Multilingual Websites: Separate Websites or a Single Website

Published: May 27, 2023 at 5:29 am.

Expanding your website to cater to a global audience requires careful consideration of how to handle multiple languages effectively. There are two primary approaches: creating separate websites for each language or using a single website with translated content. In this blog post, we will explore the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches and compare them in terms of usability, manageability, and search engine optimization (SEO).

Jesse van Muijden

Co-owner @ Vamudo

Separate websites for each language

The separate website approach entails that different websites with their own structure and content will be developed and maintained. It is possible to serve each websites from its own domain, for instance with the top level domain corresponding to the language, like .com for English, .de for German and .fr for French. Another option is to serve the different websites from the same domain, but to use a path prefix for each language after the domain name, like /en, /de and /fr. With the latter option, the approach can remain the same. The structure and content of the website for each language will be managed independently from the other languages.

Advantages

Customization: Tailor each website to the specific language, culture, and preferences of the target audience, enhancing user experience.
Flexibility: Enjoy the freedom to make independent updates, design changes, and content additions for each language, providing a localized touch.
Localization: Optimize SEO for each language individually, considering local keywords and search engine preferences, maximizing visibility.

Disadvantages

Maintenance: Managing multiple websites can be time-consuming and challenging, as updates and changes need to be applied to each site separately.
Cost: Hosting and maintaining separate websites may incur higher expenses compared to managing a single website. This is more relevant when serving the website for each language on a different domain.
Consistency: Ensuring a consistent user experience across different language websites can be demanding, potentially affecting brand image.

Single website with translated content

With the single website approach, the website has a uniform structure with different versions of each page for every language. The current language can be stored in the browser session, a query parameter in the URL, or by using a path prefix for each language after the domain name, like /en, /de and /fr. With the latter option, the approach can remain the same. Vamudo uses the single website approach with path prefixes for languages for additional languages and no path prefix for pages in the primary language of the website.

Advantages

Centralized Management: Updates, design changes, and content additions only need to be applied to a single website.
Consistency: Users can navigate between different languages seamlessly, maintaining a consistent user experience. For search engines it will also be easier to discover relations between similar content in different languages
Cost-effective: Hosting and maintenance costs are lower compared to maintaining separate websites.

Disadvantages

Language-specific Optimization: It may be more challenging to optimize SEO for multiple languages within a single website. Especially for automatically generated pages and content.
Flexibility: Adapting the website design and structure to specific language preferences might be limited. For instance, styling for right-to-left language like Arabic and Hebrew would have to be combined in a single project.
Translations: Accurate and high-quality translations are essential to maintain credibility and provide a positive user experience. If a multilingual websites falls back to the default language in case of a missing translation, the visitor will be surprised to see the language of the website switch.

Usability

Both approaches can provide good usability if implemented correctly. The single website approach may offer a more consistent user experience, as users can switch between languages seamlessly. However, separate websites allow for customization and tailoring to specific language preferences and cultural nuances.

Manageability

The single website approach is generally more manageable as updates and changes only need to be applied once. It simplifies maintenance tasks and reduces the time and effort required to manage multiple websites. Separate websites require more resources and effort to maintain consistency and keep all versions up to date.

Search engine optimization

Separate websites can be optimized individually for each language, considering local keywords and search engine preferences. This approach may offer better SEO performance for each specific language. However, a single website with translated content can benefit from shared domain authority and backlinks, potentially boosting overall SEO performance. Implementing hreflang tags and language-specific sitemaps can also help search engines understand the language targeting.

Conclusion

In summary, choosing between separate websites or a single website with translated content depends on several factors. Separate websites offer more customization and localization possibilities but require additional resources and maintenance effort. A single website approach provides centralized management and cost-effectiveness, but it may require careful SEO optimization and high-quality translations. Consider your specific requirements, available resources, and target audience preferences when deciding on the best approach for your multilingual website. Vamudo offers the single website by default for Hugo website, but also supports separate websites for each language.