[FAQ]

Hello,

Our business is based in Brussels and we are planning to expand our reach into Germany and the UK. To do this, we need to make our website available in German and English, in addition to our native French.

I am trying to understand the best technical and strategic approach for this. I have seen websites use different methods: some have separate domains (like .de, .fr), others use subdomains (https://www.google.com/search?q=de.mywebsite.com), and some use subdirectories (mywebsite.com/de). What are the pros and cons of each for SEO?

Also, regarding the content itself, is it acceptable to use an automatic translation tool like Google Translate, or must we hire professional translators for everything? We have many product pages, so this is a big consideration.

Thank you for your help.

[Jeff Bullas]

Taking your website international is a significant step, and your approach to the technical structure is critical.

Short Answer: To create a multilingual website, you must choose an SEO-friendly URL structure like subdirectories, use high-quality human translation for your content, and implement hreflang tags to signal the different language versions to search engines.

Getting these three elements right ensures a good user experience and a strong foundation for your global audience.

To do this correctly, you should focus on three key areas. First, you must choose your URL structure, and for most businesses, using subdirectories is the best approach as it consolidates all of your SEO authority onto a single domain. Second, you need to handle your content translation with care by using professional human translators for your core text, such as your homepage and product pages, as relying only on machine translation can damage your brand’s credibility. Finally, you must implement hreflang tags, which are code snippets that tell search engines you have different language versions of your pages, ensuring the right content is shown to the right users and avoiding SEO penalties for duplicate content.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Author]

Posts