Selling in two languages on Shopify: what to set up
Adding a second language is mostly settings and translation work. The steps we follow, and the small parts people forget.
We have built bilingual stores, Vivir Sin Plagas in Spain being one of them. The setup itself is easier than most people expect. The real work is in the translations and the small details.
Add the language, publish it later
In Settings, under Languages, add the new language. It stays unpublished until you publish it, so you can prepare everything first. Once published, Shopify serves it under a subfolder like /es or /vi and adds the hreflang tags for search engines on its own.
Translate with Translate & Adapt
Shopify's Translate & Adapt app covers products, collections, pages, menus and the text in theme sections. Its automatic translation is a fine first pass. Have someone who speaks the language read the important parts afterwards: product names, buttons, shipping and returns notes.
Check the text inside the theme
Some text lives in the theme code, not in settings: button labels, error messages, labels for screen readers. A well-built theme keeps these in translation files. If English words are still showing on the translated store after everything is translated, they are usually hardcoded in the theme and a developer needs to move them.
Give visitors a clear switch
Put the language switch where people look for it: the header on desktop, the menu on mobile, and the footer. Avoid redirecting people by browser language without an easy way back.
Currency is a separate setting
Language and currency are set in different places. Currencies and prices per country are handled in Markets. Decide early whether prices are converted automatically or set by hand per market, because it affects how you run discounts later.
The small things
- Email notifications have their own translations.
- Images with text in them need a second version.
- SEO titles and meta descriptions need translating too, or the translated pages show up in search with English titles.
For brands in Singapore, English plus Chinese is a common setup. See what else we set up for Singapore brands.
