If you run a website and want to target international markets, the first question is how best to organize the web, domain and URL structure for international SEO. Should you use country code top-level domains (ccTLDs)? Or are subdomains or subdirectories the better choice? This question is often asked, and the answer - as so often in SEO - is "it depends".
In this article, I'll explain which web structure might be best for you, based on the strengths of your business and the specifics of your target market.
The three main options are ccTLDs, subdomains and subdirectories.
What you should not do is language control via URL parameters instead of real URLs, because there are some disadvantages (implementation, indexing, ...) associated with this.
1. ccTLDs - e.g. .de, .fr, .es
ccTLDs (country code top level domains) are the clearest way to target your website to specific countries. A well-known international example is Pinterest, which runs the German and French pages via ccTLDs: pinterest.de and pinterest.fr
The use of a country-specific domain such as offers clear advantages, in particular a clear geographical orientation that signals the location of the company or target group. Another advantage is that the server location is irrelevant, which allows more flexibility in the technical infrastructure.
Such a domain also makes it easier to subdivide websites by country.
However, there are also some disadvantages: Country-specific domains can be costly, and their availability is not always guaranteed. In addition, their administration often requires a more extensive infrastructure. Strict requirements for ccTLDs (country code top-level domains) can also be a challenge, and the domain can usually only be targeted to a single country.
For example, if you want to target the German market, a .de domain would be the first choice. This structure is particularly suitable if the competition in the target market is manageable and you want to establish a strong, locally anchored presence right from the start.
Pinterest automatically queries the browser language. I have preset the English language in the Opera browser, which is why the English-language version is displayed here - even though I am on the French site pinterest.fr. This is particularly a disadvantage if, for example, you access the German Pinterest page via a German search query in Google, but the entire user interface is displayed in the language of your browser language setting. This could confuse users because they expect a German search term and the corresponding German page to also have German content.
From a UX perspective, it is better to leave it up to the website visitor to decide whether they want to switch to the language of their browser when they access a page in a different language. At TutKit.com, we solve this by displaying a small pop-up to the website visitor with the information that the content is also available in their language and that the page can be switched accordingly by clicking on a button.
2. subdomains (e.g. en.examplewebsite.com)
Subdomains are another way of providing international content. The use of subdomains with a generic top-level domain (gTLD), such as "de.example.com", offers several advantages. The setup is relatively simple and allows different server locations to be used for different subdomains, providing more flexibility in managing the website. This structure also makes it easy to subdivide websites by region or language. Google often treats subdomains as separate entities, which means you may not benefit from the existing authority of your main domain.
Also, users might not immediately recognize the geographic orientation of the subdomain and wonder whether "de" stands for the country Germany or just the language German, which can lead to confusion.
This option of subdomains can be useful if you have technical or legal requirements that require separate management of content for different countries.
A well-known international example is Freepik, which has created its eleven languages in subdomains: de.freepik.com, fr.freepik.com, etc. Here is the Japanese version. Well solved with a hero image with a person from the cultural area, so that the cultural fit was also considered. What is a little less good is that not all menu cards are translated correctly.
But Pinterest also relies on a subdomain for the Spanish site: https://es.pinterest.com. So a mixed approach is also possible for some companies with ccTLDs and subdomains.
3. subdirectories (e.g. examplewebsite.com/en/
Using subdirectories with a generic top-level domain (gTLD) - like we do with "tutkit.com/en/" - has some clear advantages. The setup is straightforward and the maintenance effort remains low as all content is hosted on the same server. This structure is particularly practical for centralized administration. Adobe also uses subdirectories (adobe.com/fr/, ...).
However, users do not immediately recognize the geographical orientation as the URL does not contain a unique country code, only the language code. Another disadvantage is that you are limited to a single server location, which restricts your flexibility.
In my opinion,subdirectories are often the most flexible solution. They allow you to organize content for different countries under a single domain, which makes it easier to leverage the authority of your main domain. Especially in competitive markets, this structure can be helpful as you don't have to build a new domain from scratch.
Website visitors can change the language at TutKit.com with two clicks. Depending on the language selected, the button text already changes to the new language when a choice is made, so that the call-to-action is available directly in the new language:
This is how TutKit.com's language management looks in our backend, for example, based on the ISO 639-1 language code:
Recommendation: Which domain and URL structure should you choose?
Choosing the best web structure depends on a few considerations.
Look at the competitors in your target market as part of a competitive analysis . If most successful websites use ccTLDs, this could be an indication that you should also use this strategy. For me as a German user, a .de domain looks more familiar than an international domain where the German pages are stored as a subdomain or in a separate directory.
Country-specific domains also have higher click-through rates in the SERPs compared to the two alternatives. If subdirectories or subdomains dominate the target market and your competition already has a high domain authority, a subdirectory under an existing gTLD (e.g. .com) might make more sense. This is because with country-specific domains you have to build up the domain authority of each individual domain separately. The backlink profile of your .de site is not inherited by your .fr site and so on. This fact was one of the two main reasons why we opted for subdirectories at TutKit.com, because it allows us to focus our link building activities on one domain only.
Another point is that with country-specific domains, you need more time and human resources to manage multiple domains and implement a separate SEO strategy for each country.
In some cases, there are technical or legal reasons that require a specific structure. For example, if you need different IP addresses for different countries or need to separate content for legal reasons, subdomains might be the best solution. In fact, it is now an increased effort for us to adapt the cookie consent banner in the different countries in accordance with the rules. With the EU, we already have the toughest rules. But in countries where no cookie banner is required, this banner will significantly affect the user experience and people are more likely to leave the website if they are not used to something and can classify it correctly within a few seconds. We therefore only want to display the cookie banner where it is really necessary. This is easier to implement in separate systems. From one system, it requires more queries for geolocalization.
In conclusion, we decided to use the /de, /fr, ... subdirectories with TutKit.com, as we maintain everything from one system and our resources for content maintenance, SEO and link building are also limited. This also included very practical considerations in our day-to-day work. In our SEO tools for crawling (currently Seobility and Audisto), the project is only listed once and yet the crawlers can be easily limited to certain directories if, for example, we want to clarify a problem in a language variant. This means that we only ever need to book one project in the tools. The tool providers often calculate the costs for use according to the number of projects. With dozens of country-specific domains, this can be quite expensive. Here are the prices of Seobility as an example:
The ranking check via the Search Console is also extremely simple, because in addition to the country display, we can also directly restrict all rankings for the respective directory:
International ranking monitoring via Sistrix is also very easy for us, as it is only one domain thanks to the subdirectories.
These advantages still make subdirectories the best choice for us today.
HREFLANG, geo-targeting and cultural fit - what's next
In further blog posts, I will explain these three topics for you, which are also important in the multilingualism of websites and for international SEO.
- The HREFLANG attribute: The hreflang attribute is an HTML attribute that is used to tell search engines such as Google which language and/or country version of a website should be displayed.
- Geo-targeting: John Mueller from Google explained in one of his Google Webmaster Central office-hours that the URL structure for multilingual websites does not matter as long as a website has its own URL. As soon as content in the same language is to be geo-targeted to specific countries, a number of special features come into play.
- Content customization: It is also wise that each country-specific page is not only in the right language, but is also culturally adapted. This means that you should not simply translate a page, but also take local needs and expectations into account.
Conclusion on the international URL structure
Choosing the right web structure for international SEO is a strategic decision that needs to be well thought out. A comprehensive analysis of your target markets, the competitive landscape and your own resources is essential. Whether you choose ccTLDs, subdomains or subdirectories, the goal is always the same: better rankings, more traffic and higher conversions in the markets as well as efficiency in running the website.
If you have any questions about the international URL structure, please contact us.