Translation tool migration
Off Weglot and co, into your own CMS, without SEO loss.
Your site runs in several languages thanks to a translation tool such as Weglot, GTranslate or ConveyThis. That worked to get started, but you pay per word and per language, and your translations live with the vendor instead of in your own CMS. We move every language version into the multilingual setup of WordPress, Drupal, Webflow or Joomla, with the same URLs or a complete redirect plan, so Google loses nothing and you can cancel the subscription.
Tanguy De Keyzer Founder & digital strategist Last updated: 7 October 2026
Trusted by growing brands
Sound familiar?
Our translation tool costs more every year, because pages and languages keep being added.
Our translations sit in the tool, not in our CMS. Stopping feels like losing all our other languages.
We want to leave Weglot, but our French pages rank and we do not dare touch them.
Anyone who wants to edit a translated text has to work in a different system from the rest of the site.
We do not know exactly which URLs, hreflang and canonicals the tool generates for us today.
How we help
We treat it as a migration, not as a translation project. First we map what the tool publishes today: every URL per language, the hreflang, the canonicals and what ranks. Then we rebuild the same language versions in the multilingual setup of your CMS, with the same URLs where possible and a 301 plan where needed. Only when everything is checked and live do you cancel the tool.
Why Customer Impact
Why our approach is different.
Your translations become yours
After the migration every language version is a normal page in your own CMS. You edit them in the same system as the rest of your site, and no language depends on a subscription any more.
Google barely notices the move
We keep the existing URLs per language wherever your CMS allows it. Where it does not, every old URL gets a permanent redirect to its new address, as Google recommends for a site move.
Honest advice about your tool
A translation tool is not bad in itself. For a small site or a first test, Weglot can be perfectly fine. We also tell you when staying is cheaper or wiser than migrating.
Then faster in more languages
Once the translations are in your CMS, we translate new pages with an AI agent that writes straight into your CMS, with your glossary and a human review. More languages and more content, without per-word fees at a tool.
About Customer Impact
The missing piece of your growth puzzle.
Customer Impact is a digital marketing agency founded by Tanguy De Keyzer. For more than 10 years we have been building the growth engine of startups, scale-ups and established companies.
Customer Impact works from Belgium for Belgian and European companies. Our own site exists in Dutch, French, English and German, entirely in our own system, with hreflang and URLs per language. We build the same setup for your site.
What we stand for:
- Efficiency over volume: the right levers, not more noise
- Every euro measurable, from lead to revenue
- Marketing and sales aligned around the same goals
- Strategy and execution, under one roof
What we do
Off Weglot and co, into your own CMS, without SEO loss.
Inventory of your translated pages
Every URL the tool publishes today, with hreflang, canonical and search traffic per language.
Export and import of your translations
We take the translations out of the tool and create them as real pages in your CMS.
URL retention or 301 plan
The same addresses where possible, a permanent redirect per URL where needed.
Hreflang and canonicals
Every language version linked correctly, tested before and after the switch.
WordPress, Drupal, Webflow and Joomla
The multilingual setup that fits your platform, configured and tested.
Monitoring per language
Indexing and clicks per language version in Search Console, until everything is stable.
Our process
From translation tool to your own CMS in 6 steps.
Inventory and export
We list every translated URL with its hreflang, canonical and search traffic, and export the translations from the tool where your plan allows it.
Choose the right CMS setup
Per platform we choose the multilingual setup: a multilingual plugin or multisite in WordPress, Drupal's language modules, Webflow Localization or Joomla's language features.
Rebuild the language versions
We create every translated page as a real page in your CMS, with the same URL or a 301 redirect from old to new.
Hreflang and canonicals
Every language version points to itself and to all other versions, with a self-referencing canonical and an x-default.
Switch over and monitor
We switch the tool off, test every URL and monitor indexing and clicks per language in Search Console.
Cancel the subscription
Only when everything is stable do you cancel the translation tool. Not earlier, so no language ever goes offline.
Always all-in
What the migration includes.
Inventory
- ✓ Every translated URL per language, with status and search traffic
- ✓ Current hreflang, canonicals and sitemap
- ✓ Export of the translations from the tool
- ✓ List of pages to review first
Your CMS
- ✓ WordPress, Drupal, Webflow or Joomla
- ✓ Choice and setup of the multilingual configuration
- ✓ Language switcher without automatic redirects
- ✓ Translated menus, forms and metadata
SEO protection
- ✓ The same URLs or a complete 301 plan
- ✓ Hreflang in both directions, with x-default
- ✓ Self-referencing canonical on every language version
- ✓ Sitemap with every language version
After the switch
- ✓ Check of every old URL after launch
- ✓ Monitoring per language in Search Console
- ✓ Support with cancelling the tool
- ✓ Optional: AI translation straight into your CMS
Translation tool migration: why companies switch
A translation tool such as Weglot, GTranslate or ConveyThis makes a site multilingual quickly. It sits as a layer between your site and the visitor, translates the pages and serves them per language. That is handy to get started. After a few years three things weigh more: you pay every year, often per word and per language; your translations sit in the vendor’s account instead of in your own CMS; and when you want to stop, the translated pages disappear.
We do the opposite of a translation tool. We create every language version as a real page in the multilingual setup of your own CMS, so your translations are yours. How that move works per tool and per CMS, you read in our guide leaving a translation tool without losing SEO. If you use Weglot, also read exporting your Weglot translations before you leave and our Weglot review.
Proxy or CMS-native: what changes
With a translation tool, the vendor decides how your translated pages are produced and served. On WordPress, for example, Weglot serves translations server-side in a subdirectory per language and adds hreflang itself. That works, but those language versions exist only as long as the subscription runs. In a CMS-native setup the same pages live in your own database: you set the URL per language yourself, edit texts in the same system and pay no per-word subscription.
What the vendor offers differs per plan. Weglot, for example, lists export and import of translations on its pricing page only from the Advanced plan, not in Free, Starter, Business or Pro (checked on 7 October 2026). That is why every migration starts with an inventory: which URLs exist, what ranks and what you can export. What Weglot costs per plan and over three years, you read in Weglot pricing.
The migration in steps
Leaving a translation tool is a move of URLs, and Google has clear rules for that. Google recommends mapping old URLs to new ones, using permanent redirects and keeping them for at least a year, and pointing hreflang and canonicals at the new URLs too. A permanent server-side redirect tells Google that the new address is the canonical version.
- Inventory and export. Every translated URL, with hreflang, canonical and search traffic per language, and an export of the translations.
- Choose the CMS setup. WordPress (a multilingual plugin or multisite), Drupal (the core language modules), Webflow (Localization) or Joomla (the core language features). If your site runs on WordPress, also read our comparison Weglot vs WPML.
- Rebuild the language versions. With the same URLs, or with a 301 plan from every old URL to its new address.
- Hreflang and canonicals. Every version points to itself and to all other versions, as Google describes for localized versions of a page.
- Switch over and monitor. Tool off, CMS versions live, every URL tested. Then we monitor indexing and clicks per language in Search Console.
- Cancel the subscription. Only when everything is stable.
The redirect method is the same as for any other relaunch; you find it in website migration without losing rankings and in our SEO migration service. To test your old URLs yourself, use our redirect checker.
Which tool does your site use?
Not sure which translation tool is running, or how your language versions are doing today? With our free hreflang checker you see your language versions in a minute and whether a translation layer is active: Weglot, GTranslate, ConveyThis, Linguise, Localize, Bablic, Transifex Live or the Google Translate widget. How hreflang works, you read in hreflang explained. An overview of the options besides Weglot is in Weglot alternatives: CMS-native or another tool.
After the migration: AI translation in your CMS
Once your translations are in your CMS, new content no longer has to go through a tool. We translate new pages with an AI agent that writes straight into your CMS, with your glossary and your tone of voice, and with a human review before publishing. That way you add languages and content faster. We do this within our multilingual website and AI translation service. Whether machine translation is an SEO risk, you read in AI translation and SEO.
Who is this for?
For companies with a multilingual site on Weglot, GTranslate, ConveyThis, Linguise, Localize, Bablic or Transifex Live, on WordPress, Drupal, Webflow or Joomla, who want to own their translations and drop the subscription without losing search traffic. We have not published a client case of such a migration yet; our own site in four languages is built on the same principles. Contact us and within 24 hours you hear how we would approach your migration.
Related knowledge
Companies often stay with their translation tool because stopping feels like losing their other languages. In reality it is an ordinary migration: if you take the inventory first and only cancel at the end, Google barely notices and your translations are finally yours.
Tanguy De Keyzer Founder of Customer Impact and digital strategist What clients say about us
No empty promises. This is what clients say about working with Customer Impact.
“I have been working with Customer Impact for a while now and it has been a breath of fresh air from the very start. The team complements itself perfectly, so you always have someone with very extensive knowledge of specific aspects of marketing, ranging from ads to web design and strategy. The hands-on approach means you can always get started right away, and the feedback is always clear and honest. No nonsense, just facts.”
AAxel D.S.
Verified review via Google
“Customer Impact built a strong new website for us and set up a lead generation approach that truly delivers results.”
JJanitor Waterschoot
Verified review via Google
“They do not just execute, they also think along strategically. Real B2B specialists. Recommended!”
JJack Daly
Verified review via Google
“Sharp and fast analysis of the problem, processes and possibilities. No complicated sales talk, fast, and a first setup that works well. A bit more attention to the fine tuning. Pleasant collaboration.”
TTandarts.nl
Verified review via Google
“Smooth communication, proactive thinking and everything neatly followed up.”
CClaire Farrell
Verified review via Google
“Super professional and extremely creative! They managed to adjust and respond to all of our needs numerous times. Highly recommend ❤️”
JJovana Vakic
Verified review via Google
Compare your options
Translation tool or multilingual in your own CMS?
| Translation tool (Weglot, GTranslate...) | Multilingual in your own CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your translations live | In the vendor's account | As pages in your own CMS |
| URLs per language | Generated by the tool, depending on tool and plan | Set by you, optimisable per language |
| Cost | Recurring subscription, often per word and per language | No per-word subscription; only your CMS and any plugin |
| Speed | An extra layer between your site and the visitor | Pages served straight from your CMS |
| Editing | In a second system | In the same CMS as the rest of your site |
| Stopping | The translated pages disappear with the subscription | Nothing to cancel |
These are typical traits of a translation proxy versus a CMS-native multilingual setup. Which features your tool offers depends on the vendor and the plan.
What to expect
When do you see what?
Week 1
Inventory and export
We map every translated URL, the hreflang and the traffic per language, and export the translations.
Weeks 2 to 3
Setup in your CMS
We set up the multilingual configuration and move the language versions over, on a staging environment.
Weeks 3 to 4
Switch over
The tool goes off, the CMS versions go live, redirects and hreflang are tested.
Months 2 to 3
Monitor
We monitor indexing and clicks per language in Search Console and correct where needed.
After that
No subscription, more languages
You cancel the tool and can have new pages translated with AI straight into your CMS.
In all honesty
Who is this not for?
- Your site has one or two languages and a handful of pages, and the subscription does not bother you: staying is then often the simplest choice.
- You only want to swap one translation tool for another: the same problem remains.
- You want to cancel the tool tomorrow, without an inventory: that is exactly how rankings get lost.
Contact us
Tell us where you stand.
Briefly tell us what it is about. You get a personal reply from Tanguy or someone from the team, not a call centre.
Frequently asked questions
What does a migration off a translation tool cost? ＋
We work on request, because the effort varies a lot. What drives the effort: the number of pages and languages, whether the URLs can stay or need a redirect plan, whether your tool allows an export on your current plan, the CMS your site runs on and how many translations need reviewing first. After a short inventory you get a proposal with a clear scope.
Will I lose my rankings if I stop using Weglot? ＋
Not if you rebuild the language versions in your CMS first and only switch the tool off afterwards. The risk is in the order: whoever cancels first sees the translated pages disappear. With the same URLs or a 301 redirect per URL, plus correct hreflang, Google keeps the signals of your existing pages.
Can I export my translations from the tool? ＋
With most tools yes, but it depends on the vendor and the plan. On its pricing page, Weglot lists export and import only from the Advanced plan. Without an export, we collect the translated texts from the live pages before switching the tool off.
Which tools and which CMSs do you handle? ＋
We migrate off Weglot, GTranslate, ConveyThis, Linguise, Localize, Bablic and Transifex Live. As a destination we work with WordPress, Drupal, Webflow and Joomla, each time with the multilingual setup that fits the platform.
Do my URLs stay the same? ＋
Where your CMS allows it, yes, for example when the tool already uses a subdirectory per language such as /fr/. Where it does not, every old URL gets a permanent redirect to its new address and we update hreflang, canonicals and internal links.
Is a translation tool like Weglot bad for SEO? ＋
Not necessarily. On WordPress, for example, Weglot serves translations server-side in a subdirectory per language, with hreflang. The reasons to migrate are usually ownership, cost and control, not that the tool does not work. That is why we also tell you when staying is the better choice for your site.
How do I know which translation tool my site uses? ＋
Test your site with our free hreflang checker. It shows your language versions and recognises Weglot, GTranslate, ConveyThis, Linguise, Localize, Bablic, Transifex Live and the Google Translate widget.