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DEV-INT-07Should7 of 12 in INT

Make each page's language unambiguous by translating the template with the main content

Level
Should

Recommended: skip it only for a reason you can name.

Documentation

Documented

At least one cited Google document states or supports it.

Area
INTInternational and multilingual sites
Covered

Automatic

Decided from one URL.

Why it matters

Google determines a page's language from its content, not from hreflang or the URL, and stores one language per page, so mixed-language pages make that hard. Pages that translate only the template around untranslated main content still count as duplicates. Detecting the query's language is Google's first step for almost any query, and language and country are the first signals it uses to order candidates already at retrieval, before ranking, so a page whose language is unclear can drop out before ranking starts.

How to meet it

Translate the main content and the template (navigation, buttons, footer, legal notices, the text inside structured data) together, and avoid large blocks in a second language. Set the html lang attribute for browsers and assistive technology, knowing that Google relies on the visible content.

How to test it

Run language detection over the main text and template strings of sampled pages per version, and review pages with untranslated components.

How Regensbot covers it

AutomaticNeedsOne URL

Decided from one URL.

An audit reads the response, the headers, the HTML, robots.txt, the sitemaps and the structured data, and the finding shows the evidence it saw.

How verdicts workWhat you connect

Sources

Google documents03

  1. 01Managing multi-regional and multilingual sitesGoogle Search Central (opens in a new tab)
  2. 02Tell Google about localized versions of your pageGoogle Search Central (opens in a new tab)
  3. 03How Google knows what language to show in search resultsGoogle Search Help (opens in a new tab)

Claims in the knowledge base12

  1. D2-C585ConfirmedFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
  2. D2-C584ConfirmedFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
  3. D2-C587ConfirmedFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
  4. D2-C589SourceFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationGoogle's documentation
  5. D2-C588ConsistentFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationSaid on stage
  6. D2-C366ConfirmedHandling web duplicationShown on screen
  7. D2-C590n/aFocusing on Internationalisation and LocalisationThe author's interpretation
  8. D3-C006ConsistentMaking sense of users' queriesSaid on stage
  9. D3-C079ConsistentMaking sense of users' queriesSaid on stage
  10. D3-C080ConfirmedMaking sense of users' queriesSaid on stage
  11. D3-C082ConsistentMaking sense of users' queriesSaid on stage
  12. D3-C086n/aMaking sense of users' queriesThe author's interpretation

Claim IDs refer to the Search Central Live 2026 knowledge base. The knowledge base (opens in a new tab)

Confirmed
Google's documentation states the same thing.
Consistent
Google's documentation supports it without stating it.
Source
The claim is the cited document itself.
n/a
Nothing to verify: a quotation, framing, opinion or analysis.

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