Who builds Welsh language websites in Wales? The five questions that show whether an agency can actually do Welsh, and the answers to expect
Many agencies say bilingual; few can show a Welsh site they built. Five questions tell them apart: the site, the translator, the URLs, the CMS, the cost.
By Daniel Stoychev, Webso Digital · 6 October 2026 · 7 min read
Most agencies in Wales will say they build bilingual websites, and a short list of them can show you one. Five questions separate the two groups in a single call: show me a live Welsh site you built and let me click through it in Welsh; who writes the Welsh, and are they a member of the translators' professional body; what is the Welsh address of a page and how does the switch work; where does the Welsh live in the system, as pages or as an overlay; and what does the Welsh version add to the price and the timeline. An agency that answers the five without reaching for a plugin's name can do Welsh. This site is one of the small group, and the questions are the ones we would want to be asked.
The five questions, and what the answers mean
| Question | A good answer | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Show me a live Welsh site you built | A site, in Welsh, that reads as Welsh, with the same depth as its English; the agency can say who translated it | A site with a Welsh home page and English inside, or a translation widget in the corner |
| Who writes the Welsh | A named translator or a named Welsh-speaking writer, with membership of Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru or equivalent experience, who sees the pages in context | The client, or a machine, or a cousin who speaks Welsh |
| What is the Welsh address of a page | Its own address, usually under a cy folder, with the switch taking you to the same page in the other language | The same address with a cookie, a language parameter, or a redirect to the Welsh home page |
| Where does the Welsh live | In the content system as full pages, editable by the client, paired with the English in one place | In a translation layer, a plugin, or a script that swaps the words after the page loads |
| What does Welsh add to the cost and the time | A figure for the translation per page and a week or two for review, with the Welsh published at the same time as the English | Nothing, or a vague more, or the Welsh to follow later |
Why the overlay answer matters
A translation overlay shows Welsh to a visitor and English to Google, because the words arrive by script after the English page has loaded. The site is bilingual to a person and English to the index, and no Welsh search ever finds it. The same is true for the assistants that do not run scripts. The question about where the Welsh lives is the technical version of the question whether the Welsh exists at all, and it is the one most buyers do not know to ask. Our Welsh language SEO guide covers what Google does with a real Welsh page.
The questions behind the questions
- Welsh-first or English-first: can the agency build the Welsh as the primary language, with English as the twin, for a Welsh-speaking business in Gwynedd or Ceredigion, or does it only know the other way round?
- Place names: does the agency know that Caernarfon, Abertawe and Wrecsam are searched in both forms, and that the Welsh page carries the Welsh name as the main one?
- Forms and errors: are the form labels, the validation messages and the thank-you page in Welsh on the Welsh site, or does the Welsh visitor hit English at the moment of enquiry?
- The switch: does it keep the visitor on the same page, or drop them on the other language's home page? The Welsh Language Standards require the former of public bodies, and a private business should want it too.
- Maintenance: when the client adds a page in English next year, what happens to the Welsh? A process, or a growing gap?
The fastest test takes thirty seconds: open the agency's example site, switch to Welsh, view the page source, and search it for a Welsh word from the screen. If the word is not in the source, the Welsh is an overlay, and the answer to every other question follows from that.
The sixth question, for a public body
A body under the Welsh Language Standards asks one more question, and the answer rules an agency in or out before the others are heard: can the site meet the website standards in its compliance notice, with every page in both languages, the Welsh no less favourable, the switch keeping the page, the forms and error messages in Welsh, and both languages published at once? An agency that has built for a council or a health board can show the notice it worked to and the site that met it. One that has not will say bilingual and mean a plugin. Our guide on the Standards sets out the clauses a website answers to, and the charities and public bodies page says how the build meets them.
What it should cost, in shape
The Welsh version is a translation cost per page, by a professional, plus review time in context, plus the structural work of two language trees, which is build time rather than translation. It is not double the price of the site, because the design, the build and the images are shared. It is not free either, and an agency that says the Welsh adds nothing has priced in a machine. The cost guide on this site explains the logic without a price list; the bilingual page describes how we build the two trees and who writes our Welsh.
The answers we give
For the record, since the questions are ours: the Welsh on this site is written by a Welsh speaker working from the English with the facts kept and the sentences rewritten, every Welsh page has its own address under cy, the pairing is held in one list that the head, the switch and the sitemap all read, the forms and errors are in Welsh on the Welsh site, and the Welsh is published with the English, not after it. The sites we have built in Welsh are on the bilingual page, and the questions above are the ones to put to us as much as to anyone else.
Questions on this topic
Who builds Welsh language websites in Wales?
Agencies that can show a live Welsh site they built, name who writes the Welsh, give each Welsh page its own address, hold the Welsh in the system as pages, and price the translation. Ask the five questions and the list shortens quickly.
Is a translation plugin a bilingual website?
No. It shows Welsh to a visitor and English to Google, because the Welsh arrives by script. No Welsh search finds it.
Who should translate a website into Welsh?
A professional translator or a Welsh-speaking writer who sees the pages in context, with membership of the translators' professional body or equivalent experience.
Can a site be Welsh-first?
Yes. The Welsh is the primary language and the English the twin, with the same structure the other way round. Ask whether the agency has done it.
How much does the Welsh version add?
A translation cost per page plus review and the structural work of two language trees. Not double the site, and not nothing.