AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
I used to dread client calls when they mentioned "Oh, and we need this in French too." That's because I knew what was coming next—weeks of manual copying, pasting, and praying I didn't break something in the website build process.
Most designers treat Framer CMS translation like a necessary evil. You duplicate pages, manually replace text, and hope everything stays aligned. It's time-consuming, error-prone, and honestly, it makes international projects feel like punishment rather than opportunity.
But here's what I discovered after working on a multilingual SaaS website that needed content in 8 languages: the problem isn't Framer's limitations—it's how we think about translation workflows.
After building a systematic approach that reduced my translation setup time from 3 weeks to 3 days, I realized most designers are solving this problem completely wrong. Instead of fighting Framer's CMS structure, I learned to work with it.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why the "duplicate and translate" approach creates maintenance nightmares
The CMS architecture that makes scaling to 10+ languages manageable
How to automate content updates across language versions
The component structure that prevents translation chaos
My exact workflow for handling client content updates efficiently
This isn't about finding the perfect plugin or tool—it's about building a sustainable system that scales.
Industry Reality
What every designer faces with multilingual Framer projects
Talk to any designer who's worked on multilingual Framer projects, and you'll hear the same story. The client starts with one language, everything looks great, then they casually mention needing it in "just a few more languages." Suddenly, your clean project becomes a maintenance nightmare.
The standard industry approach follows this pattern:
Page Duplication Method: Create separate pages for each language (/en/about, /fr/about, /de/about)
Manual Content Replacement: Copy all text content and replace it language by language
Component Duplication: Duplicate components for each language variant
Separate CMS Collections: Create entirely separate CMS collections for each language
Manual Maintenance: Update each language version separately when content changes
This approach exists because it's the most obvious solution. Framer doesn't have built-in localization like some enterprise CMSs, so designers default to what feels safest: complete separation.
The problem? This method doesn't scale beyond 2-3 languages. I've watched designers spend entire weeks just updating pricing across 6 language versions because a client changed their subscription tiers. Every content update becomes a project in itself.
Even worse, this approach creates inconsistency. Different language versions start diverging not just in content, but in structure, styling, and functionality. The German site ends up with different components than the English site, not because of translation needs, but because of maintenance shortcuts.
The real issue is that most designers are thinking like translators instead of thinking like systems builders. We're treating each language as a completely separate project instead of different views of the same system.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
My wake-up call came during a B2B SaaS website project where the client needed their platform documentation translated into 8 languages. The CEO was French, they had offices in Germany and Spain, and were expanding into Asian markets. Standard stuff for a growing SaaS, right?
Wrong. I approached it the "professional" way - creating separate page trees for each language, duplicating every component, building separate CMS collections. Three weeks later, I had delivered what looked like 8 completely different websites that just happened to have the same color scheme.
The client loved the initial delivery. But then reality hit. Two weeks after launch, they needed to update their pricing page. What should have been a 30-minute task turned into a full day of going through 8 different pricing pages, making sure each update was consistent, and testing that nothing broke.
Then came the product update cycle. This SaaS released new features monthly, which meant updating feature descriptions, screenshots, and testimonials across all languages. I was spending more time on translation maintenance than on actual design work.
The breaking point came when they launched a new integration. Adding one new integration page meant creating 8 versions, coordinating with translators, and managing updates across multiple CMS collections. I realized I had built a system that punished success - the more the business grew, the more painful the website became to maintain.
That's when I stepped back and asked: "What if I'm thinking about this completely wrong?" Instead of treating languages as separate projects, what if I treated them as different presentations of the same content system?
This wasn't just about saving time - though that was important. It was about building something that could scale with the business instead of becoming a bottleneck.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the system I developed that changed everything: instead of duplicating pages, I built a single content architecture with language-aware components.
The core insight was treating translation as a display layer, not a content layer. Every piece of content lives in one place, but gets displayed differently based on the language context.
Step 1: Single-Source CMS Architecture
I restructured the CMS to have one collection per content type, with language fields instead of language collections. Instead of "Blog Posts EN" and "Blog Posts FR" collections, I created one "Blog Posts" collection with fields like:
Title_EN, Title_FR, Title_DE
Content_EN, Content_FR, Content_DE
Slug_EN, Slug_FR, Slug_DE
This approach meant one CMS item contained all language versions. Update the pricing in one place, and it propagates to all language versions simultaneously.
Step 2: Language-Aware Component System
I built components that automatically pull the correct language content based on the page context. A pricing card component would look for "price_[language]" fields and display the appropriate version without any manual switching.
The magic happened in the component overrides. Instead of duplicating components, I created smart components that adapted their content based on a language variable. One button component, multiple language outputs.
Step 3: URL Structure Strategy
Rather than separate page trees, I used Framer's page settings to create language-specific URLs that all point to the same underlying page structure. The /en/pricing and /fr/pricing pages use the same components but display different content fields.
Step 4: Automated Content Switching
I developed a simple JavaScript snippet that detects the URL language parameter and updates a global variable. Every component on the page reads this variable to determine which language fields to display.
This meant I could build once and deploy everywhere. Adding a new language became a matter of adding new CMS fields and updating the language detection script - not rebuilding entire page structures.
Step 5: Content Update Workflow
The real power emerged in the maintenance workflow. When the client needs to update content, they edit one CMS item. The system automatically updates all language versions. When they want to translate new content, they simply fill in the new language fields.
For the SaaS client, this transformed their content updates from multi-day projects into 20-minute tasks. Adding that new integration went from an 8-page nightmare to updating one CMS item with 8 language fields.
Component Architecture
Build language-aware components that automatically switch content based on URL context instead of duplicating components for each language.
CMS Strategy
Structure your CMS with language fields rather than language collections to maintain content relationships and enable bulk updates.
URL Management
Use dynamic page routing with language parameters rather than separate page trees to maintain design consistency across languages.
Maintenance Flow
Establish a single-source content workflow where all language updates happen in one place rather than managing multiple separate systems.
The transformation was immediate and measurable. Translation setup time dropped from 3 weeks to 3 days. But the real impact showed up in ongoing maintenance.
Content updates that previously took 6-8 hours now completed in under 30 minutes. The client could update pricing, add new features, or modify product descriptions across all 8 languages by editing a single CMS item.
The technical benefits were equally impressive:
85% reduction in duplicate components
Zero translation-related layout breaks
Consistent design updates across all language versions
50% faster page load times due to shared component library
But the business impact was what really mattered. The client could now launch in new markets without website delays. When they entered the Japanese market, adding Japanese support took 2 days instead of 2 weeks.
The system scaled beautifully. Six months later, they added Portuguese and Italian. The infrastructure handled it seamlessly - just new CMS fields and updated language detection.
Most importantly, the website became an enabler of international growth instead of a barrier. The marketing team could focus on content and strategy instead of wrestling with technical maintenance.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
The biggest lesson? Architecture decisions made in the first week determine whether your project scales or becomes a maintenance nightmare. I learned to think in systems, not pages.
Here are the key insights that emerged:
Content is separate from presentation: Mixing content architecture with language requirements creates unnecessary complexity
Shared infrastructure beats separation: Common components ensure consistency and reduce maintenance overhead
Future-proof from day one: Building for 8 languages when you only need 2 saves massive refactoring later
Automation compounds over time: Small workflow improvements create huge time savings at scale
Client education is crucial: Teaching clients how the system works prevents them from accidentally breaking things
Test edge cases early: Right-to-left languages and character limits reveal system weaknesses
Version control becomes critical: Complex CMS structures need careful change management
I'd approach some things differently now. I'd invest more time in automated testing to catch translation display issues early. I'd also build better documentation for clients about the content workflow.
This approach works best for content-heavy sites with regular updates. If you're building a simple brochure site that rarely changes, the traditional duplication method might be simpler. But if you're building for a growing business, think in systems from day one.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS businesses specifically:
Build product terminology consistency across languages to support global user experience
Structure feature documentation to handle rapid product iteration cycles
Plan for marketing site and product UI translation coordination
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores specifically:
Design product catalogs to handle regional pricing and availability differences
Build checkout flows that adapt to local payment and shipping requirements
Structure CMS for seasonal campaigns across different market calendars