Build a map from actual addresses
Record the German and English URL for each item. Include categories, contact pages, downloads and other page types that exist, as well as articles. A shared content identifier can help establish the relationship; similar filenames alone are not reliable evidence. Translated titles and different paths may still describe the same subject.
Mark missing counterparts explicitly. An empty entry is more honest than an apparent match to the other language's homepage. Then decide whether the translation needs creating or whether there is a clear reason for a particular item to exist in only one language. If the intended service is fully bilingual, a missing version remains unfinished work.
Try the switch from different starting points
Open an inner page directly and change language. Repeat in the opposite direction. Also try an article reached through a category and its list. The route used to reach a page should not determine whether the language control finds its counterpart.
Check the destination's title and main information. Two pages may share a lead image yet describe different versions of a process. Compare dates, contact addresses, available functions and conditions relevant to the reader's action. Natural translations need not follow identical sentence structures, but should include the same information needed to make a decision.
Read the surrounding interface
Read the menu, category names, buttons, error messages and footer in the selected language. An article may be translated while its contact form or empty search state remains in the other language. Exercise states that do not appear during ordinary reading, rather than stopping at the first screen.
For search engines, hreflang annotations can identify language variants of a page. Google's documentation describes references to corresponding versions. This technical mapping does not replace testing the visible language switch. A correct annotation cannot make a missing translation complete or bring outdated information up to date.
Identify a partly translated download journey
Inspect linked files themselves. An English link label may open a German document even when the page switch works correctly. Record that separately: the page has been translated, but its supporting file has not. Decide according to the intended service whether a translation is missing or the document’s different language needs to be clearly stated before download.
Track changes in pairs
When a German page receives a new process, record the English update in the same task. Do not let it disappear into a general translation backlog. After publication, inspect both URLs and both directions of the language switch.
Keep the mapping as a working record. During a later move or folder restructuring, it provides a way to check that content has been preserved. A small maintained table with unambiguous pairs is more useful for that purpose than simply observing that both homepages look presentable. Assign someone to update that record whenever a new page is published or an existing pair is retired.
