In this article · 7 sections
A growing share of Indian internet users prefer content in their own language. For businesses in Punjab, Punjabi and Hindi pages can reach customers who don't search in English — farmers, older customers, rural buyers and pilgrims. But adding languages incorrectly can create duplicate content or confuse search engines.
Should you add another language?
Yes, if a meaningful part of your customers prefer it and you can maintain quality translations. Start with your most important pages: homepage, main services, contact and FAQs.
URL structure
| Option | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Subfolder | yoursite.com/hi/, yoursite.com/pa/ | Recommended for most businesses — simple and shares domain authority |
| Subdomain | hi.yoursite.com | Works, slightly more setup |
| URL parameter | ?lang=hi | Not recommended |
Avoid auto-redirecting visitors based on browser language; let them choose with a visible language switcher.
hreflang tags
hreflang tells Google which language version to show to which users. Each page lists all its language versions, including itself:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-IN" href="https://yoursite.com/taxi-service/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="hi-IN" href="https://yoursite.com/hi/taxi-service/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="pa-IN" href="https://yoursite.com/pa/taxi-service/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://yoursite.com/taxi-service/">Tags must be reciprocal (each version links to the others). Each version keeps a self-referencing canonical.
Translate properly
- Use natural, conversational language — machine translation without review often reads badly.
- Translate titles, meta descriptions, headings and image alt text too.
- Use the words customers actually use, including common English loan words.
- Keep phone numbers, prices and details identical across versions.
Fonts and technical tips
Use web fonts that support Gurmukhi and Devanagari, set the correct lang attribute on each page, and use UTF-8 encoding everywhere (including the database).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is translated content duplicate content?
No, translated pages in different languages aren't duplicates, especially with correct hreflang.
What about Hinglish?
Hinglish phrases can appear naturally in English or Hindi content and social posts; a separate Hinglish site version usually isn't needed.
Do I need to translate the whole website?
No — start with the pages that bring customers.
Reach customers in their language
Joboo Web builds bilingual and trilingual websites with correct hreflang. See website design or contact us.