Subdirectory vs Subdomain for Multilingual SEO

Summarize this post with: 8 min read

For a multilingual website, both subdirectories (example.com/fr/) and subdomains (fr.example.com) work for SEO, and Google lists both as valid options. Subdirectories are the usual default because every language shares one domain and is simple to manage. Subdomains make sense when a language version needs separate hosting or a separate team, or when your platform can’t serve translated folders safely. What matters more than the choice is doing it consistently: one URL per language, hreflang tags, and no automatic redirects.

Key takeaways

Google’s guide to multilingual sites lists country domains, subdomains and subdirectories as options, and marks URL parameters (?lang=fr) as not recommended.
Subdirectories: one domain, one hosting setup, one Search Console property, simpler analytics. The most common choice for translated sites.
Subdomains: each language on its own hostname. Easier to host or hand off separately; slightly more setup in analytics and Search Console.
Google determines language from the visible page content, not from the URL, so the URL structure alone doesn’t make a page “French” to Google. hreflang connects the versions.
Pick the structure your platform supports cleanly. A setup that can take your main site offline is worse than a slightly less tidy URL.

What is a subdirectory?

A subdirectory (also called a subfolder) is a folder in the path of your main domain:

https://example.com/        (English)
https://example.com/fr/     (French)
https://example.com/de/     (German)

Everything lives on one hostname. The French pricing page is example.com/fr/pricing, the German one example.com/de/pricing.

What is a subdomain?

A subdomain is a prefix in front of your domain name, which technically makes it a separate hostname:

https://example.com/        (English)
https://fr.example.com/     (French)
https://de.example.com/     (German)

The French pricing page becomes fr.example.com/pricing. Each subdomain is created with a DNS record and can point to a different server.

What Google says

Google’s page on managing multi-regional and multilingual sites compares the options directly:

Structure	Example	Google’s pros	Google’s cons
Country-code domain	`example.de`	Clear geotargeting; server location irrelevant; easy separation	Expensive; more infrastructure; strict ccTLD rules; targets one country only
Subdomain with gTLD	`de.example.com`	Easy to set up; allows different server locations; easy separation	Users might not recognise geotargeting from the URL alone
Subdirectory with gTLD	`example.com/de/`	Easy to set up; low maintenance (same host)	Users might not recognise geotargeting from the URL; single server location; harder to separate sites
URL parameters	`example.com?loc=de`	Not recommended	Hard to segment; unclear to users and search engines

Two more statements in the same guide matter for this decision:

Google uses the visible content of the page to determine its language, and doesn’t use code-level information such as lang attributes or the URL.
Google advises you to avoid automatically redirecting users from one language version to another based on assumed preferences, because that can stop both users and Googlebot from reaching every version.

In other words, Google does not officially prefer one structure for ranking. The practical differences are in maintenance, measurement and risk.

Subdirectories vs subdomains: side-by-side

Factor	Subdirectories (`/fr/`)	Subdomains (`fr.`)
Setup	Needs your platform or a proxy to serve `/fr/` paths	One DNS (CNAME) record per language
Hosting	All languages on the same host	Each language can be hosted separately
Search Console	Covered by one domain property; you can add each folder as its own property to see per-language data	Each subdomain can be its own property; a Domain property covers them all
Analytics	One site, no cross-domain setup	Usually works in one GA4 property, but check cookie and referral settings
Internal linking	All pages clearly one site	Still one brand, but separate hostnames
Separation	Harder to split later	Easy to hand one language to a local team or partner
Risk if misconfigured	On some platforms, a wrong DNS change can affect the whole site	A wrong record only affects that language

This is the most repeated argument in favour of subdirectories: links to your main domain help the /fr/ folder because it is “the same site”. There is some sense to it. Everything under one hostname is clearly one site, internally linked and managed together, and many SEO practitioners see new language folders pick up visibility faster than new subdomains.

But be careful with strong claims. Google has not published a rule that subdomains rank worse, and “domain authority” is a third-party metric, not a Google signal. A well-linked subdomain with good content and correct hreflang ranks fine. If a subdirectory is easy for you, it is a good default; if it is risky or impossible on your platform, a subdomain is a perfectly sound choice.

When to choose subdirectories

Your CMS supports language folders natively, or your translation plugin serves them (WordPress is the typical case).
You want the simplest analytics and Search Console setup.
You have one team managing every language.
You want every language to look like part of the same site to visitors.

When to choose subdomains

Your platform can’t serve translated folders, or doing so would require pointing your whole domain at a third-party proxy.
Different languages need different hosting, for example a server closer to the market or a separate stack.
A local team, agency or partner will run one language version.
You want a problem in one language (a DNS mistake, an outage) to stay contained there.

When to use country domains instead

A country-code domain (example.de, example.fr) is a stronger local signal and can build trust, especially in markets where customers expect a local domain. It is also the most expensive and most work: separate domains, separate link building, separate legal and hosting setup. It fits established businesses with real local operations. For translation alone, it is usually overkill.

Mistakes that matter more than the structure

Whichever structure you choose, these errors cause more damage than the choice itself:

One URL for all languages. If the language changes with a cookie or script but the URL stays the same, Google can only index one version.
Automatic redirects by browser language or IP. Google advises against it. Offer a language switcher or a suggestion banner instead.
Missing or broken hreflang. Every version should list itself and all alternates, with fully qualified URLs. See our complete hreflang guide and the list of valid hreflang codes.
Canonical tags pointing to the original language. Each language version should be canonical to itself.
Untranslated titles and meta descriptions. A French page with an English title looks like a duplicate.
Deep or inconsistent nesting. Keep the language at the top level (/fr/pricing, not /pricing/fr/ on some pages and /fr/pricing on others).
Changing structure after launch without redirects. If you move from subdomains to subfolders later, map every old URL to its new one with 301 redirects.

How ConveyThis handles URL structure

ConveyThis supports both structures, plus a default mode and a URL-parameter mode for platforms where nothing else is possible. With subdomains or subdirectories, each language gets its own indexable URL and ConveyThis adds hreflang tags and translates titles, meta descriptions and structured data. Subdomains and subdirectories are available from the Business plan (see pricing).

Our own recommendation is practical rather than dogmatic, and it depends on the platform:

WordPress: the ConveyThis plugin uses subdirectories by default and needs no DNS change, so /fr/ is the easy path.
Custom-built sites: subdomains are usually safer. You add one CNAME record per language and your main site stays on your own host. A subdirectory setup on these sites means routing your whole domain through ConveyThis, and a DNS mistake then affects the original site, not only the translations.
Shopify: subdirectories through ConveyThis are not available; use subdomains.
Wix, Bubble, Framer and Lovable: neither structure is currently offered for these platforms, so the default or parameter mode is used.

The subdomain vs subdirectory help article walks through each platform and the DNS steps, and the multilingual SEO page covers the rest of the SEO setup.

Frequently asked questions

Are subdirectories better than subdomains for SEO? Not by any rule Google has published. Google lists both as valid. Subdirectories are simpler to run and a good default; subdomains are fine when your setup calls for them.

Can I use ?lang=fr parameters instead? You can, but Google marks URL parameters as not recommended for multilingual sites. Use them only if your platform supports nothing else.

Should each language have its own Search Console property? It helps. With subdirectories you can add each folder as a URL-prefix property; with subdomains each subdomain can be its own property. Both let you see performance per language.

Can I switch from subdomains to subdirectories later? Yes, but treat it as a site migration: 301-redirect every old URL to the new one, update hreflang and sitemaps, and expect some ranking movement while Google reprocesses the change.

Ready to give each language its own SEO-friendly URL? Create a ConveyThis account and choose the structure that fits your platform.