A quick guide to choosing a domain name for a translated website

When you are thinking about having your website translated there are a multitude of options to consider.

Here’s a quick guide to just one of the important points – your new website’s domain name.

There are 3 main choices for your new domain name; let’s take a look at them for an example company’s site www.examplewidget.com.

1: Translated site as a subdirectory of the main website.

The first way you could facilitate a website translated into say German for ExampleWidget would be to host it as a subdirectory of the English source site.

This would give the web address examplewidget.com/de

Advantages	Disadvantages
The German version would benefit from the authority of the main website which may have been around for quite a while.	The site may be held on a server which is a long way from a visitor looking at the pages, meaning the pages will take a while to load. Germany is close to the UK though so this should not be a problem in this example.
Only one SEO campaign would need to be carried out for the global website.	Search engines in certain countries prefer sites to have a top level domain name for their country (eg Examplewidget.de might work better).

2: Translated site with a top level country code.

This would give the web address examplewidget.com.de

Advantages	Disadvantages
The German version would benefit from quicker page loading speed as the site could be hosted in Germany, near your users.	Each translated site would need to be set up, hosted and updated/maintained separately, with its own SEO campaign – this would add more cost.
Search engine rankings may be better with a top level country code.

3: Translated site using a subdomain.

This would give the web address de.examplewidget.com.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Subdomains can be hosted in country to keep page loading speed quick and to improve SEO results.	If hosted separately, each translated site would need to be updated/maintained separately, with its own SEO campaign – this would add more cost.
Keeps things consistent and avoids having to register a new top level domain abroad.

Which one is best for my needs?

If you are considering having a website translated, there are many questions you need to ask. Here are just a few which may have an impact on what domain name structure you eventually choose:

Who is your target audience?
Where are they based?
What language do they speak?
What products/services do I want to show them?
How do they search for products/services like mine?
How do they prefer to buy?
How much budget do I have to spend?
Am I already exporting or just thinking about trying something out?
How do I currently handle our website requirements?
Are there any cultural factors I need to consider?
Would there be a benefit in looking at one of the new domain extensions eg .engineering, .technology, .legal, .tv?

If you are thinking about having a website translated and would like to talk to one of our website experts, just drop us an email to enquiries@midlandtechnical.co.uk and we’d be happy to start the conversation.