Is an automatic translation button enough?

No. Browser translation doesn't create pages Google indexes in English, and it often makes mistakes that hurt trust. A version written for foreign readers, at its own address, works much better.

Do I need other languages too, like Italian or German?

It depends on your customers. English covers most tourists and foreigners. If many of your customers come from one country, a third language can make sense. The site structure should allow for it from the start.

Who writes the English text?

We prepare the text in both languages and check each one separately. You approve it before launch.

Does a second language slow the site down?

Not if it is built well. Each version loads only the text in its own language.

A bilingual website in Albanian and English: why it matters for tourism and the diaspora

Guides · 30 September 2026 · 5 min read

The old bazaar of Gjirokastër on a sunny day: old houses, souvenir shops and visitors in the street. — Photo: Adventure Albania / Unsplash

You need a website in Albanian and English if any of your customers don't search for you in Albanian: tourists visiting Sarandë, Berat or Theth, Albanians in the diaspora buying for family from Italy, Greece, Germany or the UK, and foreign companies looking for suppliers in Tirana. These customers search in English, read in English and decide in English. If your site speaks only Albanian, they don't find you, or they find you and can't tell what you offer. A bilingual website is one where each language has its own address, text and pages, not a button that translates automatically.

Who searches for you in English

Tourists. Hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, travel agencies, car rentals and local guides live off customers who plan their trip from abroad, often weeks or months ahead.
The diaspora. Younger generations in the diaspora often read more easily in English or the language of the country they live in, even if they speak Albanian at home.
Foreign clients and partners. Companies looking for suppliers, manufacturers or services in Albania start their search in English.
Foreigners living in Albania. Tirana, Durrës and Vlorë have more and more foreign residents looking for a doctor, a hairdresser, a language school or a flat to rent.
AI assistants. When someone asks ChatGPT or Claude in English for “the best guesthouse in Gjirokastër”, the assistant looks for English pages to cite. More in SEO and AI search.

The diaspora: customers who decide from afar

The Albanian diaspora isn't just an audience that shows up in summer. They are people buying gifts for parents in Elbasan, looking for a clinic to visit during the holidays, ordering furniture for a flat in Durrës, or looking for a notary, an architect or an estate agent before they arrive. They decide from afar, and they decide based on what they read online.

Paying from abroad is getting easier too. On 21 November 2024, Albania officially joined the SEPA geographical scope, which, according to the Bank of Albania, makes euro transfers with member countries much cheaper. For a business selling to the diaspora, that means fewer obstacles for customers paying from Europe. We cover card payment options in online payments in Albania, and for selling products to the diaspora we build online stores in both languages.

How Google understands a bilingual site

Google has clear guidance for multilingual sites. Here are the points that matter most, in plain terms:

Each language has its own address. Google recommends different URLs for each language version, not cookies or browser settings that swap the text at the same address.
Versions are linked with hreflang. With hreflang tags, the site tells Google that the Albanian and English versions are the same page in two languages, so each visitor sees the right one.
No automatic redirects. Google advises against automatically sending visitors to another language. A visible language switch is better.
Google reads the language from the text. According to Google, language is determined by the visible content of the page. If you translate only the menu and buttons and leave the body in Albanian, the page doesn't count as an English version.

That's how we built our own site: every Albanian page has an English counterpart, with its own address, title and description. We apply the same standard to every website design project.

Translation or adaptation

A good bilingual site isn't a word-for-word translation. A British tourist doesn't search for sea view rooms in Ksamil with the same words as a family from Tirana. They type “sea view rooms Ksamil”, and they ask things a local wouldn't: how to get there from the airport, whether cards are accepted, whether the staff speak English, when the best time to come is.

So the English version has to be written for the foreign reader: with the words they search for, the information they're missing and a natural tone. We prepare text in both languages with our photo, video and copy service.

An Albanian-only site and a bilingual site

Before

Tourists and foreign clients don't find you when they search in English.
Those who do find you run the page through automatic translation and miss details.
Questions arrive by message, in broken English on both sides.
AI assistants have no English source to mention you.

After

Every page has an English version at its own address, indexed separately by Google.
Customers read prices, terms and directions in their own language.
Bookings and orders from abroad come in directly, with no middleman.
Your business can be cited as a source in assistants’ English answers.

What to translate first

You don't need to translate the whole site in one day. Start with the pages foreign customers look at most:

The home page, with a clear description of who you are and where.
Services or products, with prices or how to request a quote.
Booking, ordering or contact. For hotels, restaurants and clinics, booking in English matters most. Read online bookings, before and after.
Practical information: address, map, hours, parking, payment methods, cancellation policy.
Your Google profile. The name, category and description should match the site. Read how in how to get found on Google Maps; we set it up as part of marketing.

For the wider picture of why more and more customers decide online, read Albania's digital transition: why an online presence matters more than ever.

Is an automatic translation button enough?: No. Browser translation doesn't create pages Google indexes in English, and it often makes mistakes that hurt trust. A version written for foreign readers, at its own address, works much better.
Do I need other languages too, like Italian or German?: It depends on your customers. English covers most tourists and foreigners. If many of your customers come from one country, a third language can make sense. The site structure should allow for it from the start.
Who writes the English text?: We prepare the text in both languages and check each one separately. You approve it before launch.
Does a second language slow the site down?: Not if it is built well. Each version loads only the text in its own language.

Website design: We build sites in Albanian and English, where each language has its own address and content and is indexed on its own.

Sources

Tell us where you are today and where you want to get to. We reply with the steps, the timeline and the price.