A bilingual website in Algeria: why French and English, and how to do it well
A bilingual French / English site makes sense in Algeria when your clients, partners or investors don't all read the same language. It has to be built from the start, with separate addresses per language and genuinely adapted copy, not machine-translated at the end.
Who reads your site?
In Algeria, French is often the language of business. English opens the door to partners, investors and foreign clients. If both audiences matter to you, a bilingual site widens your reach.
What it involves
- two complete versions with the same structure;
- one address per language (
/frand/en); - tags telling Google the two pages are linked;
- copy written for each reader.
The technical details are in our article bilingual site: how to build it.
What about Arabic?
If your audience searches in Arabic, an Arabic version is justified, with its own constraints (reading direction, fonts). Assess it against your clientele.
Our experience
ABC Strategy & Management's site, a consulting firm in Oran, is fully bilingual, designed and developed to browse the same way in both languages. It has brought in 13 qualified opportunities since launch. See the case study.
Mistakes to avoid
- translating only the menu;
- leaving empty pages in one language;
- redirecting automatically by browser;
- not proofreading the English version.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a bilingual site take longer to build?
- A little, since writing and proofreading happen in each language. Design and development are shared.
- Can we add English later?
- Yes, if the site was built for it. Otherwise it's often a partial redesign.
- Which language first?
- That of your main audience. The other version is added with the same care.