Subdomain vs subdirectory for a multilingual website

For a site that offers the same pages in several languages, a subdirectory per language (example.com/de/) is the simplest structure to run. Google's documentation lists pros and cons for it, for subdomains (de.example.com) and for country domains (example.de), and does not say that a subdomain or a subdirectory ranks better. What separates them is the work: hosting, certificates, Search Console reporting and how far each language can drift from the rest. Choose a subdomain or a country domain when you have a reason the subdirectory cannot meet.

Does Google prefer a subdomain or a subdirectory?#

Google's page on multi-regional and multilingual sites, last updated on 2025-12-10, compares four URL structures. Its table, condensed:

The table is written about geotargeting, meaning pages meant for one country, and most of its pros and cons are about operations. It gives neither subdomains nor subdirectories a search advantage over the other. The same page says Google does not use the URL to work out a page's language: "Google uses the visible content of your page to determine its language. We don't use any code-level language information such as lang attributes, or the URL."

The one structure Google treats differently is the country domain. Its list of signals for a page's target country starts with ccTLDs, which it says "provide a strong signal to both users and search engines that your site is explicitly intended for a certain country". Some country endings do not count: Google treats .io, .co, .me, .tv and others on its list as generic domains.

Language is not country#

Much of the debate mixes two questions. A multilingual site offers the same content in several languages. A multi-regional site targets different countries, often with different prices, products or legal terms. Google's documentation draws exactly this line and gives a Canadian business with English and French pages as its example of the first.

If you translate your site into German so German speakers can read it, wherever they live, you have a language question, and a country domain is the wrong tool, since Google says it "can only target a single country". A German speaker in Austria or Switzerland is as much your reader as one in Germany. If you sell to Germany specifically, with a German company, German prices and German returns, a country domain starts to make sense.

Search Console used to let you set a target country for a generic domain. Google deprecated that report and the setting with it, saying that country targeting through Search Console "was determined to have little value for the ecosystem, and is no longer supported". What remains are the other signals Google lists: ccTLDs, hreflang annotations, server location, and local addresses, currency and links.

What each structure costs to run#

For the team that keeps the site running, the three structures differ as follows. This table is our assessment, apart from the Search Console row:

The Search Console row comes from Google's help page on property types: a Domain property "aggregates data for all subdomains, protocols, and subpaths", and a URL-prefix property such as https://example.com/spain/ lets you report on one subdirectory.

When a subdomain is the better choice#

A subdomain earns its extra setup when the language versions really are separate sites. Google's two pros that subdirectories do not share are "allows different server locations" and "easy separation of sites". In practice that covers cases like these:

• A regional team runs its own CMS or platform for its market, and you cannot or do not want to merge it into the main site.
• A language version is hosted by a partner or a translation proxy that needs its own hostname.
• A contract or a regulator requires one market's site to be hosted in a specific country.

Without one of these, a subdomain adds infrastructure and gives you the same pages.

When a country domain is the better choice#

A country domain fits a business that operates in that country as a separate entity, with its own prices, stock, contact details or legal terms, and wants local visitors to recognize it at a glance. Google's documentation is clear that the domain is a strong country signal, and equally clear about the cost: it is expensive, some countries restrict who may register, and each domain targets one country. For a site that wants Spanish speakers in Spain, Mexico and Argentina, a .es domain would narrow the audience you meant to widen.

Regional versions inside subdirectories#

Subdirectories handle regional variants without extra machinery. A site can serve Brazilian Portuguese as its catch-all /pt/ page and European Portuguese at /pt-pt/, with hreflang values pt and pt-PT, and add /en-gb/ beside its American English original. Google's documentation suggests a catch-all page for each language with regional versions, which here is the plain /pt/ page. The hreflang guide covers the codes and the rest of the set.

Changing structure later#

Moving languages from subdomains to subdirectories, or the other way, means every translated URL changes. Each old URL needs a permanent redirect to its new address, every hreflang set has to list the new URLs, and internal links and sitemaps need updating. It is possible, but it is a migration, so it pays to decide before the first translated page is indexed.

What LangRelay serves#

LangRelay's WordPress plugin serves every language from a subdirectory of your existing site. The prefix is the lowercase form of the language's tag: /it/ for Italian, /pt-br/ for Brazilian Portuguese, /en-gb/ for UK English. That means no new DNS records, certificates or Search Console properties, and translated pages come from your own WordPress, with your theme and plugins.

A translated URL keeps the original's path by default, so /about/ becomes /it/about/. You can set a translated path by hand for each page and language when the page is first translated; automatic slug translation is not available yet. Links to pages that are live in the same language are rewritten to stay in that language, and each page goes out with its own canonical, an hreflang set and x-default on the original (see hreflang and canonical tags).

LangRelay does not serve languages on subdomains or country domains today. If your plan depends on either, it is not the right tool for that part. Outside WordPress, the script embed translates in the browser on your existing URLs, which gives visitors a translation but no separate URLs for search. The multilingual SEO page has the full picture, and you can book a demo to see the subdirectory output on a site like yours.