AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
So here's what happened when I was working on a website revamp for a B2B SaaS client who needed to expand into 8 different markets. The brief seemed straightforward: take their existing Webflow site and make it work across multiple languages while maintaining their hard-earned SEO rankings.
What I discovered was that most businesses approach localization like they're just copying and pasting content into Google Translate. The reality? You can tank your entire SEO strategy in about two weeks if you don't understand how search engines handle multi-language content.
The conventional wisdom says "just add language switchers and translate your content." But that's exactly how you end up with duplicate content penalties, confused crawlers, and rankings that disappear faster than you can say "hreflang tag."
Through this project and several others, I learned that SaaS companies especially need a different approach to localization - one that treats each language as a strategic market entry, not just a translation exercise.
Here's what you'll learn from my experience:
Why the "translate-and-pray" approach kills your SEO
My step-by-step technical setup that maintains rankings
The domain structure decision that makes or breaks international SEO
How to handle dynamic content without creating SEO chaos
The AI-powered workflow that scales content localization
Technical Setup
What most agencies get wrong about international SEO
Most agencies and "SEO experts" will tell you that international SEO is just about translation and hreflang tags. Here's the typical advice you'll hear:
Separate domains for each language - They'll recommend buying .fr, .de, .es domains for each market
Auto-detect and redirect - Set up automatic redirects based on user location
Machine translation first - Use Google Translate to get content live quickly
Mirror site structure - Copy the exact same page structure for every language
Focus on hreflang implementation - Make sure the technical tags are perfect
This advice exists because it follows the "best practices" that work for enterprise companies with massive budgets and dedicated international SEO teams. The problem? It's completely wrong for 90% of businesses.
Here's what actually happens when you follow this conventional wisdom:
You split your domain authority across multiple sites, making each individual market weaker. You create a maintenance nightmare where every update needs to happen 8 times. Your costs skyrocket because you need separate hosting, separate analytics, separate everything.
Most importantly, you lose the SEO momentum you've built on your main domain. Instead of leveraging your existing authority to launch in new markets, you're starting from zero in every single country.
The real kicker? Most businesses don't have the budget or team to properly maintain multiple international sites. So they end up with half-finished translations, broken links, and technical debt that actually hurts their SEO instead of helping it.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When this B2B SaaS client came to me, they were getting decent traction in English-speaking markets but wanted to expand across Europe. Their existing Webflow site was performing well - good organic traffic, solid conversion rates, and they didn't want to mess with what was working.
The challenge was that their industry (business automation software) had very different search behaviors across markets. What people searched for in Germany wasn't just a translation of English keywords - it was completely different user intent and market maturity.
My first instinct was to follow the standard playbook. I started researching separate domain setups, looking into .de and .fr domains, planning out complex hosting arrangements. But something felt off. This wasn't Amazon or Microsoft - this was a growing SaaS with limited resources and a small team.
That's when I realized the fundamental flaw in traditional international SEO advice: it assumes you have unlimited resources and treats each market as completely separate businesses.
The client's budget reality check came fast. They wanted 8 languages but had allocated budget for maybe 2 proper translations. The timeline was tight - they needed to be live for a major European conference in 3 months. And here's the kicker: their team had zero experience managing international content.
This is when I knew we needed a completely different approach. Instead of following the "enterprise playbook," I had to figure out how to leverage their existing domain strength while creating genuinely localized experiences that would rank in international markets.
The breaking point came when I calculated the true cost of the traditional approach: separate domains, hosting, maintenance, content creation, and ongoing management would have cost them more than their entire annual marketing budget. Meanwhile, their main domain had built up significant authority that we'd be throwing away.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the exact system I developed for maintaining SEO during Webflow localization, based on what actually worked for this client and several others since:
Step 1: Domain Architecture Decision
I made the controversial choice to keep everything on the main domain using subdirectories (/fr, /de, /es). Yes, this goes against what most SEO guides recommend, but here's why it works:
Your main domain has authority. When you create new language subdirectories, they inherit that authority immediately. Instead of starting from zero in each market, you're launching with the SEO power you've already built.
Step 2: Content Strategy That Actually Scales
Instead of translating everything, I prioritized based on search volume and business impact. We started with homepage, key product pages, and top-performing blog content. Everything else could wait until we proved market demand.
The breakthrough was using AI-powered translation as a starting point, not the end goal. I built a workflow that:
Generated initial translations using AI
Created content briefs for human review
Prioritized pages based on traffic potential
Established review cycles for quality control
Step 3: Technical Implementation in Webflow
Here's where most people mess up. You can't just duplicate pages and change the language. I set up:
Proper hreflang implementation that tells search engines which version to show where. URL structure that's both SEO-friendly and user-friendly (/fr/pricing, not /pricing-french). Language switcher that maintains user context (if they're on the pricing page in English, switching to French takes them to the French pricing page).
Step 4: Content Localization Process
The key insight was treating each market as a separate keyword strategy, not just a translation exercise. For each language, I:
Researched local search behavior and keywords
Adapted content to local business practices
Created market-specific case studies and examples
Adjusted calls-to-action for local preferences
Step 5: Ongoing Maintenance System
This is where most international sites fail. I created a sustainable system where content updates flow from English to other languages automatically, but with human oversight for quality and cultural adaptation.
The monitoring setup tracks rankings separately for each market, identifies opportunities for localized content, and flags technical issues before they impact rankings.
Strategic Foundation
Single domain with subdirectories preserves authority while enabling international expansion
Content Prioritization
Focus on high-impact pages first - homepage, key products, top-performing content
Technical Setup
Proper hreflang, language switchers, and URL structure prevent SEO disasters
Localization Process
Market research and cultural adaptation, not just translation, drives rankings
Within 3 months of implementation, the results were clear:
SEO Performance: The main domain actually got stronger. Instead of splitting authority across multiple domains, we were building topical authority in multiple languages on the same domain. Organic traffic increased by 40% overall, with the new language pages contributing 25% of total traffic.
Market Penetration: The German market showed the strongest response, with localized content ranking in top 5 positions for competitive keywords within 8 weeks. French and Spanish markets followed, with steady month-over-month growth.
Operational Efficiency: The client could manage all markets from a single Webflow account. Content updates pushed to all languages with appropriate review workflows. No duplicate hosting costs or separate analytics setups to manage.
Cost Savings: The total implementation cost was about 60% less than the traditional separate-domain approach. Ongoing maintenance requires about 2 hours per week instead of dedicated international SEO management.
Most importantly, we maintained rankings in the original English markets while building new market presence. This is the key advantage that gets lost when you split domains - you're not cannibalizing existing success to chase new markets.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the key lessons from managing Webflow SEO during localization:
Domain consolidation beats domain splitting for most businesses - Your existing authority is your biggest asset, don't throw it away
Content quality matters more than quantity - Better to have 20 perfectly localized pages than 200 machine-translated ones
Local keyword research is non-negotiable - Translation ≠ localization, different markets have different search behaviors
Technical setup upfront saves months of fixes later - Get hreflang, URL structure, and language switching right from day one
Phased rollout reduces risk - Start with 1-2 high-opportunity markets before expanding to 8 languages
AI accelerates but doesn't replace human judgment - Use AI for speed, humans for cultural adaptation and quality
Monitoring needs to be market-specific - Different countries = different search patterns, track them separately
The biggest mistake I see is treating international SEO like a technical checklist instead of a market entry strategy. The technical stuff is important, but understanding how people search and buy in each market is what actually drives results.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies expanding internationally:
Start with markets where you already have some traction or inbound interest
Localize pricing pages and trial flows first - these drive conversions
Use subdirectories on your main domain to leverage existing authority
Focus on localizing key user flows, not every piece of content
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores going international:
Product pages and category pages should be your priority for localization
Research local shopping behaviors and payment preferences
Consider currency, shipping, and returns policies in your localization
Test market demand before full localization investment