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Questions

Why Google can't see translations done in the browser

Your site has a “Deutsch” button. You click it: the page switches to German. And yet nobody finds you when they search in German. Most of the time, the translation happens in the visitor's browser, and Google never sees it.

What happens

Some plugins send the page in its original language, then a script translates it in the browser once the page is displayed. The URL doesn't change: /our-rooms/ stays /our-rooms/. The language choice is kept in the browser (a cookie, or a setting).

As far as Google is concerned, there is then only one page: the one in the original language.

What Google says

  • Google recommends a different URL for each language, rather than a cookie or browser settings to change the language of the page.
  • Its crawler forgets cookies and browser storage from one page to the next. A language choice stored that way simply doesn't exist for it.
  • It only reliably follows real links, the ones that carry a URL. A button that changes the language with a script isn't a link it follows.

How to check your site in one minute

  1. Click the language of your choice. Has the URL changed (/de/…)?
  2. Open that URL in a private browsing window. Does the page open straight away in that language?
  3. View the page's source code (right-click, “View page source”). Is the translated text actually written there?

Three “yes” answers: Google can see your translation. A single “no”: it can't.

Sources (read on 15/10/2026)

  • Google Search Central, “Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites”
  • Google Search Central, “Fix Search-related JavaScript problems”
  • Google Search Central, “Make your links crawlable”
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