Creating a Multi-Language Website with Laravel: Techniques for Building a Multilingual Site

In today’s global digital landscape, building a multi-language website is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. Whether you’re targeting international customers or serving a diverse local audience, offering content in multiple languages improves user experience, boosts engagement, and enhances SEO performance.

Laravel, one of the most popular PHP frameworks, provides powerful built-in tools for localization and internationalization, making it an excellent choice for building multilingual websites.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to create a multi-language website with Laravel, best practices, and techniques to ensure your application is scalable, SEO-friendly, and easy to maintain.

Why Build a Multilingual Website?

Before diving into Laravel-specific techniques, let’s understand why multilingual support matters:

• Reach a global audience
• Improve SEO with localized content
• Enhance user experience
• Increase trust and conversions
• Gain a competitive advantage

Search engines favor localized content, meaning a properly structured multilingual Laravel site can rank higher in region-specific search results.

Understanding Laravel Localization

Laravel offers built-in localization features that allow you to define and manage translations easily.

Key components include:

• Language files
• Translation helpers
• Middleware for language switching
• Locale configuration

Laravel supports both array-based and JSON-based translations, giving developers flexibility based on project needs.

Step 1: Configure Default Locale in Laravel

Start by setting your default language in the config/app.php file:

You can dynamically change the locale using:

This allows Laravel to load the appropriate language files based on the selected language.

Step 2: Create Language Files

Laravel stores translations in the resources/lang directory.

Example Folder Structure

Sample Translation File




 

Step 3: Display Translated Content

Use Laravel’s translation helpers to display text dynamically:

Or using the @lang directive:

These helpers automatically load the correct translation based on the active locale.

Step 4: Implement Language Switching

A multilingual website needs an easy way for users to switch languages.

Route-Based Language Switching

Middleware to Persist Language

Create a middleware to set the locale on each request:

Register this middleware in Kernel.php.

Step 5: Database Translation for Dynamic Content

For blogs, products, or CMS-driven content, storing translations in files isn’t enough.

Popular Approaches:

• Separate translation tables
• JSON columns
• Laravel packages like:
  • spatie/laravel-translatable
  • dimsav/laravel-translatable

Example Using JSON Fields:

Then fetch content based on the current locale.

Step 6: SEO Optimization for Multilingual Laravel Websites

SEO is critical for multilingual sites.

Best Practices:

• Use language-specific URLs
  • /en/services
  • /fr/services
• Implement hreflang tags
• Translate meta titles and descriptions
• Avoid duplicate content
• Use localized keywords

Example hreflang Tag:

Laravel makes it easy to dynamically generate these tags using Blade templates.

Step 7: Use Middleware for URL-Based Localization (Advanced)

For SEO-friendly URLs, you can store language codes in the URL:

Then validate and set locale using middleware.

This approach is highly recommended for search engine indexing and performance.

Common Challenges & Solutions

Best Practices for Laravel Multilingual Sites

• Keep translations simple and structured
• Use fallback locales
• Cache language files in production
• Avoid hardcoding text
• Plan multilingual support early in development

Conclusion

Creating a multi-language website with Laravel is both powerful and flexible when done correctly. Laravel’s built-in localization tools, combined with smart routing, middleware, and SEO best practices, make it easy to scale your application globally.

By following the techniques outlined above, you can build a multilingual Laravel website that:

• Ranks well in search engines
• Provides an excellent user experience
• Supports future growth and new languages

If you’re planning to expand your Laravel application internationally, now is the perfect time to implement multilingual support.