Localize your website into Hindi

Reach hundreds of millions of Hindi speakers across northern India's "Hindi Belt," plus Fiji, Nepal, and a large global diaspora. Hindi is the official language of India's Union government, but it isn't India's sole national language, and treating it as a stand-in for "Indian" can genuinely backfire in parts of the country. MotaWord helps you get the reach right, not just the translation.

600M+

SPEAKERS WORLDWIDE, NATIVE AND SECOND-LANGUAGE

9

INDIAN STATES PLUS DELHI WHERE HINDI IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

3rd

MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGE FAMILY IN THE WORLD, COMBINED WITH URDU

The largest single audience in India's most populous region

The Hindi Belt alone covers roughly a third of India's population, concentrated in some of the country's fastest-growing digital and consumer markets.

500M+

people across the Hindi Belt states of northern India

863K+

Hindi speakers in the United States

Fastest-growing

Hindi is India's fastest-growing language by census figures

Global reach

Bollywood's cultural influence extends Hindi's reach well beyond the Hindi Belt itself

Hindi-speaking markets, by reach

India is the core market, but Hindi carries real official and diaspora reach beyond its borders too.

Hindi does not cover all of India
Hindi is the official language of India's Union government, but each state can set its own official language, and several, especially in South India, have strong regional preferences and active resistance to "Hindi imposition." A Hindi-only strategy will miss a large share of India's population. We're happy to talk through which additional Indian languages might matter for your specific audience.
India: Hindi Belt statesOfficial
~500M+
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and six other states plus Delhi; also the Union government's official language nationwide
NepalWidely spoken
~8M speakers
Widely understood, especially in the Terai region bordering India
FijiOfficial
~380K speakers
Fiji Hindi is one of three official languages, descended from 19th-century indentured-labor migration

Hindi and Urdu: same roots, different scripts

Spoken Hindi and Urdu are mutually intelligible, both descended from Hindustani. Written, they diverge completely.

Hindi
Written in Devanagari script, with formal vocabulary drawing heavily on Sanskrit.
Urdu
Written in the Perso-Arabic Nastaliq script, with formal vocabulary drawing on Persian and Arabic. Requires its own separate translation.

Cultural and technical considerations

The single biggest mistake in Hindi localization is treating it as a proxy for "Indian" without checking who your actual audience is.

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Don't assume Hindi covers all of India

Regional language preference, especially in the south, is a real and sometimes politically charged issue. Check your actual user base before deciding Hindi is enough.

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Devanagari script needs proper rendering support

It's an abugida shared with Sanskrit, Marathi, and Nepali, but distinct from the scripts used by many other major Indian languages.

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Never substitute Urdu content for Hindi, or vice versa

Despite spoken mutual intelligibility, the script difference alone makes a direct substitution unreadable to the wrong audience.

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English is a genuine alternative in India

English carries prestige and broad reach in India, especially in urban, educated, and southern markets. Hindi and English often need to coexist rather than one replacing the other.

What Hindi localization does for search and reach

Standard SEO tooling applies, with script rendering and regional targeting as the main technical considerations.

Hreflang and targeting

hi-IN is the standard tag. Given India's regional variation, geo-targeting within India often matters as much as language targeting alone.

Devanagari character encoding

Proper UTF-8 handling in URLs, meta tags, and titles avoids rendering and indexing issues.

Mobile-first by default

India has one of the highest rates of mobile-only internet access globally. Page speed and mobile UX carry real weight here.

Google is the standard search engine

No special search engine considerations; standard technical SEO and Search Console practices apply directly.

Translating and localizing a website into Hindi

No. It covers the Hindi Belt well but misses a meaningful share of the population in South India and other regions with their own primary languages.

Depends on your audience's country and script preference. India-focused audiences generally expect Hindi in Devanagari; Pakistan-focused audiences expect Urdu in Nastaliq.

Not automatically. We check font and rendering support for Devanagari before your site goes live.

Cost is driven by word count and file format. MotaWord quotes per word with no subscription or platform fee, and turnaround is typically 12 to 24 hours.

What sets our Hindi localization apart

Native Hindi linguists

Translators fluent in Modern Standard Hindi and its Devanagari script conventions.

Honest market guidance

We'll tell you when Hindi alone won't cover your actual target audience within India.

Script-aware DTP

We verify Devanagari rendering and font support before launch, not after.

MotaWord Active

Instant machine-first localization with professional post-editing layered on top, so you can launch fast and refine over time.

12 to 24 hour turnaround

Our collaborative translation model gets full-site projects done in hours, not the weeks a traditional agency needs.

24/7 live support

Direct access to your project team throughout, with no ticket queue.

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Not sure where to start?

Tell us about your site in the chat. Answer one quick question and we'll point you to the right next step.

Need Hindi beyond your website?

MotaWord supports Hindi beyond website localization, from official document translation to live interpretation.

Live on site

Certified Hindi translation

USCIS-accepted certified translation for birth certificates, diplomas, transcripts, and other official Hindi documents.

View certified translation → →

Coming soon

On-site Hindi interpretation

In-person interpreters for legal proceedings, medical appointments, school meetings, and business events.

Learn more → →

Coming soon

Video and phone Hindi interpretation

On-demand VRI and OPI interpreters for remote Hindi-language support, available 24/7.

Learn more → →