Does your company website need an English version? Structuring content in two languages

Whether a company website needs an English version doesn't depend on whether it "looks international". It depends on three things: whether English-speaking people will actually visit the site; whether anyone will keep the English content up to date after launch; and whether English-speaking visitors are looking for the same information as Chinese-speaking ones.

If all three are true, an English version is worth building. If only the first is true, start with a slimmed-down version. If none are true, you are better off getting the Chinese site right than leaving up an English page nobody has touched in six months.

First, decide who will read the English version

List your likely English-speaking visitors. They usually fall into these groups:

• Overseas clients or buyers, who want to confirm what you do, what you have done and how to get in touch;
• Overseas partners and investors, doing background research or due diligence;
• International candidates, reading about the company and its openings;
• Overseas teams of your domestic clients, who need a link they can pass on to colleagues.

Each group is looking for something different. Once the list is done, it becomes fairly clear which pages the English version needs. Many companies find that English-speaking visitors really need four kinds of content: company profile, services, case studies and contact details. News and event reports don't need to be translated item by item.

Structure: one framework for both languages

A common problem with English versions is that the Chinese and English sections grow separately, and visitors who switch language no longer know where they are. A more reliable approach:

• Keep the section structure the same. Both languages use the same navigation. The English version can drop a few sections, but it shouldn't have a structure of its own.
• Match pages one to one. The Chinese "服务 / 品牌官网" page corresponds to Services / Brand Websites in English. Switching language keeps you on the matching page instead of sending you back to the homepage.
• Give each language its own URLs. For example, paths starting with /en/. This makes pages easy to share and lets search engines index each language separately.
• Put the language switch in a fixed place. Usually on the right of the header, labelled "EN / 中文", without flag icons.

Settle the information architecture first, and the two languages can stay in sync over time. For what goes on each screen of the homepage, see What to put on your homepage. The English homepage follows the same three questions: what you do, how well you do it, and where to go next.

Content: rewrite key pages instead of translating line by line

English-language readers read differently from Chinese-language readers: they value a direct one-line positioning statement up front, concrete deliverables and verifiable facts. Chinese copy translated sentence by sentence often comes across as long, vague and unfocused.

We suggest three tiers:

1. Rewrite: the homepage, About page and service pages. Reorganize them around the questions English-language readers will ask; they usually end up shorter than the Chinese.
2. Translate and trim: case study pages. Keep the client, industry, deliverables and results, and cut background that only matters to domestic readers.
3. Don't translate: time-sensitive news and events aimed only at a domestic audience.

Set one standard form for the company name, positioning statement and service names in each language, and use them consistently across the website, social media and printed materials. That way, search engines and AI assistants see the same wording in different sources and can more easily recognize them as the same company, for reasons we covered in How to make your website easier for search engines and AI to cite.

After launch: who maintains the English version

The typical failure of English versions is that updates stop the day they go live. Decide before launch: when a Chinese page changes, who updates the English counterpart and within what timeframe; whether new case studies get an English version; and who replies to English enquiries that come in through the contact form.

A simple fix is to add an "English updated?" column to your content workflow, so it gets checked every time the Chinese changes.

Summary

To decide whether to build an English version, look first at visitors, maintenance and content. If you go ahead, have both languages share one structure, rewrite key pages for English-language readers, and agree on who maintains what before launch.

FIM's services cover information architecture, web design, front-end and back-end development, and SEO. You can see some of our work on the Digital experience page.