AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
After 7 years of wrestling with WordPress for client websites, I discovered something that changed everything about how I approach localized content. You know that feeling when you've been doing something the hard way for years, and then someone shows you the obvious solution?
That's exactly what happened when I migrated my first multilingual client site from WordPress to Webflow. Instead of dealing with plugin conflicts, broken translations, and maintenance nightmares, I suddenly had a system that actually worked.
Look, I used to be that guy who defended WordPress to the death. "It's flexible, it's powerful, it can do anything!" I'd say. But here's the uncomfortable truth: most businesses treat their website like a marketing asset, not a technical project. And when you need to manage content across 8 different languages like one of my e-commerce clients, WordPress becomes a maintenance trap.
After migrating dozens of sites from WordPress to Webflow (and yes, some to Framer too), I've learned that the best localization strategy isn't about finding the perfect CMS features. It's about building systems that your marketing team can actually use without calling you every time they need to update a French product description.
Here's what you'll learn from my experience:
Why starting with AI-powered translation gives you SEO juice while you test markets
The subdirectory vs subdomain decision that affects your entire SEO strategy
How to structure Webflow CMS for scalable multilingual content
When to invest in professional localization (and when to skip it)
Real-world workflows that marketing teams can manage independently
If you're tired of complicated translation plugins and want a localization system that scales with your business, this playbook will show you exactly how I've been doing it for my clients. Plus, I'll share why I chose Webflow over Framer for most multilingual projects.
Industry Reality
What the localization experts preach
If you listen to most localization experts and agencies, they'll tell you the "proper" way to handle multilingual websites. And honestly? Their advice sounds impressive in boardrooms but falls apart when you're actually trying to execute it.
Here's the standard playbook they push:
Start with cultural adaptation from day one - They want you to research every cultural nuance before launching in a new market
Separate domains for each region - Because "it shows commitment to the local market"
Professional translation services only - AI translation is apparently the devil
Native speakers for every piece of content - Even for testing if a market exists
Complex CMS architectures - WordPress with multiple translation plugins and database tables
This advice exists because localization agencies need to justify their massive retainers. They've built an entire industry around making international expansion seem impossibly complex.
But here's what actually happens when you follow their advice: you spend 6 months and €50,000 building the "perfect" multilingual site for a market where you're not even sure people want your product. I've watched clients burn through budgets creating beautiful German websites for SaaS products that Germans never actually searched for.
The real kicker? While you're busy perfecting cultural nuances, your competitors are using lean methodology - shipping fast, testing markets, and iterating based on actual data instead of cultural assumptions.
Don't get me wrong, cultural adaptation matters. But it matters after you've proven market demand, not before. The experts have the process backwards, and it's costing businesses real money and market opportunities.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
Let me tell you about the project that completely changed how I think about website localization. I was working with a B2C e-commerce client who had over 3,000 products and needed to expand into 8 different markets. Their existing WordPress setup was already a nightmare to maintain in English, and now they wanted French, German, Spanish, Italian... you get the picture.
At first, I did what any "experienced" WordPress developer would do. I researched every translation plugin, tested WPML, Polylang, and even some custom solutions. The client was excited about the possibilities, and honestly, so was I. WordPress could handle anything, right?
Wrong. So incredibly wrong.
Three months into the project, we had a Frankenstein monster. The database was bloated with translation tables, the plugins were conflicting with each other, and every time we updated something, we held our breath hoping nothing would break. The client's marketing team was afraid to touch anything because one wrong move could crash the French site while leaving the English site running fine.
But the real wake-up call came when they needed to add a new product line across all 8 languages. What should have been a 30-minute task turned into a 3-day project involving me, a developer, and two translators. The marketing team just watched from the sidelines, completely dependent on technical resources for basic content updates.
That's when I started questioning everything. Here's what I realized: your website is a marketing asset, not a technical showcase. The moment your marketing team can't update content independently, you've failed at building a sustainable system.
This client needed velocity, not complexity. They needed to test markets quickly, not perfect cultural nuances. Most importantly, they needed a system their team could actually use without requiring a computer science degree.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After that WordPress disaster, I completely rebuilt their approach using Webflow. But this wasn't just a platform migration - it was a fundamental shift in strategy. Here's the exact system I developed and have since used for dozens of international projects.
Step 1: Strategic Domain Structure
Forget what the experts say about separate domains. I always recommend subdirectories (yoursite.com/fr, yoursite.com/de) for one critical reason: all your SEO efforts stay concentrated on one domain. When you split across multiple domains, you're starting from zero in each market. With subdirectories, your existing domain authority immediately benefits all language versions.
This decision alone saved my e-commerce client months of link-building efforts in new markets.
Step 2: AI-First Translation Strategy
Here's where I break from conventional wisdom: I start with AI translation for everything. Not because it's perfect, but because it gives you immediate SEO presence and lets you test market demand without massive upfront investment.
I build a custom AI workflow that generates localized content at scale. For that e-commerce client, we processed 20,000+ pages across 8 languages in weeks, not months. The key is treating AI translation as your MVP, not your final product.
Step 3: Webflow CMS Architecture
This is where Webflow shines compared to WordPress. Instead of complex plugin dependencies, I create a clean CMS structure:
Language field in every collection item
Conditional visibility based on current locale
Shared asset management across languages
Automated URL structure generation
Step 4: Marketing Team Handoff
The real test of any localization system is whether your marketing team can manage it independently. With Webflow's visual CMS, team members can update French product descriptions or add German blog posts without touching code or breaking anything.
I create detailed style guides and workflows, but the beauty is that Webflow's interface is intuitive enough that training takes hours, not weeks.
Step 5: Performance Optimization
Multiple languages don't have to mean slow sites. I implement lazy loading for language-specific assets and use Webflow's built-in CDN to ensure fast loading times globally. The result? Better Core Web Vitals scores than most single-language WordPress sites.
Domain Strategy
Always use subdirectories (/fr /de) instead of separate domains to concentrate SEO authority and simplify management
AI Translation
Start with AI-powered translation to test markets quickly rather than waiting for perfect professional translations
Team Autonomy
Design the CMS so marketing teams can manage content updates independently without developer intervention
Iterative Approach
Begin with AI translations and upgrade to professional localization only in markets that show proven demand
The results from this approach consistently surprise clients who expect international expansion to be slow and expensive. That first e-commerce project went from 300 monthly visitors to over 5,000 across all markets within 3 months.
But the numbers only tell part of the story. The real transformation was operational. Their marketing team went from being completely dependent on developers for any content change to managing 8 different markets independently. Product launches that used to take weeks of coordination now happen in hours.
More importantly, they could test new markets cheaply. When they wanted to explore the Netherlands market, it took one day to spin up AI-translated Dutch content and start gathering data. Compare that to the traditional approach of spending months on market research and professional translation before learning that Dutch customers prefer to buy from German sites anyway.
I've since used this system for SaaS companies expanding into Europe, fashion brands testing Asian markets, and service businesses exploring Latin America. The consistent pattern is faster time-to-market, lower upfront costs, and marketing teams that actually feel empowered rather than frustrated.
The approach works because it prioritizes learning over perfection. You get market feedback immediately instead of after months of planning, and you can iterate based on real user behavior rather than cultural assumptions.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the key lessons I've learned from dozens of international website projects:
Platform choice matters more than features - Webflow's simplicity beats WordPress's complexity for international content management every time
Start cheap, upgrade strategically - AI translation gets you 80% there for 20% of the cost. Invest in professional localization only after proving market demand
Marketing autonomy is everything - If your team can't update content independently, your localization strategy is broken
SEO authority doesn't split - Subdirectories preserve domain authority while separate domains start from zero
Cultural adaptation follows, doesn't lead - Perfect localization in a market with no demand is worthless
Speed beats perfection - Competitors who ship imperfect international sites beat perfectionist who never launch
Technical complexity kills momentum - Simple systems that work beat complex systems that break
The biggest mistake I see companies make is treating international expansion like a technical project instead of a marketing experiment. Your first international site should be an MVP, not a masterpiece.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies, focus on these implementation priorities:
Use Webflow CMS for marketing pages and maintain product app separately
Start with high-intent European markets (UK, Germany, France) using subdirectories
Implement AI translation for all marketing content first, then upgrade onboarding flows
Track trial signups by language to identify which markets convert
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores, prioritize these elements:
Set up Webflow CMS to handle product collections across multiple languages
Integrate with Shopify for inventory while using Webflow for localized content
Focus on AI-powered product descriptions before investing in lifestyle content translation
Test shipping and payment options by market before heavy content investment