Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Internationalization guides for subfolder structure
-
I'm wondering if there are any guides out there that list how subfolders should be structured for Internationalization? The first language/location that I'm targeting is Portuguese in Brazil so should my folder structure be:
or
I did find the guide below but was wondering if there was perhaps anything from Google?
-
Hi Gianluca,
I also have a translation for Latin American Spanish, what is the best way to target that? Do I need a site for each country? Or should I just call it "es" and use the same site for each country that I need to target?
-
Yes, I was actually going through the Moz guide to international seo and hreflang is mentioned.
https://moz.com/blog/guide-to-international-seo
Yes, I'm using Wordpress but I decided to go with Multisite. I didn't really like any of the plugins out there that handle translations. I'll look into the rewrite rule, thanks!
-
_So using /pt-br/ is fine, what really matter is letting Google know the language/location through search console and other measures what language/location the page are targeting. _
Correct, also, do look into meta tag called "hreflang":
https://moz.com/learn/seo/hreflang-tag
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en
I'm not following what you mean in the last sentence: Unless you use some type of CMS, then you can just use RewriteRule or something to only display needed URL.
Most CMS systems have some type of functionality or plugins, which would let you create content in different languages within the same admin, so you wouldn't have to physically create all subfolders etc. So, whenever CMS does that, it would give you URL, but you might use htaccess rewriterule without redirect to make URL look like you want. Just google "rewrite rule without redirect" and you'll see what i'm talking about.
Hope this clarifies a bit
-
Hi Gianluca,
Thanks for your response. The main version of our site is actually English, that is the language that currently resides in the root.
-Brandon
-
I don't know of any "guide" by Google about how better design an international seo architecture.
However, of the two options you presented, the most common, correct and logic is the second one (domain.com/pt-br/), because the first is substantially burying the Brazilian Portuguese version of your site in the architecture.
Secondly, using the ISO schema "language-country" is also a good way to maintain the consistency in the site, also because those same pairs you will be using when implementing the hreflang annotations (and it is also a way to make understand what iso pairs your developers must use).
Thirdly, internet users recognize very well already what pt-br stands for
Finally, a note. If the brazilian portuguese is the main version of your site, why don't you create it directly in the root of your domain (domain.com directly in brazilian portuguese), when all the other versions will be in their dedicated subdirectories? This is the most common thing to do.
-
Sorry, didn't mean to refer to that link as a guide more of a reference.
So using /pt-br/ is fine, what really matter is letting Google know the language/location through search console and other measures what language/location the page are targeting.
I'm not following what you mean in the last sentence: Unless you use some type of CMS, then you can just use RewriteRule or something to only display needed URL.
-
Hi there.
The link you have provided is not a guide for subfolders structuring, it's simply a list of allowed/known language codes for internalization.
To answer your question - it wouldn't matter. It is more for your own ease of use and user friendliness. For example, since you'd have to have different content, you'd have to keep different versions of the website in different folders for ease of finding stuff. This is where different folders structures would come in handy. Unless you use some type of CMS, then you can just use RewriteRule or something to only display needed URL.
Hope this makes sense
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
CcTLD vs subfolder for international SEO
In what situations is subfolder better than ccTLD, and vice versa.
International SEO | | MedicalSEOMarketing1 -
Schema for languages Subfolders
I'm using static Schema for each language subfolder in my website, Should i use the same "URL, description" for every language? or i have to use the URL and description according to the language? I'm using that schema for english should i change URL and description in the other languages? for example
International SEO | | MTBE0 -
Using a top level domain name and directing it to a subfolder
Hi, we have a large international network. Our main website sits on .com domain and is used by the UK market. We have an international site in a subdirectory .com/dk/ for Denmark for example. We have also purchased the domain name www.ourcompany.dk/. Should we be forwarding the domain name (www.ourcompany.dk/) to point to the subdirectory www.ourcomany.com.dk/ so in the browser it shows up as www.ourcompany.dk or should we be displaying it as www.ourcompany.com/dk/? Are there any pros and cons to this method? Which one is best and are there any benefits in SEO. Ideally we want the .com domain name to have the best domain authority so would this impact it in any way? Any tips would be great.
International SEO | | Easigrass0 -
International SEO Subfolders / user journey etc
Hi According to all the resources i can find on Moz and elsewhere re int seo, say in the context of having duplicate versions of US & UK site, its best to have subfolders i.e. domain.com/en-gb/ & domain.com/en-us/ however when it comes to the user journey and promoting web address seems a bit weird to say visit us at: domain.com/en-us/ !? And what happens if someone just enters in domain.com from the US or UK ? My client wants to use an IP sniffer but i've read thats bad practice and should employ above style country/language code instead, but i'm confused about both the user journey and experience in the case of multiple sub folders. Any advice much appreciated ? Cheers Dan
International SEO | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
URL Structure - Homepage, Country and State Pages
Hello, I am creating a website (or websites if best format) that will have state-specific boating license courses for every state in the US, Canada and Australia. I would like the content to be available on the website in English, French and Spanish. I want to be the global leader in providing boat test courses. For the (1) homepage, (2) country pages, and (3) state pages, what is best SEO format I should use for:
International SEO | | Monologix
(a) URL structure
(b) "href lang" code
(c) rel canonical code
(d) will meta content with non-English pages need to also be in the non-English language of that page? Also, what server company do you recommend I host my website with? I am a non-programmer and learning SEO, so any and all help will be greatly appreciated! Thank you very much in advance!!!0 -
Internationalization and 302 redirects
Hi, We're thinking in an internationalization process for a travel webpage. We'd like to use one domain (.com) in TV and press marketing and have several domains with each country ccTLD domain. We've shown that for example Tripadvisor makes a 302 redirect if you connect to tripadvisor.com and you are in another country. But we've detected aswell, that if you use the Browser Agent Google Bot, it didn't. It appears to be a cloaking, but really they're redirecting the users to the best places for them, and detecting Googlebot for not make the redirect, they ensures that it indexes well all the place. Booking.com makes something similar but with the same domain, detecting if you're Googlebot or not. Do you think that this is a danger thing if you're not as big as Tripadvisor? They makes this redirection by level server, could be safest to do with javascript? if we do with javascript, Google will take this path instead of read the page? Thanks!
International SEO | | robertorg0 -
Redirect the main site to keyword-rich subfolder / specific page for SEO
Hi, I have two questions. Question 1: is it worthwhile to redirect the main site to keyword-rich subfolder / specific page for SEO? For example, my company's webpage is www.example.com. Would it make sense to redirect (301) the main site to address www.example.com/service-one-in-certain-city ? I am asking this as I have learned that it is important for SEO to have keywords in the URL, and I was thinking that we could do this and include the most important keywords to the subfolder / specific URL. What are the pros and cons of this? Should I create folders or pages just the sake of keywords? Question 2: Most companies have their main URL shown as www.example.com when you access their domain. However, some multi-language sites show e.g. www.example.com/en or www.example.com/en/main when you type the domain to your web browser to access the site. I understand that this is a common practice to use subdomains or folders to separate different language versions. My question is regarding subfolders. Is it better to have only the subfolder shown (www.example.com/en) or should I also include the specific page's URL after the subfolder with keywords (www.example.com/en/main or www.example.com/en/service-one-in-certain-city)? I don't really understand why some companies show only the subfolder of a specific language page and some the page's URL after the subfolder. Thanks in advance, Sam
International SEO | | Awaraman1 -
Subdomains or subfolders for language specific sites?
We're launching an .org.hk site with English and Traditional Chinese variants. As the local population speaks both languages we would prefer not to have separate domains and are deciding between subdomains and subfolders. We're aware of the reasons behind generally preferring folders, but many people, including moz.com, suggest preferring subfolders to subdomains with the notable exception of language-specific sites. Does this mean subdomains should be preferred for language specific sites, or just that they are okay? I can't find any rationale to this other than administrative simplification (e.g. easier to set up different analytics / hosting), which in our case is not an issue. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
International SEO | | SOS_Children0