Fazley RabbiA good Bangla and English website gives each language its own set of pages at its own addresses, lets visitors switch to the same page in the other language with one tap, and carries content written for the people who read each language rather than copied across mechanically. The hard decisions are not technical. They are about who your audiences are, what each one needs, and who will keep both versions current. Settle those before design starts and the build itself is straightforward.
Decide who each language is for
Start by naming the readers. For a typical business the split might look like this:
- Bangla: local customers, dealers in district towns, people who find you on Facebook and search in Bangla or Banglish.
- English: foreign buyers, corporate clients, development organisations, job applicants, Bangladeshis living abroad, and searchers in other countries.
This tells you which language leads, meaning the one people see first at your main address, and whether every page needs both versions. An exporter's product specifications may matter most in English, while a clinic's doctor and appointment pages matter most in Bangla. It is fine for one language to have a few pages the other lacks, as long as nobody is sent to an empty or half-translated page.
Translate, adapt or write separately
Not every page should be handled the same way:
| Approach | What it means | Works well for |
|---|---|---|
| Translate | The same content, carefully rendered in the other language | Policies, product specifications, contact details |
| Adapt | The same message, rewritten with wording and examples that suit the readers | Home page, service pages, about page |
| Write separately | Different content for each audience | Blog posts, offers, pages for one market only |
Word-for-word or raw machine translation tends to read stiffly in Bangla and loses trust quickly. AI tools can produce a useful first draft, but a fluent person should review every page before it goes live. If you have many products to describe, a set workflow helps; see Bangla and English product content.
Addresses, menus and the language switcher
- Give each language its own addresses. For example, Bangla pages at the main address and English pages under /en/. Each version can then be found and indexed on its own. Avoid one address that only swaps the text inside the browser.
- Make the switcher go to the matching page, not the home page. Someone reading your English pricing page should land on the Bangla pricing page.
- Label each language in its own script, and avoid flags, because a language is not a country.
- Do not force redirects based on a visitor's location or browser settings. Suggesting the other language is fine; let people choose, and remember their choice.
- Tell search engines which pages are translations of each other with hreflang annotations, so the two versions support each other instead of competing. Setting up hreflang for a Bangla and English site covers the details.
Keep the menu structure the same in both languages, even if a few labels differ, so visitors and your own team never feel lost.
Design decisions that change with language
Text length
The same message can be shorter or longer in Bangla. Buttons, menus and headings need room for both, so design with real text in both languages, not placeholder text.
Fonts and spacing
Bangla needs its own font, a comfortable size and generous line height. Bangla web typography explains the details.
Digits and dates
Decide whether Bangla pages show Bangla digits and keep it consistent. Forms should accept phone numbers typed in either kind of digit.
Images with words
Every banner that carries text needs two versions. Better still, put the words on the page and keep images free of text.
Everything around the pages
Error messages, confirmation emails, invoices and WhatsApp auto-replies need both languages too. These are the parts most often forgotten.
Keeping both versions alive
The most common failure in bilingual sites is drift: the Bangla side gets a new offer while the English side still shows last season's details, or the reverse. Before launch, agree on:
- who owns each language and who approves changes,
- whether a change to one version always triggers an update to the other,
- how your content management system links each page to its translation, so editors can see what is missing.
That last point is worth asking about when you choose a platform; what a CMS is explains the options.
Before you brief a developer
- List your audiences and which language each one reads.
- Choose the default language and the pages that need both versions.
- Mark each page as translate, adapt or write separately.
- Agree on the address pattern and how the switcher behaves.
- Name the person who maintains each language.
Bring these answers to the first conversation and the rest of the project moves faster. Bilingual sites are a normal part of my web development work.