---
title: "Bilingual website: add Spanish, what it costs, Spanish SEO"
description: "Plan a Spanish version of a US business website: Census data on who it serves, translation vs localization, hreflang, locale prices and costs."
url: "https://dardo.studio/en/blog/bilingual-website-english-spanish/"
language: "en"
updated: "2026-10-15T14:06:56.770Z"
---
[Blog](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/)
# Bilingual English–Spanish website: how to plan it, what it costs and how to rank in Spanish
When a Spanish version pays off for a US business, how to set up URLs and hreflang, what it costs in 2026 and how to rank in Spanish, with Census data.
By [Nicolás Cerón](https://dardo.studio/en/nicolas-ceron/) ·October 15, 2026
## Key takeaways
- The Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey estimates that 44.9 million US residents aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, 18.4 million of whom speak English less than very well.
- Give Spanish its own URLs, such as an /es/ subfolder, connect each page pair with reciprocal hreflang, and don't redirect visitors between languages by IP or browser language.
- Machine translation costs almost nothing; the cost of a Spanish version that works is in localization, a qualified reviewer, Spanish search research, forms and upkeep.
- On 15 October 2026, one Spanish locale cost USD 9 to 29 a month on Webflow Localize and USD 20 a month on Framer with yearly billing; a coded site pays its framework nothing per locale.
- Health programs covered by Section 1557 must have machine translation of critical content reviewed by a qualified human translator.
## The short answer
A Spanish version pays off for a US business when three things are true: enough of your customers prefer Spanish, someone on your team can answer them in Spanish, and you will keep the Spanish pages as current as the English ones. If one of those is missing, fix it first. A polished Spanish site that leads to an English-only reply loses the trust it built.
A good Spanish version has:
- Its own URLs, usually an `/es/` subfolder, connected to the English pages with reciprocal hreflang annotations.
- Copy written or localized for Spanish-speaking customers in the US and checked by a named reviewer, not raw machine output.
- Spanish titles, meta descriptions, navigation, forms, error messages, confirmation emails and legal pages.
- A visible language switcher that lands on the equivalent page, and no automatic redirects between languages.
- Keyword research done in Spanish, and a way to reach you in Spanish: a phone line, WhatsApp or a form someone reads.
- An owner who updates both languages when prices, services or policies change.
The cost follows the work around the words: pages and words, who writes and reviews, Spanish search research, forms and integrations, and upkeep. Platform fees for one Spanish locale ran from nothing on a coded site to USD 29 a month, billed yearly, on Webflow's Localize Advanced. Every price and rule below was read on 15 October 2026. This guide is not legal advice.
## Who a Spanish version serves: the Census numbers
The latest release of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey is the [2024 1-year estimates, table S1601](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2024.S1601?g=010XX00US); the 2025 estimates are [scheduled for 29 October 2026](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/news/data-releases/2025/release-schedule.html). The 2024 estimates say:
- 44.9 million people aged 5 and over speak Spanish at home, 13.9% of that population.
- 18.4 million of them (41.1%) speak English less than "very well". For them, the Spanish page does the selling.
- 26.4 million (58.9%) speak English "very well". They can read both versions, and they will notice when the two promise different things.
- Among Spanish speakers aged 65 and over, 58.4% speak English less than "very well", which matters for health care, insurance and other services older customers use.
Spanish speakers are concentrated. California (10.8 million), Texas (8.3 million) and Florida (5.2 million) have the most, and in New Mexico, Texas, California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona they are roughly a fifth or more of residents aged 5 and over ([state view of S1601](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2024.S1601?g=010XX00US$0400000)). The largest metro areas:
| Metro area | Speak Spanish at home | Share of residents aged 5+ | Of those, speak English less than "very well" |
| ------------------------------------- | --------------------- | -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim | 4.24 million | 34.4% | 41.4% |
| New York–Newark–Jersey City | 3.86 million | 20.5% | 47.8% |
| Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach | 2.69 million | 43.9% | 48.4% |
| Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands | 2.21 million | 30.2% | 45.2% |
| Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington | 1.70 million | 21.8% | 40.3% |
| Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario | 1.62 million | 36.3% | 34.2% |
| Chicago–Naperville–Elgin | 1.61 million | 18.1% | 39.5% |
| Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler | 0.93 million | 19.0% | 34.6% |
Source: [ACS 2024 1-year estimates, table S1601, metro areas](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2024.S1601?g=010XX00US$3100000). The estimates carry margins of error; Puerto Rico is excluded.
To check your own market, open table S1601 on data.census.gov and change the geography to your state, county or metro area. Read two rows: people who speak Spanish at home, and how many of them speak English less than "very well". Then compare with your own records: calls, inquiries and customers whose preferred language you know.
How people reach you matters too. In a [Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/) of 5,022 US adults, run from February to June 2025, 56% of Hispanic adults said they use WhatsApp, against 23% of White adults. Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a language, so read that as a signal about contact channels rather than a count of Spanish speakers. We found no official source for the share of US searches made in Spanish, so be wary of any figure quoted without one.
## When a Spanish version pays off, and when to wait
| Question | Build the Spanish version | Wait, or start smaller |
| ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Do customers already ask in Spanish? | Calls, visits or messages arrive in Spanish, and your area's S1601 numbers are high | Few Spanish inquiries and a small Spanish-speaking population where you sell |
| Can you answer in Spanish? | Bilingual staff handle calls, WhatsApp and forms | Every reply would come in English |
| Is the offer the same? | Same services, prices and terms in both languages, or differences you can state plainly | Spanish-speaking customers would need an offer you haven't defined |
| Who keeps it current? | A named person updates the Spanish pages with the English ones | Nobody would notice when Spanish falls behind |
| Is any content regulated? | You can pay for qualified review of critical text | Critical documents would go out machine-translated |
Starting smaller means translating the pages that lead to contact (home, main services, pricing or FAQ, contact) rather than every page at once, and making each of them complete in Spanish. Google treats localized pages as duplicates only when the main content is left untranslated ([Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions)), and a Spanish page with an English menu and footer serves neither reader.
If most of your customers prefer Spanish, reverse the order: write Spanish first and treat English as the second version. Our guide to [Spanish-language websites for Toronto businesses](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/spanish-website-toronto/) covers that case for Canada.
## Translate, localize or transcreate
The W3C describes [localization](https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-i18n) as adapting content to the language, culture and other requirements of a specific market. In practice, a Spanish website uses three kinds of work:
| Approach | What it does | Good for | Who should do it |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Translation | Carries the same text into Spanish, sentence by sentence | Policies, specifications, help content where meaning must match exactly | A professional translator, reviewed when the text is critical |
| Localization | Adapts the page to the market: the words customers use, formats, examples, contact options and legal text | Service pages, pricing, forms and emails | A translator or bilingual writer who knows Spanish-speaking customers in the US, plus a reviewer |
| Transcreation | Rewrites the message from the brief so it persuades in Spanish; headlines and calls to action can change completely | Home page, campaigns, slogans and ads | A bilingual copywriter, approved by whoever owns the brand's claims |
Most sites mix the three: transcreate the home page and key headlines, localize the service pages, translate the legal and help text, and review all of it. Prices, terms and promises stay identical in both languages; the examples, proof and wording change. That is the work our [website copywriting](https://dardo.studio/en/services/website-copywriting/) service does in English and Spanish.
### Machine translation: cheap, and where it goes wrong
The machine pass costs almost nothing: Google Cloud Translation's [standard model](https://cloud.google.com/translate/pricing) is free for the first 500,000 characters a month, then USD 20 per million characters. A 15,000-word site is roughly 90,000 characters (about six a word, spaces included), so its whole first draft fits in the free allowance. The cost is in fixing what the machine gets wrong:
- **Register:** tú and usted mixed on one page, or a formal tone where customers expect a friendly one.
- **Terms:** a literal service name your customers don't use, or a different word for the same thing on every page.
- **Leftover English:** menus, buttons, errors and confirmation emails that sit outside the page text.
- **Meaning:** a call to action, a guarantee or a cancellation term that says something else in Spanish.
Google's [spam policies](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies) treat mass-produced pages that exist to rank and add little value as scaled content abuse, however they are made, and name automated translation among the techniques. Our own numbers agree: in October 2026 we retired 15 machine-translated languages from dardo.studio. They made up 795 of our 954 sitemap URLs and brought about four clicks a week. We kept English and Spanish, the languages we work in, plus Portuguese for Brazil.
### Who reviews the Spanish
Name one reviewer per page before writing starts: someone fluent in written Spanish who knows your field and can change the copy. Section 1557's rule gives a good yardstick even where it doesn't apply: a [qualified translator](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-92.4) has demonstrated proficiency in both written languages, translates accurately and impartially without changes, omissions or additions, keeps the original's tone and follows translator ethics, including confidentiality.
Give the reviewer a glossary: tú or usted (one, everywhere), your service and product names, terms customers know in English, and words that vary by country. Bilingual staff know your customers' words; professional translators know how to write. The strongest setup uses both.
### Health, legal and financial content
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, implemented in 45 CFR part 92, applies to [covered entities](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-92.4), which the rule defines as recipients of federal financial assistance, the Department of Health and Human Services itself, and entities established under title I of the ACA. In the eCFR text current on 15 October 2026:
- When a covered entity uses machine translation for text that is critical to the rights, benefits or meaningful access of a person with limited English proficiency, where accuracy is essential, or where the source is complex, non-literal or technical, "the translation must be reviewed by a qualified human translator" ([45 CFR 92.201](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-92.201)).
- Covered entities must give notice that language assistance is available free of charge, in English and in at least the 15 languages most commonly spoken by people with limited English proficiency in their state or states, including at a conspicuous location on their website ([45 CFR 92.11](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-92.11)).
- A June 2026 HHS notice says a federal court vacated the parts of the 2024 rule that extend sex discrimination to gender identity, and that the rule's other provisions remain in force ([Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/02/2026-11015/notice-of-vacatur-regarding-certain-provisions-of-the-2024-nondiscrimination-in-health-programs-and)).
For legal and financial services, the rules depend on your state and industry, and we haven't verified them here. Ask counsel which version controls if the two languages differ, whether any rule requires translated contracts, disclosures or notices when you market or negotiate in Spanish, and who signs off on the Spanish terms and consent text. Never publish machine-translated terms.
## The technical setup
### URL structure: subfolders, subdomains or separate domains
Google recommends [a separate URL for each language version](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites) rather than swapping the language with cookies or browser settings. Its guidance compares the options:
| Structure | Example | What Google's guidance says | Fits |
| ------------------- | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Subfolder | example.com/es/ | Easy to set up and low maintenance on the same host; harder to separate later | Most single-brand US businesses |
| Subdomain | es.example.com | Easy to set up, allows a different server, easy to separate | Separate teams or systems per language |
| Country-code domain | example.mx | Clear geotargeting, but costly, more infrastructure and one country only | A separate business in another country, not Spanish speakers in the US |
| URL parameter | example.com?lang=es | Not recommended | Avoid |
For a US business, the subfolder is usually right: one domain, one site, one analytics setup. A Mexican domain targets Mexico, not your customers in Houston. Translated slugs (`/es/servicios/reparacion-de-techos/` rather than `/es/services/roof-repair/`) read better; whether you get them depends on the platform.
### hreflang, done properly
Hreflang annotations tell Google which pages are language versions of each other. [Google's rules](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions):
- Each version lists itself and every other version. If two pages don't point to each other, Google ignores the annotations.
- The URLs must be fully qualified, including https.
- Codes are an ISO 639-1 language code (es, en), optionally followed by an ISO 3166-1 region code (es-US). A region code alone isn't valid.
- x-default names the page for visitors whose language matches none of your versions.
- You can declare them in the HTML head, in HTTP headers or in the sitemap; Google treats the three as equivalent, so pick one.
With one Spanish and one English version, plain `es` and `en` are enough. A matching pair carries the same three lines on both pages: ``, `` and ``.
Set the `lang` attribute too. Google reads a page's language from its visible text, not from code, but [WCAG 2.2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#language-of-page) requires each page's language to be programmatically determined (Level A) and passages in another language to be marked (Level AA), so screen readers pronounce Spanish as Spanish. Our [ADA website compliance](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/ada-website-compliance/) article explains why WCAG is the yardstick for US businesses.
### The language switcher
- Put it in the header of every page, and again in the footer.
- Link each page to its equivalent, not to the home page.
- Label each language in its own language, "Español" and "English", and mark each link with its own `lang`, as in the W3C's [example](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/language-of-parts.html).
- Skip flags: a flag names a country, and your Spanish-speaking customers come from many.
- Skip translation widgets that rewrite text in the browser: they create no Spanish URLs to index.
### Don't redirect visitors by IP or browser language
Google advises against [automatically redirecting](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites) users from one language version to another based on their presumed language, because people and search engines can miss versions, and it calls IP location analysis unreliable. In the US the problem is sharper: Googlebot's default IP addresses appear to be in the US and it sends no Accept-Language header ([Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/locale-adaptive-pages)), and a Spanish speaker in Houston has a US IP address like everyone else.
Platforms offer automatic routing anyway: Webflow's Localize Advanced [routes visitors](https://webflow.com/feature/localize) by browser settings, and Framer's [Auto Locale](https://www.framer.com/help/articles/how-does-automatic-locale-work/), once turned on, sends visitors who land on the default language to a matching locale based on their browser languages. If you use either, keep it to language-neutral entry points and never send someone from a Spanish URL to an English one, or back. On dardo.studio, /en/ and /es/ addresses never redirect; only language-neutral addresses pick a version from the browser's language, and a crawler, which sends none, always gets the same page. A banner offering the Spanish page is safer than a redirect.
### Forms, emails and CRM
- **Every form state in Spanish:** labels, placeholders, error messages (write your own rather than relying on the browser's), the success message and the page after it.
- **Emails in the form's language:** confirmations, autoresponders, reminders, receipts and the unsubscribe page.
- **A language field:** send a hidden `language=es` field with every Spanish form, store it on the CRM contact, route those inquiries to someone who replies in Spanish, and send follow-ups in Spanish.
- **Identical facts:** the same US-dollar prices, hours, address and phone number on both versions, and a Spanish privacy notice and consent text.
### Phone, WhatsApp and Google Business Profile
Say how to reach you in Spanish and when: a bilingual line or extension, the hours someone answers in Spanish, and a WhatsApp link if you can reply during business hours; the Pew figures above suggest it will get used.
Google Business Profile has no language versions. Its [guidelines](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177) allow one profile per location and require your real-world name, without extras such as the name repeated in another language, so "Se habla español" can't go there. Say you serve customers in Spanish in the description (which can't contain links) and in your posts, and answer reviews in the language they were written in.
## Ranking in Spanish in the US
### Research keywords in Spanish, not in translation
A translated keyword list starts from your words, not your customers'. A translator may write "presupuesto" where your customers type "cotización" or "precio", or translate a service name nobody uses. Build the Spanish list from Spanish sources instead:
- Your own conversations: call notes, WhatsApp chats, Spanish reviews and the questions your front desk hears.
- Spanish searches in your city: what the search box suggests in Spanish, and which pages rank for those searches.
- Competitors' Spanish pages, including local ones that rank without a big site.
- After launch, Search Console's performance data for your /es/ pages: which queries bring visitors and which pages they land on.
Remember the 26.4 million Spanish speakers who also speak English very well. Many of them search in English, so the Spanish version adds to your English pages rather than replacing them.
### Localize the metadata
Write each Spanish title and meta description from the Spanish research, not by translating the English ones, and keep them unique per page. Translate image alt text, Open Graph titles and descriptions, and the names and descriptions in your structured data. Google [lists](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites) local addresses and phone numbers, the local language and currency, and your Business Profile among the signals that show who a site is for, so keep them consistent across both versions.
### Answer what Spanish-speaking customers ask
A Spanish page that mirrors the English one answers the English-speaking customer's questions. Add what Spanish-speaking customers ask before they call, when the answer is true for your business: whether staff speak Spanish at the appointment or on the job site, which payment methods you take, what documents to bring, how long the first visit takes, and whether they can book or send photos by WhatsApp. Link Spanish pages to Spanish pages, so the navigation never drops a reader back into English.
## Platform support and locale prices (read 15 October 2026)
| Platform | How the Spanish version is built | Price for a Spanish locale | Watch for |
| -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Webflow Localize | Locale in a subfolder such as /es/; Webflow generates lang and hreflang tags and a sitemap with hreflang; localized SEO fields; AI translation | [Essential](https://webflow.com/pricing): USD 9 per locale a month billed yearly (12 monthly), 1–3 locales. Advanced: USD 29 (35 monthly), up to 10 locales. On top of the site plan | Translated slugs ("Localize URLs"), asset localization and automatic routing need Advanced. The pricing page lists 10,000 and 50,000 words a month; ask Webflow what counts toward them |
| Framer | Locales with manual or AI translation; [translated page paths](https://www.framer.com/help/articles/localized-page-paths/) are a setting; you can set a fallback language for missing translations | [USD 20 per locale a month](https://www.framer.com/pricing) with yearly billing, up to 20 locales, on Basic (USD 10 a month) or Pro (USD 30) | AI translation uses plan credits; manual translation never does ([Framer Help](https://www.framer.com/help/articles/adding-a-new-locale/)). Check that the fallback doesn't leave English text on Spanish pages |
| WordPress + WPML | Plugin; translation editor, string translation for theme and plugin text, menus, WooCommerce | [Multilingual CMS](https://wpml.org/purchase/): EUR 99 a year, 3 production sites, 22,500 AI translation words. Multilingual Blog: EUR 39 | The Blog plan doesn't translate menus or theme and plugin strings, so a business site needs CMS or higher. Renew yearly for updates |
| WordPress + Polylang | Free plugin translates posts, pages and menus, with subfolder, subdomain or domain setups and a switcher | Free. [Polylang Pro](https://polylang.pro/pricing/) from EUR 99 a year (ex VAT); WooCommerce add-on from EUR 99; Business Pack from EUR 139 (shown reduced from EUR 198) | Translated URL slugs, DeepL integration (your own API key) and XLIFF export for translators are Pro features. Renewals currently at 50% off |
| Coded site: Astro | [i18n routing](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/internationalization/) with locales, a default locale and fallbacks; exposes the browser's preferred language for you to use; the [sitemap integration](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/integrations-guide/sitemap/) can add hreflang alternates | No locale fee; the cost is development, and your headless CMS plan may limit locales | A fallback set to rewrite shows default-language content at the Spanish URL; prefer leaving the page out |
| Coded site: Next.js | A dynamic lang route segment, static generation per locale, and alternates.languages in the [Metadata API](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/functions/generate-metadata#alternates), which outputs hreflang links | No locale fee; the cost is development | The [documented proxy](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/guides/internationalization) redirects by browser language; keep it to URLs without a locale |
Webflow and Framer charge monthly in US dollars; WPML and Polylang list yearly prices in euros. On a coded site nothing is automatic: the switcher, hreflang and per-language metadata are built once and then cost nothing per locale.
## What a bilingual website costs
### What drives the price
- **Words:** every word, not only page copy: navigation, buttons, forms, errors, emails and PDFs.
- **Writing and review:** a reviewed machine draft, professional translation or bilingual copywriting, plus a qualified reviewer for every page.
- **Spanish search research:** keywords, titles and descriptions for each Spanish page.
- **Design and build:** room for Spanish, which often runs longer than English, plus the switcher, hreflang, forms, emails and the CRM field.
- **Platform fees and upkeep:** a locale fee or plugin license, and the reviewer's time for every update after launch, because every change ships twice.
### Published translation rates
There is no official rate card. The American Translators Association's [antitrust compliance policy](https://www.atanet.org/about-us/policies/antitrust-compliance-policy/) bars members from publishing or encouraging fee schedules and says the rates in its surveys aren't an endorsement of what clients should pay, so treat any "ATA rate" you're quoted with suspicion.
Some vendors publish their prices. Gengo lists English-to-Spanish translation [from USD 0.06 a word](https://gengo.com/professional-translation/english-spanish/) at its Standard level (a native speaker) and from USD 0.12 a word at Advanced (formal business use). Machine translation, as above, is about USD 20 per million characters after Google's free allowance. Copywriting and transcreation are usually quoted per project, because the work is interviews, rewriting and approvals rather than words.
### A worked example
Say your site has 25 pages with 12,000 words of page copy, plus 1,500 words of navigation, forms, emails and other small text. That's 13,500 words. Using only the published prices above:
| Line | Basis | Cost |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| Machine draft | About 81,000 characters, under Google Cloud Translation's 500,000 free characters a month | USD 0 |
| Human translation, Gengo Standard | 13,500 words at USD 0.06 | From USD 810 |
| Human translation, Gengo Advanced | 13,500 words at USD 0.12 | From USD 1,620 |
| Webflow Localize, one locale, yearly | USD 9 or 29 a month | USD 108 or 348 a year |
| Framer, one locale, yearly billing | USD 20 a month | USD 240 a year |
| WPML Multilingual CMS | Yearly license | EUR 99 a year |
| Not included above | Spanish keyword research, transcreation of key pages, review, design for longer text, forms, emails, CRM, testing, upkeep | Quoted per scope |
The per-word fee is the smallest line. What makes the Spanish version bring inquiries is everything in the last row.
### How Dardo quotes a bilingual site
We quote per scope after reviewing your brief; there's no fixed package and no minimum budget. Our inquiry form offers optional budget ranges (under USD 5,000, 5,000–15,000, 15,000–30,000, 30,000–60,000 and over 60,000), listed with our published starting prices on the [pricing page](https://dardo.studio/en/pricing/). A proposal for a [bilingual English–Spanish website](https://dardo.studio/en/services/multilingual-websites/) lists, for each language, the pages, who writes them, who reviews them and the delivery date, with platform fees such as Localize or plugin licenses as separate lines. We write and review English and Spanish ourselves; the design and build sit in our [web design](https://dardo.studio/en/services/web-design/) work.
To compare studios on equal terms, send each one the same brief. Our free [website RFP template](https://dardo.studio/en/tools/website-rfp-template/) builds one from your answers, languages and reviewers included.
## Launch checklist for a bilingual site
- Every Spanish page is Spanish throughout: content, navigation, footer, forms, errors and emails.
- Spanish pages declare `lang="es"`.
- Every page pair carries reciprocal hreflang and an x-default, in one place: the head, the headers or the sitemap.
- The switcher lands on the equivalent page and reads "Español" and "English".
- No automatic redirect sends anyone from one language's URL to the other's.
- Spanish titles, meta descriptions, Open Graph tags, alt text and structured data.
- Prices, hours, phone and address match on both versions.
- A language field reaches the CRM, and Spanish inquiries go to someone who answers in Spanish.
- A named reviewer, a glossary and one choice of tú or usted.
- Health, legal and financial text reviewed by a qualified translator or counsel.
- Search Console checked for the /es/ pages two to four weeks after launch.
- A rule for updates: no English change ships without its Spanish counterpart, or the Spanish page is flagged until it's done.
If you'd rather hand the plan to someone, [tell us about your site](https://dardo.studio/en/contact/) and the pages you want in Spanish.
## Common questions
**How much does it cost to add a Spanish version to my website?**
It depends on the number of words, who writes and reviews them, Spanish keyword research, forms and integrations, and upkeep. One vendor's published translation prices start at USD 0.06 to 0.12 a word, machine translation is nearly free, and platform fees for one Spanish locale ran from nothing on a coded site to USD 9 to 29 a month on Webflow and USD 20 a month on Framer in October 2026. Review, research and integration usually cost more than the translation itself.
**Should I put the Spanish version in a subfolder or on a subdomain?**
For most US businesses, a subfolder such as example.com/es/ is the simplest: one domain, one site and one analytics setup. Subdomains suit separate teams or systems for each language. A country-code domain targets one country, so it doesn't fit Spanish speakers in the US.
**Is Google Translate good enough for a Spanish version of my site?**
Not on its own. Machine translation is a useful first draft, but it mixes registers, mistranslates service names and calls to action, and misses menus, errors and emails. Have a fluent reviewer rewrite and approve every page, and use a qualified translator for legal, financial and health content.
**Should my website redirect Spanish speakers to the Spanish version automatically?**
No. Google advises against redirecting users between language versions based on their presumed language or IP address, because people and search engines can miss versions. Googlebot crawls from US IP addresses without a language preference. Use a visible language switcher, or a banner that offers the Spanish page.
**Should I use es or es-US in hreflang?**
With one Spanish version and one English version, plain es and en are enough. Add a region code such as es-US or es-MX only if you publish separate versions for different countries. Google accepts an ISO 639-1 language code with an optional ISO 3166-1 region code, but not a region on its own.
**Can I create a separate Spanish Google Business Profile?**
No. Google allows one profile per business location and requires your real-world name, without the name repeated in another language or extra words such as "Se habla español". Mention that you serve customers in Spanish in the profile's description and posts, and answer Spanish reviews in Spanish.
## Sources & further reading
Sources behind this page, with further detail from the original publishers.
- [U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table S1601, Language Spoken at Home](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2024.S1601?g=010XX00US) · data.census.gov
- [U.S. Census Bureau: 2025 ACS data release schedule](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/news/data-releases/2025/release-schedule.html) · census.gov
- [Pew Research Center: Social media fact sheet (survey of US adults, Feb.–June 2025)](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/) · pewresearch.org
- [Google Search Central: Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/managing-multi-regional-sites) · developers.google.com
- [Google Search Central: Tell Google about localized versions of your page](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions) · developers.google.com
- [Google Search Central: How Google crawls locale-adaptive pages](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/locale-adaptive-pages) · developers.google.com
- [Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies) · developers.google.com
- [Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177) · support.google.com
- [W3C: Localization vs. internationalization](https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-i18n) · w3.org
- [W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, success criteria 3.1.1 and 3.1.2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#language-of-page) · w3.org
- [W3C WAI: Understanding SC 3.1.2 Language of Parts](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/language-of-parts.html) · w3.org
- [eCFR: 45 CFR 92.4, definitions (covered entity, qualified translator)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-92.4) · ecfr.gov
- [eCFR: 45 CFR 92.201, meaningful access for individuals with limited English proficiency](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-92.201) · ecfr.gov
- [eCFR: 45 CFR 92.11, notice of availability of language assistance services](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/section-92.11) · ecfr.gov
- [Federal Register: Notice of vacatur regarding certain provisions of the 2024 Section 1557 rule (2 June 2026)](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/02/2026-11015/notice-of-vacatur-regarding-certain-provisions-of-the-2024-nondiscrimination-in-health-programs-and) · federalregister.gov
- [American Translators Association: Antitrust compliance policy](https://www.atanet.org/about-us/policies/antitrust-compliance-policy/) · atanet.org
- [Gengo: English to Spanish translation rates](https://gengo.com/professional-translation/english-spanish/) · gengo.com
- [Google Cloud: Cloud Translation pricing](https://cloud.google.com/translate/pricing) · cloud.google.com
- [Webflow: Pricing, Localize add-on](https://webflow.com/pricing) · webflow.com
- [Webflow: Localize features](https://webflow.com/feature/localize) · webflow.com
- [Framer: Pricing, locales add-on](https://www.framer.com/pricing) · framer.com
- [Framer Help: Adding a new locale](https://www.framer.com/help/articles/adding-a-new-locale/) · framer.com
- [Framer Help: How does Automatic Locale work](https://www.framer.com/help/articles/how-does-automatic-locale-work/) · framer.com
- [Framer Help: Localized page paths](https://www.framer.com/help/articles/localized-page-paths/) · framer.com
- [WPML: Pricing](https://wpml.org/purchase/) · wpml.org
- [Polylang: Pricing](https://polylang.pro/pricing/) · polylang.pro
- [Astro Docs: Internationalization (i18n) routing](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/internationalization/) · docs.astro.build
- [Astro Docs: @astrojs/sitemap](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/integrations-guide/sitemap/) · docs.astro.build
- [Next.js Docs: Internationalization](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/guides/internationalization) · nextjs.org
- [Next.js Docs: generateMetadata, alternates](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/functions/generate-metadata#alternates) · nextjs.org
[Nicolás Cerón](https://dardo.studio/en/nicolas-ceron/)
Nicolás Cerón is the founder of Dardo, a brand, web design and development studio in Bogotá, Colombia.
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## Keep exploring.
- [Service · **Multilingual and bilingual English–Spanish websites**](https://dardo.studio/en/services/multilingual-websites/)
- [Your project · **Start a conversation**](https://dardo.studio/en/contact/)