How To Proceed With Int'l Language Targeting if Subfolders Not An Option?

[UnbounceVan]

I’m currently working with my team to sort out the best way to build out the international versions of our website. Any advice on how to move forward is greatly appreciated!

Current Setup: Subdirectories to target languages - i.e. domain.com/es/.

We chose this because…

1. We are targeting languages not countries

2. Our product offering does not change from country to country

3. Translated site content is almost identical to the english version

Current Problem: Our site is built on WordPress and our database can’t handle the build out of 4 more international versions of the site. The database is slowing down and our site speed is being affected for multiple reasons (WordPress multilingual plugin being one of them).

**What to do next? **My developers have said that we cannot continue with our current subdirectory structure due to the technical infrastructure issues I’ve mentioned above (as well as others I’m yet to get full details on). Now I’m left with a decision:

1. Change to a subdomain structure

2. Change to a ccTLD structure

3. Is there an option 3?

From what I’ve read it does not make sense to build out language targeted sites on a ccTLD structure because that limits the ability for people outside of the targeted country to find the content organically. I.e. a website at www.domain.es is targeted to searchers in Spain so someone in Columbia is less likely to find that content through the engines. Is this correct? If so, how much can it hurt organic discovery?

What’s the optimal setup to move forward with in this case?

Thanks!

[HiveDigitalInc]

Hi Cody,

I can understand and sympathize with your frustrations with the wordpress multilingual features.   If placing in subfolders is not an option, placing in subdomains or on the cctld are the next best alternatives.  Please note that as long as you do proper tagging with the hreflang tags, you shouldn't see any issues, etc.. as these sites/subdomains will all be linked and authority shared between them based on their being alternates.

-Jake

[UnbounceVan]

Hi Jake,

I realize my options are to go with subdomains or ccTLD's. My question is which one is better in this case (and why)?

Cheers, Cody

[HiveDigitalInc]

Hi Cody,

I typically recommend a subdirectory structure unless you foresee that the site/brand will be presented different in each country (e.g. you will have different products or service offerings), or if each site/brand will be managed by different development firms and/or hosted on different platforms.   By maintaining these within subfolders, you can often better manage your SEO by forcing consistency within the platform, and more easily contribute authority back to the parent (default) language at the root domain.

I hope this helps.

-Jake

[UnbounceVan]

Hi Jake,

As mentioned above, the subdirectory structure is not an option at this point. The options are to go with subdomains or ccTLD's. Thoughts?

[HiveDigitalInc]

So sorry Cody!!

Sub-directories allow you to consolidate domain authority and often provide ease of maintenance. With the proper markup, you can create a clear signal to Google for the geotargeting.  I understand this isn't an option for you.

With subdomains, you lose some of the shared domain authority that gives sub-directories their advantage, and generally have to maintain separate installs, etc..  You can specify a geo within search console, but it won't be as effective as a ccTLD.

With ccTLDs, you can create a much quicker signal for geotargeting your traffic, but the domain authority for each site is generally wholly independent and will require more substantive effort to build the initial authority of each ccTLD, etc..  ccTLDs tend to earn better CTR from the SERPs in the geo, as they seem more likely to be relevant.

In your case, I would go with the ccTLDs..

-Jake