Best Way to Handle Multi-Language Sites
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In the last year we've made a few significant changes to the structure of our site - namely adding translations for a few languages. We have historically been gaining in organic search by about 10% each month, but in the last two months we've leveled out and seen a slight dip.
I am wondering if this has something to do with the addition of the second language, and namely if there's a chance we've been penalized due to duplicate content.
We have almost all pages / content on the site translated by a translator, but the way the development works the site will grab the english version if a translation hasn't been added - potentially adding some duplicate content?
The URL structure remains the same, other than the addiion of the language - site.com/our-tour vs site.com/de/our-tour
We also haven't translated the tour name itself, so that remains the same.
Just wondering if anyone has any feedback on best practices here or things I should be looking out for.
Thanks in Advance.
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You need to share your website. If you want to show publicly, you can send me as private.
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Adding the English content when the translation hasn't been added is an error on your side, mainly for the following reasons:
- You are posting duplicate content to the English version.
- You are posting English content on a page targeting another language/location.
- You are then deleting the English (duplicated) content from the site and replacing it with the translated one, causing confusion in regards to keyword ranking, or even dead links.
It would be a much better solution to wait for the content to be translated first, and then posting it to the second language version.
Besides that, don't forget that there are always ups and downs when it comes to SEO and that it is normal to have some dips as long as the trend is maintained and quality content is added.
Daniel Rika - Dalerio Consulting
https://dalerioconsulting.com/
info@dalerioconsulting.com
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