Parcha / Useful ideas
Planning an English–Spanish business website
How to plan a bilingual website for Puerto Rico and the United States: useful content, Puerto Rican Spanish, equivalent pages, inquiries, and search.
A language switch is a promise: the next page should help the same person complete the same task in their preferred language. For businesses serving Puerto Rico and the United States, plan the two experiences together.
Start with the questions a customer needs answered
Explain the service, who it is for, how the project begins, and what the visitor should do next. Translate the meaning and the useful detail, including forms, confirmations, and errors. A translated headline above an English-only inquiry is an incomplete experience.
Write Puerto Rican Spanish for the Puerto Rico audience
Use the vocabulary and tone your customers recognize. Prefer clear explanations of what you do to a literal translation of an English slogan. Keep proper names, customer-supplied wording, and verified business facts accurate across both versions.
Give each language a useful, stable address
Use a separate URL for each language version and connect equivalent pages with visible language links. A visitor on a specific service should arrive at that service after switching languages. Let visitors choose instead of forcing a language based only on their location.
Make the business details consistent
Business name, phone number, services, contact destination, and current prices should come from their maintained source. Update the source when a fact changes. Avoid independent copies of a price or phone number scattered through translated pages.
Review the complete inquiry in both languages
Use a test address to submit the inquiry. Check the required fields, validation, confirmation, and destination. Review narrow layouts with the actual Spanish text; translated headings and buttons may need more room.
A useful brief for the project
Bring the services you want to sell, your current website and domain details, examples of your work you can publish, the people who should receive inquiries, and the languages your team can support. Identify which details change frequently so they can be maintained centrally.