Wix Multilingual app advanced configuration for SEO

The Wix Multilingual app goes far beyond basic translation. It offers advanced configuration options that directly impact how search engines crawl, index, and rank your multi-language pages. This lesson dives into the advanced settings, translation workflows, and SEO-specific configurations that most Wix users overlook, costing them rankings in their target language markets.

Translation Methods Available in Wix Multilingual

Wix Multilingual supports three translation approaches, each with different SEO implications. Manual translation gives you full control over every word on every page. Machine translation provides a fast starting point but requires human review for quality. Professional translation through integrated services balances speed and accuracy. The method you choose affects content quality, which directly affects how Google evaluates your pages.

• Manual translation: highest quality when done by native speakers, best for SEO because you control keyword placement and content naturalness
• Machine translation (Google Translate integration): fast and free but produces content that Google may evaluate as lower quality, especially for complex or nuanced topics
• Professional translation services (integrated into Wix): good balance of quality and efficiency, translators can be briefed on SEO keyword requirements
• Hybrid approach: use machine translation as a first draft, then have a native speaker edit for naturalness and SEO keyword integration

Advanced SEO Settings Per Language

Configuring SEO metadata for each language version

• Open the Wix Editor and switch to the target language using the language selector in the top bar
• Navigate to the page you want to optimise and open the SEO panel (Page Settings > SEO)
• Write a unique title tag in the target language incorporating your localised keyword, do not simply translate the English title
• Write a unique meta description in the target language that matches local search behaviour and includes a compelling call to action in that language
• Set the social sharing image and Open Graph title and description in the target language
• If the page has a custom URL slug, localise it for the target language using Latin characters
• Verify the preview shows correct language-specific metadata before saving
• Repeat for every page in every language, prioritising your most important pages first

Managing Translation of Dynamic Content

Dynamic content on Wix, such as Wix Blog posts, Wix Stores products, and Wix Bookings services, each have their own translation workflows. Blog posts must be translated individually through the blog manager. Products in Wix Stores require translation of names, descriptions, options, and variant labels. Each content type has SEO fields that must be translated separately from the visible content.

• Wix Blog: translate each post's title, body, SEO title, SEO description, excerpt, tags, and categories separately
• Wix Stores: translate product names, descriptions, SEO metadata, collection names, option labels (like Size, Colour), and variant names
• Wix Bookings: translate service names, descriptions, booking form labels, and confirmation messages
• Wix Forms: translate field labels, placeholder text, validation messages, and success messages
• Wix Members: translate membership area pages, login prompts, and profile field labels
• Custom dynamic pages: translate both the page template content and the dynamic data displayed on each page

Language Switcher Optimisation for SEO

The language switcher is more than a user interface element. It creates internal links between language versions of your pages, which search engine crawlers follow to discover and index all language versions. The placement, visibility, and linking behaviour of your language switcher directly affects how quickly and completely search engines index your multi-language content.

• Place the language switcher in the header where it is visible on every page, ensuring crawlers encounter it on every page they visit
• Use text-based language names rather than flag icons alone, as flags represent countries not languages and some languages span many countries
• Ensure the language switcher links to the equivalent page in each language, not to the homepage of each language version
• Display language names in their native script: Deutsch for German, العربية for Arabic, עברית for Hebrew, فارسی for Farsi
• Do not hide the language switcher behind a click or hover, keep it directly visible so crawlers can follow the links without JavaScript interaction
• Test that the language switcher works correctly on mobile, where space constraints may cause display issues

Handling Untranslated Pages

Not every page needs to be translated into every language. In fact, publishing partially translated or machine-translated pages can hurt your SEO more than not having those pages in the target language at all. Wix Multilingual lets you control which pages are available in each language, and using this control strategically is important.

Managing untranslated page visibility

• Identify pages that are relevant to all language audiences versus pages that only apply to specific markets
• In the Wix translation dashboard, mark pages that should not appear in certain languages
• For pages you choose not to translate, Wix will not generate URLs or hreflang tags for those language versions
• Verify that untranslated pages do not appear in the sitemap for languages where they are not available
• If a page must exist in a language but is not yet translated, set it to noindex until the translation is complete rather than showing machine-translated placeholder content
• Prioritise translating pages with the highest organic traffic potential in each language market

Structured Data for Multi-Language Pages

Structured data markup should reflect the language of each page version. If your English page has LocalBusiness schema with the description in English, the Arabic version should have the same schema with the description in Arabic. Wix automatically translates some structured data fields when you use built-in features, but you must verify that custom structured data added through the Wix SEO panel is updated for each language.

• Product schema: translate name, description, and brand fields for each language
• LocalBusiness schema: translate description, address format, and opening hours notes
• Article schema: translate headline, description, and ensure datePublished uses the correct format
• FAQ schema: translate both questions and answers for each language version
• BreadcrumbList schema: translate breadcrumb labels to match the target language navigation
• Review schema: keep reviews in their original language as they are user-generated content