Module 05 · SEO Services

Website Translation and Multilingual SEO Service

We treat website translation not as a transfer of text but as a technical setup matched to how the target market's search engine behaves. The hreflang configuration, the language-country mapping and the domain strategy are planned together.

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In depth
01

hreflang and Language-Country Mapping

Applying hreflang starts with correctly pairing the ISO 639-1 language code with the ISO 3166-1 country code; for the German-speaking Swiss market, de-CH and de on its own serve different search behaviours.

Every language version must carry a self-referencing hreflang line, and the corresponding pages must point at each other; a one-way link leads to the signal being ignored. The x-default tag defines which version is shown to a visitor whose language preference can't be established. An hreflang definition that contradicts the canonical tag leaves the search engine undecided. Where the same language is used in different country markets — English in the US and UK versions, for instance — each variant needs its own hreflang definition.

02

ccTLD or subdirectory? The market strategy decides

Choosing a separate ccTLD for an overseas market (.de or .fr, for example) sends a strong geographical signal and lifts local user confidence; on the other hand, every extension calls for its own accumulation of authority.

A subdirectory structure (/de/, /fr/) shares the existing domain's link authority with all the language versions and keeps management simpler. The subdomain option sits somewhere in between; search engines can in some cases treat it as a separate entity. The decision is taken together with the number of markets, the habits of local competitors and the capacity to keep content updated. The international targeting setting in Search Console has to be consistent with the structure chosen. The correct setup for language and country mapping is described in Google's documentation , step by step.

01 Language-country mapping Language-country mapping: the language code paired with the country code across three rows — illustrative graphic Three rows in which the ISO 639-1 language code is paired with the ISO 3166-1 country code: tr with TR, de with DE, de with CH. There is a small globe drawing at the top right, and beneath it the note “same language, different country market”. No country flag is drawn. In the animation the rows appear from top to bottom in turn. ISO 639-1 · ISO 3166-1 language code country code tr TR de DE de CH same language, different country market
02 URL structure URL structure: the ccTLD and subdirectory options compared at equal weight — illustrative graphic Two equivalent option cards, one above the other. The upper card is headed ccTLD; inside it a placeholder address bar and the note “strong geographical signal”. The lower card is headed subdirectory; it carries a placeholder address bar and the note “shares the authority”. The two cards are drawn in the same frame and the same colour; neither is shown as superior to the other. ccTLD yourbrand.de strong geographical signal subdirectory yourbrand.com/de/ shares the authority or
03 hreflang hreflang: the three language versions marked up reciprocally with two-way arrows — illustrative graphic Three nodes in a triangle — tr-TR, de-DE and de-CH — with two-way arrows between them; each version points at the others reciprocally. Beneath, a small warning mark and the note “a one-way tag is ignored”. hreflang tr-TR de-DE de-CH a one-way tag is ignored
Illustrative graphic. It draws the order the page describes: from the language-country mapping to the URL structure decision, and from there to the hreflang markup. The codes were picked as examples; no country flag has been drawn on purpose, because a flag doesn't mean a language — the mapping is built on the ISO 639-1 language code and the ISO 3166-1 country code. The two URL options are shown at equal weight: the decision is taken together with the number of markets, the habits of local competitors and the capacity to keep content updated. The domain names in the address bars are placeholders; no brand or platform logo has been drawn.

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FAQs

Frequently asked questions: multilingual SEO and site translation

Can a website be translated with automatic tools, and is there an SEO risk?

Automatic translation gives you a quick draft, but it can produce phrasing that breaks the natural flow of the language, and the search engine may judge that as low-value content. The output needs to be backed up by an expert review.

What is the hreflang tag, and why does it matter on multilingual sites?

hreflang is the technical marker that tells the search engine which language and region a page was prepared for. Set up wrongly, the language versions can compete with each other and be shown to the wrong user.

For an overseas market, should you go for a separate domain extension or a subdirectory?

The decision depends on the number of target markets, on how the brand's authority is to be spread, and on the capacity to manage it. A subdirectory shares the existing authority, while a separate extension sends a stronger local signal.

Is the multilingual sitemap prepared as one file, or one per language?

The general approach is to prepare a separate sitemap for each language and combine them in an index file. That structure lets the crawl priority be set language by language.

What SEO settings need doing after the translation?

Alongside the body text, the meta title, the description, the image alt text and the structured data all have to be adapted to the target language. The hreflang and canonical tags also have to be updated so they stay consistent with the new version.

Can an agency based in Türkiye run SEO work in an overseas market?

Yes; when the target market's search behaviour, the local competitor analysis and the language-region configuration are set up correctly, geographical location is no obstacle.

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The detail

If you'd like to look before deciding

  1. 01

    The Structure of a Multilingual Sitemap

    A separate XML sitemap is prepared for each language version, and the hreflang information can be repeated at sitemap level too. Combining every language in a single sitemap leads to the crawl priority being spread inefficiently.

  2. 02

    The Difference Between Localization and Translation

    A literal translation carries the meaning across while keeping the sentence structure; localization also adapts units of measurement, cultural references and differences in search intent to the target market. Keyword research has to be run separately for each language.

  3. 03

    Technical Checks After Translation

    The meta title, the description, the image alt text and the structured data fields all have to be updated language by language. Keeping the internal link structure inside the language version stops the user being sent to the wrong language.

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Let's plan the hreflang, the domain strategy and the technical SEO settings of your website translation project together; the scope and timing details are settled with the information on our SEO Services page.

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