A multilingual website in Brussels: building FR, NL and EN versions that actually rank

A module that translates the page on the fly in the browser creates no Dutch page: Google sees only one version, in the original language. Dutch-speaking customers searching in their language do not find you.

To be found in three languages you need three sets of pages, each with its own address, title, description and content.

Three options: a directory per language on the same domain, a subdomain per language, or a domain per language. For a Brussels business the directory is the simplest and concentrates authority on a single domain.

Translate the addresses themselves too: a Dutch page at a French address loses the keyword in the language people search in, and looks unfinished.

Each page must declare its equivalents in the other languages through hreflang tags, including itself. That is what lets Google show the right version for the user’s language, and stops the versions competing with each other.

One markup error on a single page is enough to break the group. Test with Search Console after every page you add.

A literal translation of marketing copy reads badly. Adapt examples, local references and phrasing. Brussels Dutch is not a Netherlands translator’s Dutch, and English often targets expats, who have their own questions.

Decide who will maintain the three versions. A language left six months behind signals a neglected site, in that language precisely.

Automatic redirection based on browser language, which stops Google crawling the other versions and frustrates users. A language switcher that sends to the home page instead of the equivalent page. Forms and confirmation e-mails left in one language.

Remember legal notices, terms and the privacy policy: they must exist in every language offered.