combo: machine draft + human editing + technical hreflang.