Checklist
A checklist for a multilingual WordPress site.
Walk it on a staging site before you launch. This is the list we use when a translated site should actually get found.
Addresses search engines can find
- Each language has its own real address. A folder like /es/ is enough.
- A translated page does not point search engines back at the original language.
- Each page tells Google which language it is, and lists the other languages. That's hreflang, including a default.
- The sitemap lists the language addresses you actually want found.
- A language is not hidden in a cookie, or only swapped in the browser.
On the page
- The title, the description, and the text used when someone shares the page are translated, not copied.
- Image descriptions are translated when they're real content, not a filename.
- Links inside a translated page point at the matching language.
- If you use Yoast or Rank Math, the extra details they add agree with the page people see.
Shops and forms
- Cart, checkout, and the mini-cart translate after the page has loaded.
- Prices and currency symbols are never rewritten.
- Order emails and form emails go out in the visitor's language.
- Your own copy of an order or a form entry stays in the original words.
Looking after it
- Your host's cache keeps a separate copy for each language address.
- A monthly limit exists, so a crawl can't surprise you with a bill.
- A staging copy doesn't call DeepL or Google unless you say so.
- You can export the translations if a person needs to edit them.
- Turning the plugin off later does not delete saved translations unless you choose that.
The longer explanation of addresses and hreflang is in themultilingual WordPress guide. How LocalePro implements this is onfeatures.
Want the plugin that already does this list?
LocalePro saves translations, gives each language its own address, and lets you cap the monthly bill.