Wix Multilingual: About Locales
5 min
In this article
- When adding locales can be beneficial
- Example 1: A few regions with the same language
- Example 2: One prominent main language and one with a specific local
- Example 3: One region with a few languages
- Considerations for adding regions for languages
- Questions to ask yourself
- FAQs
A locale is a combination of language and region. Add locales to adjust your site's text for different physical areas of the same language. Locales align your site's content with the distinct needs of your target audience. For example, set versions of your site for English in England (en-GB) and in Ireland (en-IE). Each version will get its own URL and regional formats (e.g., metric vs. imperial systems).
Note:
- Setting locales is optional.
- Locales may be beneficial for sites that have different content per region.
- Selecting a region may reduce SEO discoverability in other regions.
When adding locales can be beneficial
Adding locales depends on the content you want to display to your target audience. It can be beneficial for sites that:
- Focus on specific groups of people.
- Cater to different regional preferences within the same language.
- Have content which varies between regions.
Example 1: A few regions with the same language
This is the best use case for adding a region per language. For example, let's say you built a site for a law firm with offices in both Australia and New Zealand. You can display your local teams in your sites about page for each country. It's justified to add locales because you know that your business is in specific places. Although both places speak English, you have different content for each site version. This may include different team members, legal terms, images of your offices, contact information, etc.
Example 2: One prominent main language and one with a specific local
Assume your site has a large audience in English. Now, you want to create specialty content for an English-speaking region like Australia. You can keep English (en) as your site's main language and not add a region. Later, if you have a distinct content variation, you can add a secondary language with a region (en-AU).
Example 3: One region with a few languages
This use case does not justify adding a region per language. For example, let's say you built a site for an online store. Your audience is in Canada, where both English and French are official languages. You can select one of these languages as a main language and the other as a secondary language. You don't need to add locales. The reason is that search engines already know the location of the site. They also know the location of your site visitors. That's how they show them relevant search results, and besides, the content is similar.
Considerations for adding regions for languages
- Effort: Managing several locales requires more resources and complicates content creation and maintenance. If your audience is small or non-segmented, the added effort may not be worthwhile.
- Business expansion: Consider the long-term implications of expanding your business. Adding a locale might help target a specific audience now. But later when you want to reach a wider audience, you will have more work. You will need to either add more locales or change your site's main locale.
- Commitment: To change your site's main language, you need to uninstall Wix Multilingual. This action deletes all translations. When you reinstall it later, you will need to translate your site again.
Questions to ask yourself
To sum up, adding locales is a powerful feature. It can improve engagement when applied with best practice. This can be well-appreciated by your site's audience. But it might not be the best fit for your site. To decide, these are the questions you need to answer yes to:
- Do you have a distinct difference between the different language versions of your site?
- Can you maintain a few site versions, know the local phrasing, and be able to adjust the local phrasing for each?
- Are you certain that these are the specific locales you want to target?
FAQs
Click a question below to learn more about adding locales.
Can I create different versions of my site for regions within the same country?
What are locales?
What are regions?
Do I need to know the local phrasing to localize the content?
Can I change my mind about the locale later?
Can I show different items on my site per locale?
