Select the right Multilingualizer for Squarespace

Why This Matters

If you’re running a business in a bilingual region, or simply aiming for a slice of the home-cooked international market pie, you've probably realised that serving more than one language on your website isn't a lovely cherry on top. It's vital. Things get sticky for Squarespace website owners at this stage.

Squarespace is celebrated for its user-friendly design and elegant templates. But, despite all its strengths, there’s still a major limitation: there’s no built-in, native support for making your site available in multiple languages.

The result? Many website owners waste hours researching workarounds, patching together half-baked solutions, and even paying for add-ons that don’t quite fit. Worse still, a site that fumbles language switchover can torpedo your credibility with new visitors and lose customers who are moments away from buying or booking.

The bottom line is simple: adding a second (or third, or fourth) language to Squarespace is a requirement you cannot ignore or hope to muddle through.

Common Pitfalls

If we had a pound for every time a client stumbled on the multilingual conundrum, we’d be hosting this content from a yacht. These are the top mistakes we see every week:

1. Assuming there’s an “Add Language” Button
   Squarespace promises ease of use, but this is one area where you’re left to your own devices.

2. Relying Entirely on Machine Translation
   Many jump straight to machine solutions like Google Translate, without considering how often those versions turn your careful copy into something resembling a ransom note.

3. Duplicating Your Site, Then Dreading Upkeep
   Creating complete clones of your site for each language sounds clever until you realise you’ll be updating content, images, and blog posts in multiple places for eternity.

4. Budget Blindness
   Some tools look like bargains initially, but forget to factor in translation costs, subscription fees, and oh, your time (which you can’t invoice to yourself).

5. Missing Navigation Nightmare
   When navigation isn’t set up properly for each language, visitors get lost or give up.

Avoiding these tripwires is far cheaper than untangling the web later.

Step-by-Step Fix

Here's how to approach building a multilingual Squarespace site, based on what’s worked in dozens of real projects at Pixelhaze. Choose the approach that fits your needs, and make sure you understand the trade-offs.

Step 1: Decide How Many Languages & Who Does the Translating

First, ask the blunt questions:

• How many languages do you need? Are you choosing two, or planning to expand globally from the start?
• Do you have access to human translators who can do your content justice, or are you going to rely (even partly) on machine translation?
• What’s your real budget, factoring in not just the tech but also the ongoing cost in time and money for keeping everything updated?

Step 2: Pick Your Multilingual Solution

Option 1: Bablic – The Visual, Professional Route

Bablic is our top pick for most Squarespace projects. It’s built specifically to help people who don’t want to wrestle with code or constantly duplicate page structures.

How it works:
You add a single snippet of Bablic-provided code to your Squarespace site. Then you use their online visual editor to overlay translations, swap images, and fine-tune layouts for each language if needed. You can upload your own human translations or let Bablic’s machine translation provide a first draft, which you can then tidy up.

Price:
About £230 per year for the standard package (check our voucher page if you’re an Academy member—discounts available). This does not include paying for professional translations; you supply those, or let Bablic connect you to a provider at extra cost.

Pros

• Quick setup, no messy code
• Maintains your navigation menus, blogs, and galleries in sync
• Professional image: language-switcher widgets look clean, not bolted on
• WYSIWYG editing is as simple as point-and-click

Cons

• Subscription cost is higher than some hosting plans
• You must supply accurate translations for professional results
• If you disable automatic translation, don’t forget to update all content manually
• Pricing goes up if you have a large or complex site

Option 2: Use Multiple Menus in Squarespace – The DIY Tactic

For small sites with only a few pages and a tight budget, you can use Squarespace’s inbuilt features:

• Duplicate each page for every language. E.g., “About (EN)” and “À propos (FR).”
• Set up menu navigation so users can select their preferred language
• Manually translate every piece of text on every duplicate page

Works best for:
Brochure sites with well under 20 pages, where updates are rare and blogs are not essential.

Pros

• No extra subscription cost
• No new tools to learn if you know your way around Squarespace
• Total control over every translation (if you have the patience)

Cons

• Duplicate content means double (or triple, etc.) the work every update
• Certain templated blocks (forms, error messages, system text) remain stuck in your original language
• Separate blogs, galleries, and event feeds must be set up for every language
• Easy to lose your place in the site structure; tangled navigation is common

Option 3: Duplicate Your Entire Website – The Nuclear Option

At least once a year, someone asks, “What if I just clone my whole Squarepace site for the other language(s)?” It is possible: run www.yoursite.com for English, and www.yoursite.fr for French, both on Squarespace. However, this approach requires significant organisation.

Works best for:
Tiny websites that almost never change, where search engine relevance and cross-site navigation do not matter.

Pros

• Each site can be 100% consistent in its language and local content
• You can customise design, images, and structure for each region
• The total cost may be lower than a premium multilingual add-on (but check the real costs)

Cons

• Every update to one site must be repeated on the other(s), and it’s easy to miss things, especially with blog posts, forms, and navigation tweaks
• Images, PDFs, product databases and settings must be managed individually
• There’s no single “language switch” that keeps the user on the same subpage. Visitors get sent back to the home page or need to start again in the correct language for each click
• Keeping content and SEO metadata synchronised can become a part-time job

Step 3: Plan Site Navigation and Language Switchers

Whatever option you pick, neglecting the user experience has consequences. Visitors need a simple, obvious way to pick their language and should never feel lost when switching between them.

• Use persistent language switchers in your main site header. If you use Bablic, their widget handles this well.
• Label languages clearly: “EN | FR” or flags (if you must), but avoid non-obvious options like “Globe” icons with no text or cryptic abbreviations.

Step 4: Maintain and Update Your Multilingual Content

Now the hidden work begins: keeping all language versions in sync.

• Create a checklist for every update, such as news, blog, product, or event, to ensure you remember to translate for each language
• Batch routine updates. For example, update all French pages in a single sitting, not spread over weeks (you’ll forget)
• Use colour-coded labels or tags in your CMS to keep track
• Don’t forget metadata: Titles, descriptions and image alt text must be translated as well

Step 5: Quality Control & Professionalism

In the rush to launch, some site owners let standards slip. Badly translated content (or poorly rendered machine translation) kills trust. It makes even the best product look careless.

• Have every translation checked by a native or professional speaker if possible
• Pay special attention to automated forms, system messages, and any e-commerce elements (currency, shipping, legal info)
• Walk through every user journey twice, in each language, to catch structural or navigation oddities

What Most People Miss

Adding languages goes beyond flipping a switch or getting away with quick machine translation. The effective approach is to consider your customers’ experiences fully. Providing a welcoming experience that respects culture and expectations makes the difference.

A point many overlook: even the cleanest language-switching tool won’t help if your content, navigation, and imagery remain tied to a single worldview. If your French site simply reproduces the English content with a few “bonjour” substitutions, ask yourself if that’s the experience you’d expect as a visitor.

Localising content requires more than literal translation. It should also involve:

• Adapting case studies, testimonials, and reviews for local sensibilities
• Using region-specific images, currency and contact info
• Adjusting for formal vs. informal language (almost every language has rules here)
• Considering reading patterns and typical page lengths

A multilingual site that resonates feels authentic in each language.

The Bigger Picture

Getting multilingual right brings significant long-term benefits. Consider these outcomes:

You open doors to new markets. Search engines index your translated pages, boosting visibility where your competitors aren’t looking.

Customers and clients feel seen. When visitors see your site clearly presented in their language, they are much more likely to trust you and reach out.

Adding more languages becomes manageable. With the right system, expanding is a process you can plan for and handle.

There is less time spent fixing errors. Surprise gaps and problems are prevented, freeing up your time for work that grows your business.

From over a decade of building multilingual Squarespace sites at Pixelhaze, the businesses who invested in a proper system—usually Bablic plus a straightforward update workflow—received not only new market access, but also repeat business and referrals from international customers. In clear terms: it’s money well spent.

Wrap-Up

Bringing multiple languages to your Squarespace site requires more than a quick fix. Treat this as an important strategic decision, choose the right tool, organise your content, and plan for regular updates. Bablic suits many, but manual options can work for some too—just know what each path involves.

If you take just one thing away, let it be this: treat the international version of your site as carefully as you do your native one. Your next client might be reading the small print in German, Spanish, or Japanese right now.

Want more helpful systems like this? Join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership.