Set Webflow's Primary Language to French Without Losing SEO

Want to set the Webflow primary language to French for your website without losing your search rankings?

Setting the Webflow primary language to French takes careful planning to protect your SEO visibility. A poorly executed switch to French can cause 404 errors and a drop in traffic. But by following the detailed guide from our Webflow agency for setting the Webflow primary language to French, you will complete your language switch safely.

Before you change your Webflow primary language to French: overview

Why? Before you start your Webflow migration to switch your site to French, you need a complete list of every existing page.

Phase 1: how to export every URL for your Webflow migration to French

Why? Before touching anything, you need a complete list of every existing page. This file will be the basis for creating the redirects.

Step 1.1: export with Screaming Frog (main method)

1. Download Screaming Frog SEO Spider → screamingfrog.co.uk (free up to 500 URLs)
2. Open the software and enter the site URL in the bar at the top
3. Click Start
4. Wait for the crawl to finish
5. In the top tab, select Internal
6. In the filter on the right, choose HTML (to get only pages, not images)
7. Click Export → CSV
8. Save the file as urls-english.csv

Step 1.2: export from Google Search Console (as a complement)

1. Go to search.google.com/search-console
2. Select the site property
3. Left menu → Indexing > Pages
4. Click Export at the top right → CSV
5. Save as urls-search-console.csv

Step 1.3: export the Webflow collections

For each CMS Collection (blog, case studies, etc.):

1. In Webflow, go to CMS
2. Click the collection in question
3. Click Export at the top right
4. Save each file with a clear name (e.g. collection-blog.csv)

Step 1.4: create the mapping file

Open a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets) and create a file with these columns:

Tip: Copy and paste all the URLs from the Screaming Frog file into the first column, then fill in the "New URL" column as you go.

Phase 2: prepare the translations before setting French as your Webflow primary language

Why? Having every translation ready before touching the site avoids leaving half-translated pages live.

Step 2.1: inventory the content to translate

List everything that needs to be translated:

Static pages

• [ ] Homepage
• [ ] About
• [ ] Services / Offers
• [ ] Contact
• [ ] Legal notice / Terms of sale / Privacy policy
• [ ] 404 page

Global elements

• [ ] Main navigation (navbar)
• [ ] Footer (links, text, copyright)
• [ ] CTA buttons (e.g. "Get started" → "Commencer")
• [ ] Banners and pop-ups

CMS Collections

• [ ] Blog posts
• [ ] Case studies / Projects
• [ ] Testimonials
• [ ] FAQ

Forms

• [ ] Field labels
• [ ] Placeholder text (e.g. "Your email" → "Votre email")
• [ ] Confirmation messages (e.g. "Thank you!" → "Merci !")
• [ ] Error messages

Media

• [ ] Image alt text
• [ ] Text on images / infographics
• [ ] Video subtitles, if applicable

Automated emails

• [ ] Form confirmation email
• [ ] Internal notifications

Step 2.2: organize the translations

Create a Google Sheets or Notion file with these columns:

Phase 3: set French as the Webflow primary language for your site

Prerequisite: Be on the Webflow Advanced plan with Localization enabled.

Step 3.1: make French the primary language

1. In Webflow, go to Settings (gear icon)
2. Click Localization
3. Click Add locale
4. Select French (FR)
5. Set it as the Primary locale
6. Keep English as a secondary locale if needed

Step 3.2: check the publishing settings

1. In Settings > Publishing
2. Check that the main domain points to the French version
3. Check the URL structure (e.g. /en/ for English if you keep it)

Phase 4: translate the static pages

Important: Work page by page. Do not publish before you have finished the whole page AND created the matching redirect.

Step 4.1: change the slugs

For each static page:

1. Open the page in the Designer
2. Go to Page Settings (gear icon at the top right)
3. Change the Slug (e.g. about → a-propos)
4. ✅ Webflow automatically creates a 301 redirect for static pages
5. Change all the text on the page to French
6. Update the SEO Title and the Meta Description in French
7. Update the Open Graph Title / Description
8. Tick the "Status: Translated" box in your mapping file

Step 4.2: rules for French slugs

• Use hyphens, not underscores _
• Do not use accents in slugs (e.g. a-propos, not à-propos)
• Keep slugs short and readable
• Examples:
  • about → a-propos
  • our-services → nos-services
  • contact-us → contact
  • privacy-policy → politique-de-confidentialite

Phase 5: translate the CMS Collections

Warning: Unlike static pages, redirects for collections are manual. This is the riskiest step for 404 errors.

Step 5.1: change the slugs of collection items

For each article / collection item:

1. Open the item in the CMS
2. Change the Slug to French
3. Change all text fields to French
4. Update the SEO Title and the Meta Description
5. Save (do not publish yet)
6. Write down the old and the new URL in the mapping file

Step 5.2: change the slug of the collection itself

1. In the CMS, click the collection settings
2. Change the Collection Slug (e.g. blog stays blog, or case-studies → etudes-de-cas)
3. Update the mapping file accordingly

Phase 6: create the 301 redirects for your Webflow migration to French

This is the most critical step. Do it before any publishing to avoid 404 errors.

Step 6.1: add the redirects in Webflow

1. In Webflow, go to Settings > Publishing > 301 Redirects
2. For each row of the mapping file where the URL has changed:
   • In Old URL: enter the old URL (e.g. /blog/our-story)
   • In New URL: enter the new URL (e.g. /blog/notre-histoire)
   • Click Add Redirect
3. Repeat for every changed URL

Step 6.2: check the redirects

Before publishing, check that each redirect is entered correctly:

• No typos
• URLs start with /
• The old URL matches exactly what was live

Step 6.3: special cases

• Internal links in the content: Search the CMS and the Designer for every link pointing to the old URLs and update them
• Links in the navbar and footer: Update them manually in the global components

Phase 7: commonly forgotten elements

Checklist to tick off before publishing.

Global elements

• [ ] Navbar: all links and text translated
• [ ] Footer: text, links, legal notice
• [ ] CTA buttons on every page
• [ ] Banners / pop-ups / announcement bars

SEO

• [ ] SEO Title translated on every page
• [ ] Meta Description translated on every page
• [ ] Open Graph Title and Description (social sharing)
• [ ] Alt text of the main images

Forms

• [ ] Labels of every field
• [ ] Placeholder text
• [ ] Confirmation messages
• [ ] Error messages
• [ ] Notification emails (client side and internal)

System pages

• [ ] 404 page translated
• [ ] Password page (if the site is protected)

Tracking & Analytics

• [ ] Check that Google Analytics events still fire
• [ ] Check that Google Tag Manager works
• [ ] Check conversions in Google Ads, if applicable
• [ ] Let @James Brunetto know so he can update the URLs in active campaigns

Phase 8: publish and test

Never publish before completing phases 1 to 7.

Step 8.1: publish the site

1. Check one last time that all the 301 redirects are in place
2. Publish the site from Webflow
3. Clear the cache if you use a CDN (Cloudflare, etc.)

Step 8.2: test every page

For each old URL in the mapping file:

1. Enter the old URL in the browser
2. Check that it redirects to the new URL (and not to a 404 error)
3. Tick "Tested ✅" in the mapping file

Step 8.3: test the forms

1. Fill in and submit every form on the site
2. Check that the confirmation email arrives in French
3. Check that the internal notification works

Step 8.4: check on mobile

• Test navigation on a smartphone
• Check that text does not overflow with the new French words (often longer than in English)

Phase 9: after publishing

SEO: within 48 hours

1. Go to Google Search Console
2. Go to Sitemaps
3. Submit the new sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
4. Request indexing of the main pages through URL Inspection > Request Indexing

Note: A temporary drop in organic traffic is normal for 2 to 4 weeks, while Google reindexes every page. This is expected.

External links to update

• [ ] Google Business Profile
• [ ] Company LinkedIn page
• [ ] Other social networks (Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
• [ ] Team email signatures
• [ ] Directories and external mentions, if possible

Post-migration monitoring

• Monitor Google Search Console for 4 weeks (404 errors, index coverage)
• Monitor Google Analytics to spot any traffic anomaly
• Tell the marketing team about the new URLs for upcoming campaigns

Useful resources