Multilingual Websites: Hreflang, Local Slugs, Translation

Hreflang is a tag in a page's source code that states which language, and optionally which region, that page is written for, and points back and forth to the other language versions of the same content.

When Google sees the Turkish version pointing to the English version and the English version pointing back to the Turkish one, it understands the two are different language versions of the same content, not duplicate content.

If that tag is missing, or only runs one way (the Turkish page points to the English one but not the reverse), Google gets confused; the wrong-language page can end up shown to the wrong visitor, or the two pages get treated as copies of each other.

Three common structures exist for a multilingual site: separate domains (site.com.tr, site.co.uk), subdomains (tr.site.com, en.site.com), or subfolders (site.com/tr/, site.com/en/). According to Google's own guidance, all three work technically; the choice comes down to the business's own branding and marketing preference.

A subfolder structure is usually the lowest-maintenance option, since all the language versions sit under one domain's authority. Separate domains suit a business wanting a distinct brand impression per market, but each domain then has to earn its own SEO authority separately.

If a spa chain's English site sits on a separate domain while its Turkish site sits in a subfolder, that inconsistent structure creates confusion for search engines; the structure needs settling on one model at the start of the project.

Whether a third language might get added later is also worth thinking through at this point; a structure built for only two languages can need reworking the moment a third one joins.

A local slug means the words in a page's URL are translated into that language too; the English version of a 'services' page, for instance, should sit at '/services', not at the Turkish '/hizmetlerimiz'.

Leaving the URL untranslated weakens both the user experience and the SEO; a UK visitor seeing a Turkish word in the address bar gets the impression the site was never built with them in mind.

Setting up local slugs adds one extra step to the translation process: not just the page text, but the URL, the page title and the meta description need thinking through separately in each language.

The most common problem on a multilingual site is the source language (usually Turkish here) getting updated while the other language (English) falls behind. If a product price or a service description changes on the Turkish side and stays stale on the English one, a UK customer ends up reading outdated information.

The fix here is procedural, not technical: a checklist that flags the other language whenever content changes, or a headless CMS's multilingual content module, both work.

• Every content update triggers a check on the other language, as a standing process
• Translation follows context rather than word-for-word swaps; a literal translation can read oddly
• Local specifics (a payment method, a legal reference) get adapted to the target market rather than translated literally

A multilingual site earns its keep for a business selling to customers in more than one country, taking enquiries from abroad, or working with overseas partners. For a business serving only its local market, a second language is usually unnecessary upkeep.

The question that settles it: is there real demand from abroad, or is the second language only there to 'look more professional'? In the first case, the investment pays for itself; in the second, the ongoing maintenance becomes a burden on the business.

A good translation goes beyond grammatical accuracy; it needs to sit close to how the target reader actually speaks day to day. A sentence that reads naturally in Turkish can come out sounding stiff or odd when translated word for word into English; that is a translation-approach problem, not a translator's mistake.

A workwear manufacturer's Turkish phrase for a wholesale order translates directly as 'wholesale order', but adding a term more commonly searched in the UK market, 'bulk order' or 'trade account', alongside it fits actual search behaviour better.

This is why the translation process needs someone who knows the target market, not only a translator; the two roles do not have to sit in the same person, but one should be checking the other's work.

Once small adjustments like this get thought through once and written into a style guide at the start of the process, there is no need to re-argue them for every new page after that.