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Multilingual requirements are the biggest source of budget drift on Swiss website projects. The question is usually framed badly because it is presented as translation when it is really a market decision. Choosing languages therefore belongs in your Swiss website project scope.
The one deciding question
Not ‘which languages should I translate into?’ but: which market do I sell in, and do I have someone who can answer the phone there?
A German-language website generating enquiries nobody can answer in German creates unhappy customers. That is worse than not having it. The website’s language commits everything that follows: the first call, quote, follow-up and invoice.
The three practical configurations
- French-speaking Switzerland only: French alone. This covers the vast majority of small businesses in Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Valais and Fribourg. No reason to pay more.
- French- and German-speaking Switzerland: French and German, with two complete website versions. The German-speaking market represents around two-thirds of the Swiss economy, but opens only to those who speak its language properly.
- International customers: French and English. This is the configuration for professional firms, finance, watchmaking and businesses connected with Geneva’s international organisations.
Italian is really relevant only to Ticino, while Romansh is a very specific case. Including them ‘to be complete’ is spending without a return.
The cost, category by category
- Professional translation
- 900 to 2,500 CHF
- Integration and URLs
- 800 to 2,500 CHF
- SEO for the new version
- 1,000 to 4,000 CHF
- Additional annual maintenance
- 600 to 2,400 CHF
CHF 0.25 to CHF 0.45 per word from an established translator.
URL structure, hreflang, language selector and sitemap.
German keywords are not translations of French ones.
Every change now has to be made twice.
For a business website with six to eight pages. Translation is only a third of the bill: the rest is technical work and continuing maintenance.
The category everyone underestimates is the third. German-speaking Swiss customers do not search for literal translations of French-language phrases. Translating a well-ranked French page does not produce a well-ranked German one: keyword research has to be carried out again in the language.
Hreflang tags: the essential technical link
This is the technical element that tells Google which version to serve to whom. Without it, Google chooses for itself, often badly, and the two versions compete instead of complementing each other.
Three mistakes make it ineffective, and they turn up everywhere. The tags are not reciprocal: the French page points to the German one but not the other way round, so Google ignores the set. The language code is invented, such as `ch`, which is a country, not a language. And no fallback page is specified, leaving no designated version for visitors who match none of the others.
The automatic translation mistake
It is tempting, costs almost nothing and is noticeable. A German-speaking Swiss reader spots machine-written text within three lines. In a market where professionalism is the main purchasing criterion, that is a direct loss of credibility.
Google, meanwhile, treats automatically translated content published without review as low-value content. You therefore pay for multilingual infrastructure that neither ranks nor inspires confidence.
The practical route when the budget is tight: three or four key pages translated by a professional translator, with the correct tags, rather than thirty machine-translated pages. Expand afterwards if enquiries follow.
Frequently asked questions
01Should a Swiss website be translated into German?
Only if you sell in German-speaking Switzerland and can handle the entire business relationship in that language. A German website generating enquiries nobody can answer in German does more harm than good.
02How much does an additional language cost?
Between CHF 3,300 and CHF 11,400 for a business website, including translation, integration, SEO for the new version and annual maintenance. Translation accounts for only around a third of the total.
03Is automatic translation enough?
No. A German-speaking Swiss reader spots it within three lines, and Google treats automatically translated content published without review as low-value content. Three well-translated pages are better than thirty machine-translated ones.
04What is hreflang and why does it matter?
It is the tag that tells Google which language version to serve to which visitor. Without it, versions compete instead of complementing each other. It must be reciprocal, use valid language codes and specify a fallback page.
