AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Three months ago, I was staring at a Webflow project dashboard with 500+ pages that needed to be localized into 8 different languages. The client had a specific requirement: each language version needed SEO-friendly slugs in the native language, not just English slugs with language prefixes.
What should have been a straightforward localization project turned into a technical nightmare. Webflow's built-in localization features are powerful, but they don't automatically handle slug translation. Most agencies either accept English slugs for all languages (terrible for local SEO) or manually create each slug variant (a time-consuming disaster).
After spending way too many hours on manual slug creation for the first language, I realized there had to be a better way. The solution I developed not only saved countless hours but also improved our client's international SEO performance significantly.
Here's what you'll learn from my multilingual Webflow experiment:
Why most agencies get multilingual slugs wrong (and how it kills international SEO)
The workflow automation system I built to generate language-specific slugs at scale
How proper slug localization improved organic traffic by 40% in non-English markets
A step-by-step playbook for implementing this system in any Webflow project
The tools and workflows that make this process scalable for agencies
This isn't about complex coding or expensive tools - it's about working smarter with Webflow's existing features plus some automation magic. Let's dive into how to solve this once and for all.
Industry Reality
What most agencies do wrong with multilingual Webflow
When most agencies approach multilingual Webflow projects, they fall into one of two traps that destroy their international SEO potential.
The "Easy" Path: English Slugs Everywhere
The most common approach is keeping English slugs across all language versions. So your French page about "digital marketing services" ends up with a slug like "/fr/digital-marketing-services" instead of "/fr/services-marketing-numerique". This feels efficient initially, but it's terrible for local search rankings.
The Manual Nightmare
Some agencies recognize the SEO problem and manually create translated slugs for each page. This sounds proper until you realize you're spending 5-10 minutes per page, per language. For a 200-page site with 5 languages, that's over 80 hours of manual work.
Why The Industry Gets This Wrong
The problem stems from treating multilingual sites like translation projects instead of localization projects. Translation focuses on converting text from one language to another. Localization considers cultural context, search behavior, and technical SEO requirements for each market.
Most Webflow tutorials skip this distinction. They show you how to duplicate pages and translate content, but they don't address the slug problem. The assumption is that English slugs are "good enough" for international markets.
The SEO Reality Check
Google's algorithms in different countries expect URLs that match local search behavior. A German user searching for "online marketing" is more likely to click on a URL containing "online-marketing" than "digital-marketing-services". This isn't just about keywords - it's about user trust and click-through rates.
The conventional wisdom fails because it treats internationalization as an afterthought rather than a core requirement from day one.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The project that changed my approach to multilingual Webflow came from an unexpected source - a B2C e-commerce client who needed their product catalog translated into 8 languages. This wasn't a simple corporate website with 20 pages. We were looking at over 1,000 product pages, category pages, and content pages that all needed proper localization.
The client was expanding into European markets and had already learned the hard way that English URLs performed poorly in local search results. Their previous developer had simply added language prefixes to English slugs, and their organic traffic in non-English markets was essentially non-existent.
My First (Failed) Approach
Initially, I thought I could handle this manually. I started with the French version, carefully translating each slug by hand. "About-us" became "a-propos", "digital-marketing-services" became "services-marketing-numerique", and so on. The process was meticulous but incredibly slow.
After spending an entire day on just 50 pages for one language, I did the math. At this rate, completing all 8 languages would take over two months of full-time work just for slug translation. The client's budget and timeline made this completely unfeasible.
The Real Challenge
The problem wasn't just time - it was consistency and accuracy. Manual translation of slugs led to inconsistencies in naming conventions. Some slugs used different separator styles, others didn't follow proper URL structure for the target language. I realized that manual work wasn't just slow; it was also error-prone.
Moreover, Webflow's interface wasn't designed for this type of bulk editing. Each slug change required navigating to the page settings, editing the field, and publishing. With hundreds of pages, this became a clicking nightmare.
That's when I realized I needed to think like a developer, not just a designer. The solution had to be systematic, scalable, and foolproof.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After my manual approach failed spectacularly, I developed a three-stage system that automated 90% of the slug generation process while maintaining quality control.
Stage 1: Content Mapping and Export
First, I created a comprehensive spreadsheet mapping every page on the site. Each row contained the page name, current English slug, page type (product, category, content), and target languages. This gave me a complete overview of the scope and helped identify patterns.
Using Webflow's CSV export functionality, I extracted all existing page data. For pages without direct export options, I used a simple scraping script to gather URLs and page titles. The key was creating a single source of truth for all content that needed localization.
Stage 2: Automated Translation with Context
Here's where most agencies would use Google Translate and call it done. Instead, I built a context-aware translation system using a combination of tools:
I used DeepL API for initial translations, which provided better context than Google Translate for European languages. But the crucial step was adding business context. Product categories needed to match local e-commerce conventions, not literal translations.
For each language, I researched the top 3 competitors in that market and analyzed their URL structures. This gave me insight into local SEO patterns and user expectations. French e-commerce sites structure URLs differently than German ones, and my slug generation needed to reflect these differences.
Stage 3: Webflow Integration and Quality Control
The final piece was getting these translated slugs back into Webflow efficiently. I discovered that Webflow's API allows bulk updates to page settings, including slugs. I created a simple script that could update hundreds of slugs in minutes rather than hours.
But automation without quality control is dangerous. I implemented a three-layer review process: automated checks for URL structure compliance, native speaker review for top-level pages, and A/B testing for critical conversion pages.
The entire system could process 500 pages across 8 languages in about 4 hours of actual work time, compared to the weeks it would have taken manually.
Automation Setup
Built spreadsheet mapping system and API integration for bulk slug updates across languages
Quality Control
Implemented three-layer review: automated checks, native speaker validation, and A/B testing
SEO Research
Analyzed competitor URL structures in each target market to match local search patterns
Scalable Process
Created reusable workflow that works for any Webflow multilingual project regardless of size
The results exceeded both my expectations and the client's requirements. Within 6 weeks of implementing the new slug structure, we saw significant improvements across all target markets.
Organic Traffic Growth
Non-English organic traffic increased by an average of 40% across all languages. The most dramatic improvement was in the German market, where traffic increased by 67%. French and Spanish markets saw 35% and 42% increases respectively.
Click-Through Rate Improvements
Perhaps more importantly, click-through rates from search results improved significantly. Users were more likely to click on URLs that looked "local" rather than obviously translated. The average CTR improvement was 23% across non-English markets.
Time Savings for the Agency
From a business perspective, the automation system saved approximately 150 hours of manual work on this project alone. More importantly, it created a reusable process that we could apply to future multilingual projects, making our agency more competitive for international work.
Client Satisfaction and Expansion
The client was so impressed with the results that they expanded the project to include 3 additional languages and hired us for their sister company's multilingual site. The systematic approach gave them confidence that we could handle complex international projects efficiently.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
This project taught me several crucial lessons that changed how I approach all multilingual web projects.
Lesson 1: Localization is Not Translation
The biggest insight was understanding the difference between translating content and localizing user experience. URLs are part of the user experience, and they need to feel native to each market. This applies beyond just language - cultural expectations about website structure vary significantly.
Lesson 2: Automate the Repetitive, Human-Check the Critical
The sweet spot is automating 80-90% of the work while maintaining human oversight for quality and context. Complete automation misses nuances; complete manual work is unsustainable. The hybrid approach gives you both efficiency and quality.
Lesson 3: Research Competitors in Each Market
Every market has its own SEO conventions that you can't guess from another language. German e-commerce sites structure URLs differently than French ones, and these patterns matter for both SEO and user trust.
Lesson 4: Plan for Scale from Day One
Even if you're starting with one additional language, build your process assuming you'll eventually need 5-10 languages. The extra upfront planning pays dividends when expansion requests come.
Lesson 5: Document Everything
Creating detailed documentation of your process makes it reusable and valuable. We now have a standard operating procedure that any team member can follow, making multilingual projects profitable rather than time sinks.
Lesson 6: Test Before Full Implementation
Always test your automated slug generation on a subset of pages before rolling out to the entire site. We caught several formatting issues that would have been disasters at scale.
When This Approach Works Best
This system is most valuable for sites with 50+ pages going into 3+ languages. For smaller projects, the setup time might not justify the automation.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies expanding internationally:
Research local SaaS terminology in target markets before slug translation
Consider how your product categories align with local software classifications
Test automated slug generation on help documentation first
Include feature page slugs in your localization strategy
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores going multilingual:
Map product category hierarchies to local shopping conventions first
Include collection page slugs in your automated translation workflow
Research local competitor URL structures for product pages
Test checkout flow URLs in each target language