Multilingual Website - Sub-domain VS Sub-directory

[RanjeetP]

Hi Folks - Need your advice on the pros and cons of going with a sub-domain vs a sub-directory approach for a multi lingual website. The best would be a ccTLD but that is not possible now, so I would be more interested in knowing your take on these 2 options.

Though, I have gone through http://www.stateofsearch.com/international-multilingual-sites-criteria-to-establish-seo-friendly-structure/ and this somewhat vouches for a sub-directory, but what would you say'?

[FedeEinhorn]

According to Matt Cutts, if you don't want to get all those localized domains, such as domain.it, domain.es, etc., then you are better of using subdomains.

The the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyWx31GeQWY

But it is really up to you. Make sure whatever route you take, add each subdomain / domain/folder to WT, that way, you can target specific markets for each language.

Hope that help!

[RanjeetP]

Thanks Federico, will take a look at the video. Though, for me the battle still remains on how to proceed, for now the sub-directory option looks the one. I hope to get some more views on this before I finalize the architecture.

[katemorris]

Are you targeting actual countries or just people speaking different languages?

[RanjeetP]

I will be targeting actual countries Kate. Will also be using Google webmasters to geo-target for different sub-domains/sub-directories.

[katemorris]

If you are in fact targeting countries and not just translating, I'd use subfolders. It gives your new sub sites a running start by keeping the same domain authority as the bigger site.

[RanjeetP]

Kate, when I say that I am targeting countries, the content on the website will obviously be translated into their local language. So, it will be translating but for different countries on the website. I hope you meant the same thing when you said "and not just translating". I believe the best way to go would be to use sub-folders rather than sub-domains to maintain the domain legacy and authority across the countries.

[katemorris]

When I say just translating, I mean only translating to the main language of the country and not changing the content. Just translating content is not targeting the country. You should be hiring someone native to that country to help rewrite things for the people in that country. Geotargeting means each country has content that is targeted to them. If a company is not going to take the time to target the content to the country in question, then it is just mere translation and that can cause duplicate content issues.