Should Your Welsh Business Have a Bilingual Website?

Most private businesses in Wales are not legally required to have a bilingual website, but many choose to. A Welsh and English site builds trust, reaches Welsh-speaking customers, helps win public-sector contracts, and sets you apart from competitors. Whether it’s right for you depends on your audience, location, budget and goals.

Welsh is an official language in Wales, and the Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 strategy aims for a million Welsh speakers by 2050, so the language is becoming more visible, not less. That leads a lot of business owners to ask whether their website should be bilingual. The honest answer is that it’s a decision, not an obligation for most. This guide walks through the legal facts, the benefits, the cost, and how to do it properly, so you can decide what’s right for your business.

Key takeaways

• Not legally required for most private businesses, the Standards apply to public bodies.
• A genuine advantage: trust, differentiation, tenders and Welsh-language search visibility.
• Most worth it in Welsh-speaking areas, for public-sector work, and for community brands.
• Start small if needed: translate key pages first, with free help from Helo Blod.
• Do it properly: human translation, indexable pages, hreflang, a clear toggle.
• Quality over speed: poor Welsh can do more harm than none.

Is a bilingual website a legal requirement in Wales?

No, a bilingual website is not a legal requirement for most private businesses in Wales. The Welsh Language Standards, under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, apply to public sector and statutory bodies, not typical private companies. You may still face Welsh-language requirements when bidding for public-sector contracts or grant-funded work.

It’s worth being clear on this, because it’s widely misunderstood. The Welsh Language Standards, enforced by the Welsh Language Commissioner, place legally binding duties on public and statutory bodies, councils, the NHS, government departments, regulators and the like, to provide Welsh-language services and treat Welsh no less favourably than English. A typical private business, a shop, a tradesperson, a restaurant, an agency, has no such legal duty for its website. The main exception is when you contract with or tender to public bodies, where bilingual delivery is often required, so check the specific requirements of any public-sector work you pursue.

What are the benefits of a bilingual website for a Welsh business?

A bilingual website builds trust with Welsh-speaking customers, shows respect for the language and community, and sets you apart, since only a small share of businesses offer a full Welsh service. It can also help you win public-sector contracts, support your brand’s local identity, and capture Welsh-language searches that competitors ignore.

Even though it’s optional, a Welsh-language offer carries real advantages:

• Trust and goodwill: Welsh speakers respond positively to businesses that use the language, and it signals you’re genuinely part of the community.
• A point of difference: research suggests only around one in eight businesses offers a complete Welsh-language service, so doing so helps you stand out.
• Public-sector and grant work: bilingual capability strengthens tenders and is sometimes required.
• Search visibility: genuine Welsh pages can rank for Welsh-language searches few rivals target.
• Brand identity: it reinforces a proudly Welsh brand, which matters to many customers.

You can also gain formal recognition. The Welsh Language Commissioner’s Cynnig Cymraeg (Welsh Offer) scheme acknowledges businesses and charities that provide services in Welsh, giving you a mark you can display to show your commitment and reassure Welsh-speaking customers.

When is a bilingual website most worth it?

A bilingual website is most worth it for businesses serving Welsh-speaking areas, those bidding for public-sector or grant-funded work, community-focused and local businesses, and brands that want to signal they’re genuinely rooted in Wales. The stronger the Welsh-speaking presence in your market, the greater the benefit of offering Welsh.

Welsh is spoken across Wales, but more widely in some areas than others, with strong Welsh-speaking communities in places like Gwynedd, Anglesey, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and a more mixed picture in the south-east. The more your customers use Welsh, or value seeing it, the more a bilingual site pays off. It’s also worth it if your values or your public-sector ambitions make a Welsh offer important, regardless of where you’re based. For example, a family-run business in Carmarthenshire, or a firm chasing council and NHS contracts, has a far clearer case for a bilingual site than an online retailer selling UK-wide.

When might you not need a fully bilingual website?

You might not need a fully bilingual website if your budget is tight, your customers rarely use Welsh, or you serve mainly national or international markets. In those cases you can start small, translating key pages or your homepage rather than the whole site, and expand later if it proves worthwhile, rather than committing everything upfront.

A bilingual site is a commitment: two versions to build, translate and keep in sync. If that’s not justified by your audience or budget right now, a partial approach is perfectly reasonable. Translating your homepage, contact details and core service pages, while leaving deeper content in English for now, still signals respect and serves Welsh speakers, at a fraction of the cost and upkeep of a fully bilingual site.

What should you translate first?

If you’re starting partial, translate the pages that matter most to Welsh-speaking visitors first: your homepage, your main service or product pages, your contact and about pages, and any key calls to action. These carry the most value and signal your Welsh offer clearly, before you extend translation to blog posts and deeper content.

A sensible order is:

• Homepage, your front door and the clearest signal of a Welsh offer.
• Core service or product pages, where customers decide.
• Contact and about pages, so Welsh speakers can reach you in Welsh.
• Key calls to action and forms, so the whole journey works end to end.
• Blog and deeper content, last, as budget allows.

Translating in this order means the most important parts of your site serve Welsh speakers first, and you spread the cost over time rather than facing it all at once. You can always extend the Welsh version later as the value becomes clear.

How much does a bilingual website cost, and is there free help?

A bilingual website costs more than a single-language one, mainly for professional translation and the ongoing upkeep of two versions. But you can reduce this: Helo Blod, a Welsh Government service, offers free Welsh translation and advice for small businesses, and Business Wales provides free guidance. Starting with key pages keeps costs manageable.

The extra cost comes from translation and from maintaining both languages whenever you update the site, so factor in upkeep, not just the initial build. The good news is the support available. Helo Blod will translate short pieces of text for free and offer advice, which is ideal for a small business getting started, and Business Wales, itself fully bilingual, can point you to further help.

Prioritising your most important pages first spreads the cost and lets you test the value before going further. Costs depend mainly on how many pages you translate and how your site is built: a small brochure site is far cheaper to make bilingual than a large site with hundreds of pages or an online shop.

How do you build a bilingual website properly?

Build a bilingual website properly by using professional translation, not machine translation, giving each language its own indexable pages (for example /cy/ and /en/ URLs), adding hreflang tags so Google serves the right version, including a clear language toggle, and keeping both versions in sync. Done this way, both languages can rank and read naturally.

The technical setup matters as much as the words. To do it right:

• Use professional, human translation. Poor or machine-translated Welsh can offend and undermine trust.
• Give each language real, indexable pages, typically under /cy/ and /en/ paths, not a translate button that hides content from search engines.
• Add hreflang tags so Google shows the right language to the right user.
• Set the correct lang attribute on each page (cy or en).
• Provide a clear language toggle on every page.
• Keep both versions in sync whenever you update content.

If you’d like this handled properly, we build bilingual websites for businesses across South Wales and can advise on what’s worth translating.

Does a bilingual website help your SEO?

Yes, a bilingual website can help your SEO if it’s built properly. Genuine Welsh-language pages let you rank for Welsh searches that few competitors target, and hreflang tags help Google serve the right language. Done badly, with machine translation or duplicate content, it can confuse search engines and harm rankings, so quality and correct setup matter.

Because relatively few businesses offer proper Welsh content, the competition for Welsh-language searches is often low, which can be an opportunity if your audience searches in Welsh. The key is that each language version is genuine, indexable content with the right hreflang and lang signals, so Google understands and serves each correctly. A bilingual site bolted together with an auto-translate plugin tends to create thin or duplicate pages that help no one, so invest in doing it properly or not at all. It also helps to link between the Welsh and English versions of each page and to include both in your sitemap, so search engines discover and understand the full bilingual structure.

Common bilingual website mistakes

The most common bilingual website mistakes are relying on Google Translate, treating Welsh as an afterthought, letting the two versions fall out of sync, missing hreflang tags, and burying the language toggle. Poor Welsh can do more harm than no Welsh, so quality and proper technical setup matter more than speed.

• Using machine translation instead of professional, human translation.
• Translating some pages and forgetting others, so the Welsh version is incomplete.
• Letting the Welsh and English versions drift out of sync after updates.
• Missing hreflang tags, so Google serves the wrong language.
• Hiding the language toggle where visitors can’t find it.
• Assuming a bilingual site is legally required when, for most businesses, it isn’t.

Frequently asked questions

Is it a legal requirement to have a Welsh language website?

No, not for most private businesses. The Welsh Language Standards under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 apply to public sector and statutory bodies, not typical private companies. However, bilingual provision is often required when bidding for public-sector contracts or grant-funded work, so check the requirements of any such work.

How many people speak Welsh?

Around half a million people in Wales can speak Welsh, according to the 2021 census, with the Welsh Government’s surveys suggesting higher figures. Welsh is spoken across the country, more widely in areas like Gwynedd, Anglesey and Ceredigion. The Cymraeg 2050 strategy aims for a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Can I use Google Translate for my Welsh website?

It’s strongly advised not to. Machine translation often produces awkward or incorrect Welsh, which can offend Welsh speakers and damage trust, doing more harm than no Welsh at all. Use professional, human translation instead. For small businesses, the free Helo Blod service from the Welsh Government can translate short pieces of text.

How do I get my website translated into Welsh for free?

Helo Blod, a free service from the Welsh Government, offers Welsh translation of short pieces of text and advice for small businesses at no cost. Business Wales can also point you to support. For a full website, prioritise your key pages and use these free services to keep your costs down.

Does a bilingual website help with SEO in Wales?

Yes, if built properly. Genuine, indexable Welsh pages with correct hreflang tags let you rank for Welsh-language searches that few competitors target, which can be a real opportunity. Done badly, with machine translation or duplicate content, it can confuse search engines and harm your rankings, so quality matters.