A website in Spanish and English: how to do bilingual SEO in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, many businesses serve two audiences: local customers who search in Spanish, and tourists, foreign residents or international clients who search in English. Having your site in both languages can double your chances of showing up on Google, but only if it's done right. A badly configured bilingual site confuses Google and ends up showing the wrong language, or neither.

This guide explains how to do it properly.

1. One URL per language

Every page should live at its own address for each language. The most common setups:

• Subfolders: yourcompany.com/servicios and yourcompany.com/en/services. The simplest to maintain, and what we recommend for most businesses.
• Subdomains: en.yourcompany.com.
• Separate domains: yourcompany.cr and yourcompany.com. Only useful in special cases.

What doesn't work well: automatic translation widgets that change the text in the browser without changing the address. To Google, those translations don't exist as pages.

2. Hreflang tags

Hreflang tags tell Google that two pages are the same content in different languages, so it shows each person the right version. Each page should:

• Point to its own version and to the other language's (for example, es-CR and en).
• Be matched by the other: if the Spanish page points to the English one, the English page must point back.
• Include a default version (x-default) for people who match neither language.

The tags can go in each page's code or in the sitemap. Check Google Search Console for errors. More technical detail in our technical SEO guide.

3. Adapt, don't just translate

A word-for-word translation rarely matches how people search in the other language:

• A Costa Rican searches for "fumigación"; a foreigner, "pest control".
• A Costa Rican searches for "cabinas en Puerto Viejo"; a tourist, "bungalows Puerto Viejo" or "where to stay in Puerto Viejo".
• What a local takes for granted ("200 meters north of the church") a foreigner needs explained.

Research keywords in each language separately (see keyword research step by step) and adapt the content to what each audience needs to know: prices in dollars as well as colones, how to get there from the airport, whether foreign cards are accepted.

Translation tools are fine as a starting point, but always have someone fluent review the result.

4. Keep both languages at the same level

• The same important content in both languages. If a service page only exists in Spanish, it can't appear in English searches.
• A visible language switcher that goes to the equivalent page, not the home page.
• Translated menus, buttons and forms, including error and confirmation messages.
• Update both at the same time: prices, hours and promotions.

5. Business Profile and reviews in both languages

Your Google Business Profile is a single listing, but you can mark that English is spoken and reply to each review in the language it was written in. Google shows the profile to people searching in either language.

6. Measure each language separately

In Search Console, filter the Performance report by page (/en/) or country to see how each version is doing. In Analytics, compare visits and conversions for each language.

Common mistakes

• Unreviewed machine translation.
• Misconfigured hreflang, or missing matching pages.
• A language switcher that always goes to the home page.
• An English version with fewer pages or outdated information.
• Mixing languages on the same page.

Frequently asked questions

Does having an English site mean competing with sites worldwide?

For general searches, yes. That's why it pays to focus on searches that include Costa Rica, your area or your specialty, where you have the advantage.

Does Google penalize translated content?

It doesn't penalize translations, but it does reward useful, natural content. A low-quality machine translation rarely ranks well.

Is it worth it if almost all my customers speak Spanish?

If you have few English-speaking customers, start with a handful of key pages in English (home, main services, contact) rather than translating the whole site.

Want help with your bilingual site?

We work on SEO in Spanish and English, with keyword research in each language. See our prices or tell us about your business. You might also like our guide to SEO in Costa Rica.