Why a shared alphabet is misleading
Because nothing has to be mirrored, teams often treat French as a text file to be swapped in at the end. Then the menu wraps onto two lines, a button label is cut off, prices appear with the wrong separators and the French pages carry English titles in search results. Each fault is small. Together they tell a French-speaking buyer that the site was made for someone else.
A French version earns trust when it feels written, not converted. That depends on a handful of decisions that cost almost nothing when made early.
Decide which French-speaking readers you serve
French is used across several regions, and business readers notice when the wording comes from elsewhere. The grammar is shared. Vocabulary, formats, tone and sometimes legal expectations are not.
| Audience | What tends to differ | What to decide |
|---|---|---|
| France | Vocabulary, formal tone, punctuation spacing | Often the default when one French version must serve everyone |
| Canada, chiefly Quebec | Vocabulary, date and number habits, language rules for commerce | Whether a separate Canadian French version is needed. Take legal advice if you sell there |
| Belgium and Switzerland | Some numbers and terms, local currency in Switzerland | Usually served by the France version with local contact and price details |
| North and West Africa | Business French alongside Arabic or other languages | Whether Arabic will be needed too, which changes the design brief |
One neutral French version is a reasonable start for most companies. Write it for the market that matters most, avoid idioms tied to one country, and add a regional version only when sales there justify the upkeep. If Arabic is likely to follow, read our guide to planning an Arabic and English website now, because right-to-left support is far cheaper to design in than to add.
Give each language its own addresses
Each page should have an English address and a French address, so that links, bookmarks and search results always lead to the right language. A folder per language, such as a path beginning with fr, is the simplest arrangement for a single company website.
- 01
Translate the page names or keep them
French words in French addresses read well and can help in search. Whichever you choose, apply it to the whole site.
- 02
Link the versions to each other
Google documents an annotation called hreflang for telling it that two pages are the same content in different languages. It can also carry a region, which is how a Canadian French page is told apart from a France one.
- 03
Make the switch land on the same page
A reader halfway down a service page who changes language should arrive on that service page, in French.
- 04
Label the switch with words
Write English and Français. Flags stand for countries, and a French speaker in Canada or Morocco is not well served by the flag of France.
- 05
Let visitors choose
Suggest a language from the browser setting if you wish, but do not force it, and remember the choice.
Design for longer text and French typography
The same sentence usually takes more space in French than in English. Short labels grow the most: a one-word English button can become three words. Designs approved with English text only are the ones that break.
A layout ready for French
- Buttons and menu items grow with their text
- Headings tested with the longest French version
- Cards in a row stay aligned when one title wraps
- Accented capitals display correctly in the chosen typeface
- French punctuation spacing is handled without stray line breaks
A layout that will break
- Fixed-width buttons sized to the English word
- Navigation that only fits because English is short
- Text placed inside images, which cannot be translated
- A typeface missing accented characters
- Truncated labels ending in three dots
Ask your designer to show key pages with real French text at the first review. French typography also has its own conventions, including a space before some punctuation marks in France and its own style of quotation marks. A native proofreader will catch these, and the site should be built so that the space cannot fall at the start of a line.
Numbers, dates, addresses and forms
Formats are where a translated site most often gives itself away, because they sit in code and not in the text that was sent to the translator.
- Numbers and prices. French uses a comma for decimals and a space between thousands, and the currency symbol commonly follows the amount. The site should format these by language instead of having them typed by hand.
- Dates. Day comes before month, and month names are not capitalized. A date written only in digits can be misread, so spell the month.
- Addresses and phone numbers. Forms should accept the postal formats and phone formats of the countries you serve, without forcing an English pattern.
- Names with accents. Every form, database and email in the chain must store and display accented characters correctly.
- Everything automatic. Error messages, confirmation emails, cookie notices, search results pages and the page shown for a missing address all need French versions.
A worked example
An equipment supplier adds French
This example is invented to show where the effort goes. A supplier of laboratory equipment with an English website wants to serve distributors in France and Morocco.
- Which FrenchOne French version, written for France and reviewed by the Moroccan distributor for terms that differ. Arabic is noted as a possible later phase, so the designer is asked to keep layouts direction-neutral.
- StructureFrench pages sit in an fr folder with translated page names. The two versions of each page are linked as alternates.
- DesignA review with French text shows the main menu wrapping and three buttons overflowing. The menu is regrouped and buttons are allowed to grow.
- FormatsPrices and dates are switched to formatting by language. The quote request form is changed to accept French postal codes and international phone numbers.
- ContentA technical translator writes the product pages. The supplier's export manager, a native speaker, approves them and becomes the owner for French updates.
The French site launches complete, including emails and error messages. Because one person approves French changes, new products appear in both languages on the same day.
Plan the translation and the upkeep
- 01
Who writes the French, and from which region?
Why it mattersA native writer from your main market, with knowledge of the subject, produces text that sells. Machine output needs the same person to edit it.
- 02
Formal or informal address?
Why it mattersFrench distinguishes the two. Business sites nearly always use the formal form, and it should be consistent on every page.
- 03
Who approves, and who updates?
Why it mattersEvery English change raises the question of the French. Without an owner and a routine, the French pages go stale.
- 04
How will the content system show what is missing?
Why it mattersEditors should see at a glance which pages lack a translation or have an English version newer than the French.
- 05
Have French searches been researched?
Why it mattersBuyers search in their own words. Titles and headings should use the terms French speakers type, which are not always the dictionary translation.
English and French website checklist
English and French website checklist
0 of 10 checkedWhat to do next
Name the market first, then the owner. With those two answers, a designer and a translator can do their work properly. Put both into the brief, which our website project brief builder will help you write.
Our bilingual website development page sets out how we handle two-language builds. Send us your current site and we will point out what would need to change for French.
Common questions
Is machine translation good enough for a business website?
It is a useful first draft and a poor final one. Automatic translation handles plain sentences well and stumbles on headlines, product terms, tone and anything with a double meaning. For pages that sell or carry legal weight, have a native speaker with subject knowledge edit the result. Readers forgive an accent far more readily than careless text.
Do we need separate French versions for France and Canada?
Only if both markets matter enough to justify maintaining two. A single careful version is understood everywhere. A separate Canadian version becomes worthwhile when you have Canadian prices, offers or legal content, or when rules on language in commerce apply to you. Seek local legal advice on that point instead of relying on general guidance.
Will a French version help our search visibility?
It lets your pages appear for searches made in French, which the English pages cannot do. The benefit depends on proper setup: an address per language, French titles and descriptions, the versions linked as alternates and content written with the terms French speakers use. A French page hidden behind a language cookie gains nothing.
How much longer is French text than English?
Noticeably longer on average, and the difference is greatest in short labels such as buttons, menu items and table headings. Plan for it by testing designs with real French text and by letting components grow, instead of relying on a fixed allowance. The longest label in your own content is the only measure that matters.
Can we launch English first and add French later?
Yes, provided French is planned for from the start. That means a content system set up for two languages, layouts that stretch and formats handled in code. With those in place, adding French is a content project. Without them, it becomes a partial rebuild, which is why the decision belongs in the first brief.