How to Build a Multilingual Website with Drupal 10

In a world where businesses are no longer confined by geography, connecting with customers in their own language is not optional; it is essential.

However, as of February 2025, English is still the most used language for web content, and your business website might also be using English as the default language. But, your potential customers might not prefer English as their language of choice. A growing share of global users expect to browse, research, and purchase in the language they are most comfortable with. For them, a site that speaks their language is not just convenient, it is proof that your brand understands and values them.

Of course, building a multilingual website is not simple. Even getting a single-language site right can be challenging. Doubling that effort to deliver accurate translations, consistent user experiences, and localized content can feel daunting.

This is where Drupal stands out. Unlike many platforms that require heavy customization, Drupal provides built-in capabilities that help you scale globally without reinventing your site. From Drupal content and configuration translation to language management, the open source CMS equips you with the tools to deliver personalized experiences to diverse audiences.

In the following points we will discuss why your website should offer multilingual experience, the four pillars of Drupal multilingual capabilities, and a focused approach to build a multilingual website with Drupal core modules. So without further delay, let’s begin.

Why Do You Need a Multilingual Drupal Website?

A multilingual website is about more than just translating content. It is a strategic approach to enhance customer experience, strengthen customer trust, expand reach, and drive measurable results. Here are some key reasons why investing in Drupal multilingual SEO and multilingual capabilities for your site pays off:

• Boost Conversions and Reduce Bounce Rates

Attracting visitors is only the first step. To turn them into customers, your site needs to speak their language. When users can browse, understand, and act without confusion, they are far more likely to complete a purchase, fill out a form, or make an inquiry. A localized experience supported by Drupal multilingual setup minimizes bounce-rates and creates smoother conversion paths for your business.

• Deliver Customer-Centric Experiences

Personalization is at the heart of customer experience. Language plays a vital role in making users feel understood and valued. Allowing customers to navigate and purchase in their preferred language builds trust and loyalty, which are the foundations of repeat business. With tools like the Drupal language switcher block, businesses can ensure that customers seamlessly access content in the language they feel most comfortable with.

• Improve International SEO

A multilingual website makes your brand discoverable in markets you could not reach with English alone. By targeting keywords in multiple languages and ranking on regional search engines, you unlock organic traffic from entirely new audiences. A focused Drupal multilingual SEO approach is a key part of Drupal SEO best practices, and helps you ensure that your website is discoverable by a broader range of audience, helping you expand your business.

• Gain a Competitive Edge

Offering a localized website sets you apart from competitors that rely only on English. For non-English speaking customers, your site instantly becomes the natural choice. Over time, this differentiation solidifies your position in the market and helps you claim a leadership role in new regions. Following Drupal internationalization best practices ensures your multilingual site consistently delivers high-quality, localized experiences that competitors may struggle to match.

• Strengthen Your Brand Image

A multilingual website signals that your brand is inclusive, global, and committed to serving customers wherever they are. Even if the immediate impact is softer than conversions or SEO, the long-term brand equity it builds supports all your other business objectives. By implementing Drupal content and configuration translation, you ensure brand messaging remains consistent across languages, reinforcing a trustworthy and professional image worldwide.

• Maximize Marketing ROI

Expanding globally through physical offices or traditional campaigns can be costly. A Drupal 10 multilingual site works as a 24/7 international marketing and sales channel at a fraction of the cost. It extends your reach and impact while lowering overhead costs, making it one of the most cost-effective ways to scale internationally.

Laying the Groundwork: Drupal’s Four Pillars of Multilingual Capabilities

Drupal 8 introduced multilingual support as a core feature, and Drupal 9 and 10 continue to provide these capabilities out of the box. At the heart of this system are four core modules Language, Interface Translation, Content Translation, and Configuration Translation. These work together with contributed modules like Locale and Internationalization (i18n) for advanced use cases. The core modules are often referred to as the “pillars” of Drupal’s multilingual framework. Together, they provide everything you need to manage languages, translate content, and localize the entire user experience.

Whether you try in-house development or hire any Drupal web development services, understanding what each module does and how they work together sets the foundation for a successful Drupal language translation modules setup.

• Pillar 1: Language Module

Purpose: Establishes the foundation for multilingual functionality.

What it does:

1. Adds and manages multiple languages on your Drupal site.
2. Defines which languages are available (for example: English, Spanish, French, Japanese).
3. Lets you set a default site language, forming the base for setting up language detection in Drupal and ensuring users are automatically served the relevant version of your site.

• Pillar 2: Interface Translation Module

Purpose: Translates the framework of your site.

What it does:

1. Handles the built-in text strings that users interact with, such as “Submit,” “Search,” or “Read more.”
2. Pulls translations from the Drupal community translation server to save time.
3. Ensures your site’s interface feels natural in every supported language, making it easier to manage your multilingual website.

• Pillar 3: Content Translation Module

Purpose: Translates the actual content your visitors read.

What it does:

1. Lets you create translated versions of pages, articles, and other content types.
2. Extends to custom blocks, taxonomy terms (tags and categories), and more.
3. Ensures your content is accurate and relevant across different languages with the help of Drupal content and configuration translation tools.

• Pillar 4: Configuration Translation Module

Purpose: Translates the site’s structure and settings.

What it does:

1. Covers elements like your Site Name, slogan, menus, and field labels.
2. Applies translations to Views and other configuration elements.
3. Ensures consistency so that the site structure is fully localized, not just the content.

Together, these four modules form the backbone of Drupal’s multilingual system. Once enabled, they give you the flexibility to deliver a seamless, localized experience across both content and configuration, an approach that aligns with Drupal internationalization best practices.

Building Your Multilingual Drupal Website: The Playbook

Building a multilingual Drupal site may look complex at first, but the process becomes manageable when you follow a structured approach. Here's a step-by-step guide to a Drupal multilingual setup that leverages Drupal's core modules for a fully localized experience.

• Step 1: Enable the Core Modules

Navigate to Extend (/admin/modules), search and enable the four multilingual modules:

1. Language
2. Interface Translation
3. Content Translation
4. Configuration Translation

As discussed earlier, these four modules are the building blocks of your Drupal 10 multilingual site and set up the foundation for further customization.

• Step 2: Add Your Languages

Navigate to Configuration > Regional and language > Languages (/admin/config/regional/language).

1. Click + Add language and select the languages you need.
2. Drupal will automatically try to download translations for interface text, saving you time.

You can also set your default language during this step, laying the groundwork for setting up language detection in Drupal and ensuring that the site knows which version to serve as its baseline.

• Step 3: Configure Language Detection

This step determines how Drupal decides which language to show each visitor.

Go to Configuration > Regional and language > Languages > Detection and selection (/admin/config/regional/language/detection).

Language detection can be configured by URL prefix or domain (SEO-friendly), User account preference, Session, or Browser language. Best practice is URL prefix/domain for SEO, then fallback to user/session/browser.

By carefully configuring these options, you’ll set up Drupal multilingual website in a way that improves usability and contributes to stronger Drupal multilingual SEO.

• Step 4: Enable Content Translation

Choose which types of content can be translated. For example:

1. Go to Structure > Content types > Basic page.
2. Click Edit, then the Language settings tab.
3. Check Enable translation.

Repeat this for other content types, blocks, and taxonomies (found under Structure > Taxonomy). This step is essential for managing content translation effectively and ensures your Drupal content and configuration translation strategy covers all key elements of your site.

• Step 5: Translate Your Content

Once content types are enabled for translation, the workflow looks like this:

1. Create a page in your default language (e.g., “About Us”).
2. After saving, you’ll see a Translate tab.
3. Click it, add a new translation, and link the translated version to the original.

This straightforward process demonstrates how to translate content in Drupal while keeping everything connected and consistent across languages.

• Step 6: Translate Configuration

Moving beyond the web content, your site’s settings also need translation.

For example:

1. Go to Configuration > System > Basic site settings (/admin/config/system/site-information).
2. Click Translate at the top and add site name translations.

This same process applies to menus, Views, and other configuration elements. By using Drupal content and configuration translation, you create a strong multilingual foundation. Each setting builds on the last, ensuring your site is not just translated, but fully localized for your audience.

The Essential Tools and Best Practices

Once the basics are in place, you can take your multilingual Drupal site to the next level with tools and practices that enhance usability, boost Drupal multilingual SEO, and improve overall user experience.

The following Drupal internationalization best practices ensures your site remains scalable, consistent, and user-friendly across all supported languages-

• Add a Language Switcher

The Drupal Language Switcher block can be placed in any region. In multilingual SEO setups, pair it with URL prefix or domain-based detection to ensure consistent language URLs for crawlers.

1. Go to Structure > Block layout (/admin/structure/block).
2. Place the Language Switcher block in a prominent region, such as the header.

Keep it highly visible so users never struggle to change their preferred language.

• Use SEO-Friendly URLs with Pathauto

URLs are one of the most visible parts of a site, and they matter for both users and search engines. The Pathauto module helps you generate clean, translated URL aliases automatically.

1. Use Pathauto with language tokens (e.g., en) to generate SEO-friendly, language-specific URLs. Combine with the Redirect module to handle canonical redirects. Example: /about-us becomes /a-propos in French.
2. Configure patterns that include a language prefix (for example: /en/How to Build a Multilingual Website with Drupal 10).
3. This improves clarity and ensures your multilingual structure is search-friendly.

Implementing user-friendly URLs improve clarity and ensure your multilingual structure is search-friendly, strengthening your Drupal multilingual SEO efforts.

• Enable Automatic Redirection

The Redirect module can enhance user experience by automatically directing visitors to their preferred language version.

1. Often paired with browser detection.
2. Prevents confusion when a user lands on the wrong language page.

Provides smoother entry points for international audiences.

• Leverage hreflang Tags for SEO

Search engines need to understand that your pages exist in multiple languages. That’s where hreflang tags come in. They signal to Google and other search engines which version of a page to serve in which region.

Drupal handles hreflang tags automatically when multilingual features are configured correctly. This is a critical aspect of Drupal multilingual SEO, ensuring your site avoids duplicate content issues and improves visibility across markets.

Going multilingual isn’t just about translation, it’s about building a site that feels natural, optimized, and user-friendly in every language. These tools and practices ensure your Drupal site performs at a global standard while aligning with Drupal internationalization best practices.

Conclusion: You’re Ready to Go Global

Expanding your site into multiple languages can feel overwhelming, but Drupal makes the process far more manageable. With its four multilingual core modules, you have the foundation to translate not just content but also the interface and site configuration. Add in tools like Pathauto, Redirect, and the Drupal language switcher block, and you are equipped to deliver a seamless, localized experience that feels natural for every visitor.

Going multilingual is more than a technical upgrade. It is a business strategy that improves customer experience, boosts conversion rates, strengthens brand credibility, and opens the door to entirely new markets. By following the Drupal internationalization best practices, you can achieve all of this without building complex systems from scratch.

Key Takeaways

1. A multilingual website is essential for trust, conversions, SEO, and global reach.
2. Drupal provides four core modules- Language, Interface Translation, Content Translation, and Configuration Translation. These core modules form the backbone of a multilingual site.
3. Following a structured approach makes setup straightforward: enable modules, add languages, configure detection, and translate both content and configuration.
4. Advanced tools like Pathauto, Redirect, and hreflang support take your site from functional to fully optimized.
5. A multilingual Drupal site is not just about translation; it is about creating meaningful connections with users around the world.

With the right setup and best practices, you are now ready to take your Drupal site global and give every visitor an experience that feels built just for them.

Want to know more about the benefits of building a multilingual website with Drupal? Connect with our experts today!