A DE/EN website should feel effortless to both audiences — and be understood correctly by Google. Most bilingual sites we audit get the visible part right and the technical part wrong. Here’s how to do both.
First: decide your URL structure
Before anything, choose how the two languages live on your site. The common, recommended approach is subdirectories: example.de/de/ and example.de/en/ (or /en/ on a .com). It’s simple, keeps authority on one domain, and is easy to maintain. Separate domains per language are more work and rarely worth it for a two-language site.
Whatever you pick, apply it consistently. Mixing structures midway is a common source of problems.
Then: implement hreflang correctly
hreflang tags tell Google which language version to show which user. Get this right and German users see German, English users see English. Get it wrong and Google may serve the wrong version — or treat your two versions as duplicate content.
The rules that matter:
- Every page references every language version, including itself. The German page points to both DE and EN; the English page does the same.
- Tags must be reciprocal. If DE points to EN, EN must point back to DE.
- Use correct codes.
deanden, optionally with region (de-DE,en-GB). Add anx-defaultfor users whose language you don’t cover. - Every referenced URL returns 200 — no redirects or 404s in your hreflang set.
Content: translate meaning, not just words
A bilingual site fails when the second language reads like it went through a machine.
- Localise, don’t just translate. Adapt examples, tone and cultural references. German business copy is often more formal and precise than English marketing copy — respect that.
- Translate everything, including the invisible parts. Title tags, meta descriptions, alt text, form labels, error messages and legal pages all need proper translation.
- Keep both versions in sync. When you update one language, update the other. Drifting content confuses users and search engines.
- Do keyword research per language. The literal translation of your English keyword often isn’t what Germans actually search. Research each language separately.
The mistakes we see most often
- Auto-translated content that reads awkwardly and erodes trust.
- Missing or broken hreflang, so Google shows the wrong language.
- A language switcher that dumps everyone on the homepage instead of the equivalent page.
- One language treated as an afterthought — half-translated, out of date.
- Untranslated metadata, quietly capping SEO in the second language.
The payoff
Done well, a bilingual site lets you serve German and international customers from one strong domain, rank in both languages, and look genuinely professional to both audiences. Done poorly, it quietly leaks trust and rankings. The difference is almost entirely in the details above.
Building or fixing a DE/EN site? We specialise in bilingual websites.
