- Weglot — what it means
- Weglot is a translation tool that can be used with Wix, Shopify, and many other no-code platforms as well as Webflow. It creates a multilingual website in a matter of minutes, and takes care of the SEO side for you.
Note: this is a hands-on account of Weglot from 2022. I have since moved to Webflow’s native Localization and then to running AI translation myself — see the 2026 postscript at the end of this article.
This article answers that question.
The tool I used is Weglot, a translation service that works not only with Webflow but with Wix, Shopify, and many other no-code tools. With Weglot you can build a multilingual website in a matter of minutes. Its biggest selling point is that there is nothing to do beyond the three-minute setup: Weglot takes care of the SEO side, so you do not have to build out international SEO after installing it.
It is a fine tool, but there were still problems — in Japan there were no articles explaining how to use it, and errors came up. Support, though, is very attentive, and you can ask them about every bug and everything you do not understand.
Drawing on my own experience, this article answers the question “what is Weglot actually like?”
The insider techniques support taught me, and how to use Weglot in general, are in the guide to using Weglot.
Let’s get straight into it.
I made my Webflow no-code site multilingual with Weglot
How to set up Weglot: it is over in three minutes
Setting up Weglot is astonishingly easy, and three minutes really is enough. I explain it in detail in “How to add Weglot to a site built with no-code”, so here I will keep it brief.
How to set up Weglot
- Register with Weglot
- Copy and paste the API key
- Check the translations
- Buy the plan that matches your character count
It is so simple that it barely needs explaining. There is no need to worry about “what is an API?” — follow the Weglot screens and the translation completes without any trouble.
Weglot’s translation quality is on a par with a professional translator
I was concerned about the translated content, so I checked it, and it read smoothly with no particular problems.
The accuracy is high enough that a translation and interpreting company I know uses it as well, and they tell me it is an excellent tool that covers everything from the URL through SEO in a single click.
The impression is that it has plenty of errors and bugs
In actual use I ran into things like “I changed it, so why is it not showing?” and “I deleted part of a translation and now I cannot restore it (I have no idea how this works).” A little digging usually explained it, but for what I really could not work out I went ahead and emailed support.
Changing the design of the Weglot button is better done on the site side, mainly in the HTML. How to make the Weglot button look better.
What was good, and what was bad, about using Weglot
Adopting Weglot: what was good
Here is what felt good about adopting Weglot.
- Going multilingual let me widen my view toward markets overseas.
- Support will teach you anything you do not understand. (It was good practice for writing business emails in English.)
- If traffic grows from here, a further rise in income can be expected (2026 update: that was written in my personal-blog days. Running the site multilingually afterwards produced zero inquiries in about two years.)
- You can run a trial of whether your own site works overseas.
Adopting Weglot: what was bad
Here is what felt bad about adopting Weglot.
- The price felt high (the weak yen does not help). Note that billing is in euros.
- I did not really understand it until I got used to it.
- There are times when I cannot tell whether it is a bug or my own lack of knowledge.
Is leaving Weglot on machine translation good enough? [first-hand]
Weglot is not purely AI: I gather that part of the translation is done by people, which is how it avoids being excluded by Googlebot. Because of that, a Weglot translation is said to carry your SEO rankings straight over into the English version with no changes needed. Even so, the keywords that rank differ from language to language, so some knowledge of international SEO will be necessary.
That said, for shop products, or for articles like mine introducing Webflow where many of the users are overseas, I think translating as-is can still bring in a certain amount of traffic.
Weglot lets you choose a subdomain or a subdirectory
If you do not want to affect your existing site, choose a subdomain. If you want to inherit as much of your ranking as possible, use a subdirectory.
Google has stated that neither has much bearing on SEO, though, so whichever you prefer may be fine. I built mine with subdirectories. The reason is ease of management: with a subdirectory you can carry on using your existing Google Search Console property, which makes life very easy.
How to choose a subdirectory in Webflow
Subdirectories in Webflow were still in beta, so it did not look like the option was openly available — but when I followed the method support taught me, it became selectable. It is written up on the page about using Weglot, so please check it there.
(2026 update: Webflow’s native Localization now supports running subdirectories, so you can go multilingual without an external tool. The measured results of running it for a year are published in the article on Webflow Localization.)
My prediction: Weglot and Google will go on wrestling with each other
Google fundamentally does not like machine translation. The reason is that machine translation is hard for users to read, and the information itself varies from region to region. In the field of language — where phrasing matters because of religion, weather, and public safety — Weglot, which promises translation that will not get you banned by Google, will most likely be wrestling with that for a long time to come.
Even so, you can earn a certain amount of money simply by making full use of leading-edge technology and staying ahead of the people around you. Exactly as Webflow does.
While you hold back thinking “this might be a bit expensive,” you could be losing a big opportunity. If it feels right to you, do try Weglot for yourself.
[2026 update] What I did next
After this article I moved from Weglot to Webflow’s native multilingual feature (Localization) and ran Japanese into Korean for a year. I have written honestly about the results and the costs in the article on using Webflow Localization for a year.
To give only the conclusion as of 2026: I now think the realistic approach is to have AI translate every page and run it yourself. Weglot is still an option for anyone who wants a three-minute setup and to leave everything to the tool, but check the monthly cost and the accuracy of the machine translation before you adopt it.
FAQ
How long does it take to set up Weglot?
Three minutes is enough. You register with Weglot, copy and paste the API key, check the translations, and buy a plan sized to your character count. Follow the Weglot screens and the translation completes without any trouble.
How accurate are Weglot’s translations?
The text read smoothly, with no particular problems. The accuracy is high enough that a translation and interpreting company uses it as well, and they say it is an excellent tool that covers everything from the URL through SEO in one click.
Should I choose a subdomain or a subdirectory with Weglot?
A subdomain if you do not want to affect your existing site; a subdirectory if you want to inherit as much of your ranking as possible. Google has stated that neither has much bearing on SEO, so whichever you prefer may be fine.
What currency does Weglot bill in?
Billing is in euros. You buy a plan sized to the number of characters you want translated.
Is it all right to leave Weglot on machine translation?
Weglot has people handle part of the translation, which is said to make rankings easier to carry over, but the keywords that rank differ in each language, so some knowledge of international SEO is needed. My conclusion as of 2026 is to have AI translate every page and run it myself, which I explain in the postscript at the end of this article.
