The verdict in three sentences
In Galway, a private school redesign often turns on one precise question: which languages, for which pages, when families come from Salthill, Knocknacarra or the city centre but also from the medtech companies and the universities. A local agency usually charges €15,000 to €30,000 for a multilingual redesign in 2026, while Kolonell offers €4,500 (Growth) for a single-language site and €8,200 (Premium, the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote), delivered in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. The main risk: translations that are not properly linked to each other, which confuse both Google and parents.
Which signals say a redesign is due?
| Signal | What it costs you |
|---|---|
| Non-English-speaking families email to ask for a translation of the admissions pack | 20 to 40 minutes of office time per request |
| One page in two languages, added by hand with no link to the other version | Google shows the wrong language in results |
| Policies as scanned PDFs | unreadable by screen readers, impossible to translate cleanly |
| The contact form asks for medical or school information | excessive collection under GDPR |
| Term dates are only current inside the parent app | new families cannot find them |
| Staff cannot edit any page without the supplier | every news item waits several days |
Which languages should you handle first?
Start from real data: languages stated in your enquiries, languages spoken by enrolled families, most visited pages. Then decide page by page:
| Page type | Translate? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Admissions, steps and calendar | yes, first | the front door for families arriving in Galway |
| A typical day and school life | yes | helps families picture it, stable content |
| Curriculum | yes, carefully | Irish school terms to explain, not to adapt |
| Policies and child safeguarding | only as translations approved by the school | these are official school documents |
| News | no, except major announcements | too costly to keep up |
| Irish | according to what the school actually teaches | consistent with the school's ethos |
Technically, each language version gets its own URL, reciprocal hreflang tags and a visible language switcher. Policy translations are reviewed by the school before publication: the English version remains the authoritative one, and the site should say so clearly.
What budget and what timeline?
2026 ballpark, based on typical quotes and public rate pages of agencies in the west of Ireland and Dublin:
| Option | Price | Languages | Realistic timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-service agency, multilingual site | €15,000 to €30,000 | included or charged per language | 3 to 5 months |
| Specialist school platform | €5,000 to €12,000 + yearly licence | translation module, often automatic | 2 to 3 months |
| Local freelancer | €3,000 to €7,000 | rarely handled, hreflang often missing | 1 to 3 months |
| Kolonell Starter | €2,700 | one language | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Kolonell Growth | €4,500 | one language | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Kolonell Premium | €8,200 | the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote | 3 to 4 weeks, content ready |
Every tier includes a project manager reachable in your time zone, native English or French copywriting and 3 months of support. See the international offer.
On timing: audit and URL inventory in May, writing then translations in June, build after the exams. A July go-live is possible even during the Galway International Arts Festival or race week, but only if staff are available to sign off; otherwise aim for late August, before the new school year and the open days.
Which risks, and how do you avoid them?
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
- Traffic loss: inventory of existing URLs, a 301 redirect map, Search Console monitoring for 6 weeks, including for each language version.
- Machine translation of official documents: ruled out for policies; an independent translator (third-party cost) and sign-off by the principal.
- Children's data: the open admissions form asks for no health, special educational needs, school report, passport or custody data. Documents go through a secure admissions portal, on quote. The framework is GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Data Protection Commission. This is not legal advice.
- Integrations: admissions portal, fee payment, school management system, parent app and calendar feeds remain separate lines on quote, kept and linked.
- Accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA, captions in every published language, the correct language attribute on every page.
- Pupil photos: documented parental consent and removal on request.
Ask the provider: how are hreflang tags tested? Who reviews each language? What happens if a translation is not ready on launch day?
When is a local agency a better fit?
If you need an in-house translation team for five or more languages, workshops with the school community or a regular physical presence in Galway, a well-equipped local agency may be the better choice.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Corrib Bridge School, a faith-based independent school of about 300 pupils. Its enquiries show two frequent languages besides English. The principal wants to translate admissions, the typical day and the curriculum, and to have 12 policies translated by a professional.
- Kolonell Premium (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote): €8,200
- Independent translator for policies (third-party cost): 12 documents x 2 languages x €120 = €2,880
- Project total: €11,080
Against a multilingual agency quote of €22,000, the gap is €10,920. Maintenance after the 3 included months is on quote.
FAQ
How many languages should we plan for? Start with the 2 or 3 languages that come up most in your enquiries. Beyond that, the cost of updating pages rises every term.
Is hreflang essential? Yes, as soon as two language versions exist. Without it, Google may show the English page to a family searching in their own language, and the other way round.
Can we machine-translate our policies? Not for official documents. Budget about €120 per document per language with an independent translator, then sign-off by the school.
Which tier for an English-only site? Growth at €4,500 suits most schools. Premium at €8,200, the multilingual tier with languages set in the quote, makes sense as soon as a second language is published.
Let's scope your project. Tell us which languages your families speak and which pages you want translated, and we will price Growth or Premium and a go-live date. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
