If you have fans in different locations or you sing in more than one language, you may want a bilingual or multilingual website. With our built-in tools you can set your website’s automatic buttons and default messages to English, French, Spanish, or German.

You can also set up your site content in one or more languages, but this requires a bit more time since the content must be duplicated. This article covers:

  • How to set your website’s default language (English, French, Spanish, or German)
  • How to create a translated version of your website (3 options)
  • How to create a site using bilingual pages (2 options)
  • How to create two websites (one for each language)

You can choose the primary language of your choice.

Note: Most browsers offer the option to quickly translate website pages for visitors. If you’d rather not translate the whole website manually you can add a note at the top of your website in each language with a link to the steps to have the visitor’s browser automatically translate the content.

How to change the ‘Site language’ option:

Some text displayed on your website in buttons and features is automatically generated. This text can easily be changed to another language. We currently offer that default text in English, French, Spanish, and German.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’
  2. Select ‘Site-wide settings’ below the list of pages
  3. On the ‘Site profile’ tab, choose ‘English, French, Spanish, or German’ from the ‘Site language’ dropdown menu
  4. Click ‘Save’

Note: The 'Site language' option affects all the site buttons, confirmation messages, and receipts issued for purchases. It does not translate the page titles, text features, or other content added to your website. Follow the steps below to translate the rest of your website.

Website Translation (separate pages per language)

This option allows you to have one set of pages for your primary language and a second set of pages for the second language. You can set up as many sets of pages as you’d like but you will need to translate and update each page manually. There are three options for this style.

Note: The number of pages you can add to your website is determined by your plan type.

Option 1

This option allows you to set up just two main menu buttons - one for each language. All pages for your primary language will be listed under the first menu button, and all pages for your second language will be listed under the second menu button.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click on ‘Pages’ to reveal your list of pages
  2. Click ‘Add a page’
  3. Select the ‘Home page’ page type
  4. Adjust your ‘Title’ and name it ‘Home - [Primary Language]’ In the ‘Menu settings,’ set the page as a ‘Main page’
  5. Click ‘Save’
  6. Click on ‘Pages’ again
  7. Click ‘Add a page’
  8. Create a ‘Main’ page type and name it ‘Home - [Second Language]’

These two pages will act as the main navigation for your language-specifc pages. The pages will display in your menu, and the following pages will display as submenu items below each main page:

  1. Click ‘Pages’
  2. Click ‘Add a page’
  3. Select the page type and name the page in the ‘Title’ field, using the primary language of your website
  4. Under ‘Menu settings,’ set the page as a ‘Subpage’
  5. Select the ‘Home - Primary Language’ page in the dropdown below ‘Subpage of’
  6. Continue setting your page details and click ‘Save’
  7. Repeat these steps for each page on your website

Once you’ve added all your primary-language pages, you can build out the features of the page as you wish and then duplicate each page for your second-language pages. Follow these steps to create your second language pages:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click on ‘Pages’ to reveal your list of pages
  2. Next to your primary-language subpages, click on the cog icon
  3. In the ‘Page options’ click on ‘Duplicate’ in the top right corner of the settings
  4. Change the ‘Title’ of the page to your translation of that page name

Note: Page titles cannot be exactly duplicated. For instance, you cannot have two pages named ‘Photos.’ Use unique page names for each page.

  1. Select from the following options:
  2. Duplicate this Page and all of its Features: This option will duplicate all content of the page, including images and text you have added to the page
  3. Duplicate the layout of this Page: This option will duplicate the layout of the page without the content.
  4. Click ‘Duplicate page’

Your page will automatically be listed under the original version in the menu. Follow these steps to move the page into the corresponding language subpage menu:

  1. From your ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’
  2. Next to your duplicated page, click on the cog icon
  3. In the ‘Page options,’ adjust the ‘Menu settings’ to set the page as a ‘Subpage’
  4. Select the main language page in the ‘Subpage of’ dropdown
  5. Click ‘Save’

Option 2

This option allows you to set up all your main menu buttons in your primary language, then add the corresponding subpage to each page. The navigation will be one main menu item per page, with one dropdown per menu button, in the second language.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, add all your primary-language pages as ‘Main page’ items
  2. Once you’ve created your primary-language pages, click ‘Pages’ in your ‘Edit Content’ tab
  3. Next to your primary-language page, click on the cog icon
  4. In the ‘Page options’ click on ‘Duplicate’ in the top right corner of the settings
  5. Change the ‘Title’ of the page to your translation of that page name

    Note: Page titles cannot be exactly duplicated. For instance, you cannot have two pages named ‘Photos.’ Use unique page names for each page.

  6. Select from the following options:
  7. Duplicate this Page and all of its Features: This option will duplicate all content of the page, including images and text you have added to the page
  8. Duplicate the layout of this Page: This option will duplicate the layout of the page without the content.
  9. Click ‘Duplicate page’

The duplicated page will appear directly below the primary page in your pages menu. Next, you can set the duplicated pages as ‘Subpages.’ Follow these steps:

  1. From your ‘Edit Content’ tab, click ‘Pages’
  2. Next to your duplicated page, click on the cog icon
  3. In the ‘Page options,’ adjust the ‘Menu settings’ to set the page as a ‘Subpage of’ the corresponding language-specific page
  4. Click ‘Save’

Option 3

This option allows you to set up all your main menu buttons in your primary language, then at the top of each page you can link to the corresponding second-language page. This allows your primary language to be the focus but gives visitors the option to switch to the site’s second language. The navigation will look like a regular website menu.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, add all your primary language pages as main pages
  2. Add each corresponding second-language page as a ‘not in menu’ page
  3. On your primary language pages, at the top of the page, add a link to the corresponding second language ‘not in menu’ page. (See Help article on Adding Links

Website Translation (two languages on the same page)

This option allows you to have one set of pages for both your languages. There are two options in this style.

Option 1

This option allows you to set up both languages stacked on the same page.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, add all your primary language pages as main pages

    Note: The page titles can be in your primary language, or hyphenated with the second language. If hyphenated, a Spanish homepage title might look something like this: ‘Home - Inicio’ or ‘Home | Inicio’

  2. Within the content area of the page click ‘Add Feature’, and add all your content in your primary language
  3. Under the primary language content, click ‘Add Feature’ and add the same content in your second language
  4. Repeat steps 2-3 to add as many features as you’d like to each column and page

Note: You can use a new section or add a divider line to separate the two languages. Learn more about styled website sections here.

Option 2

This option allows you to set up both languages side-by-side on the same page.

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, add all your primary language pages as main pages

    Note: The page titles can be in your primary language, or hyphenated with the second language. If hyphenated, a Spanish homepage title might look something like this: ‘Home - Inicio’ or ‘Home | Inicio’

  2. Within the content area of the page, hover your cursor over the page section and click ‘Edit Columns’
  3. Choose the side-by-side (2 columns) option
  4. Click ‘Add Feature’ and add all your primary-language content to one column
  5. Click ‘Add Feature’ and add all your second-language content to the second column
  6. Repeat steps 2-5 to add as many features as you’d like to each column, on each page

Language-specific sites

This option allows you to create two separate accounts: one for the primary-language version of the site and one for the second-language version of the site.

After you have your first Bandzoogle website set up for your primary language, you can set up a separate website for your second language.

How to add a new website to your account:

  1. From the ‘Edit Content’ tab, click the arrow next to your username in the top right corner
  2. Select ‘Account Details’ from the dropdown menu
  3. Enter the new project name and click the ‘Create new website’ button
  4. Complete the 3-step sitebuilder

This will start a free 30 day trial for your second website. Once this new site is upgraded to a paid plan, it will be billed separately. With this option, you can send language-specific fans and industry professionals to the corresponding site. You will need to add content for each separate site, as site content can’t be transferred between websites.

Note: In order to create an additional website, your first site must be on a paid plan. Additional websites cannot be created on accounts that are using the Free Trial plan.