What’s the ideal URL structure for SEO on a multilingual website?

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What’s the ideal URL structure for SEO on a multilingual website?

Asked on Sep 21, 2025

Answer

The ideal URL structure for a multilingual website should be clear, consistent, and user-friendly, helping both search engines and users understand the content's language and region. Using subdirectories or subdomains is a common practice to achieve this.

Example Concept: For multilingual SEO, using subdirectories (e.g., example.com/en/ for English, example.com/fr/ for French) is often recommended. This approach keeps the main domain authority centralized while clearly indicating language and regional targeting. Subdomains (e.g., en.example.com) are also viable but may require more effort to build authority separately.

Additional Comment:

Subdirectories are easier to manage and maintain within a single domain.
Ensure each language version has its own hreflang tags to indicate language targeting to search engines.
Keep URLs simple and avoid unnecessary parameters or session IDs.
Consider using a consistent naming convention for language codes (e.g., "en" for English, "es" for Spanish).
Regularly monitor and update your sitemap to include all language versions.

✅ Answered with SEO best practices.

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