Websites in Multiple Languages

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

• 
  Michael Mason: Websites in Multiple Languages
  
  OK, here's what I am thinking... Which is best...?
  
  • Website using Google translate
  • Website with dedicated pages translated individually
  • Separate domains (TLDs) for each language ;translated individually
  
  Any thoughts +John Mueller...?
• 
  Federico Sasso: If you want your translated pages to be indexed (and also do your readers a favour, indeed), avoid Google Translate as hell. Pages automatically translated are against Google guidelines, and and are a very unhappy user experience.
• 
  Michael Mason: Then seperate TLDs is probably the way to go then.
  
  Thanks.
• 
  Federico Sasso: There are options:
  - separate TLD
  - language (or country) specific subdirectories
  - language (or country) specific subdomain
  each has pros and cons.
  
  Registering separate TLD can be an administrative burden for some.
  Subdir and subdomain are equivalent.
  
  Geolocalization can be an issue, depends on your needs. For example a .de for German content might not be the best option if your audience is meant to be German-speaking but may be is also located in Austria or Switzerland; subdir and subfolders can make sense if your site has a generic top level domain as .com/.net/.org... but were it country specific - e.g. .de - could prevent content in other languages ranking at best.
  
  At the end, it's a trade off based on your needs.
  This is a highly discussed topic and you can find plenty of reference on google help pages.
• 
  K. S. Bisht: go with your 2nd option.. create subdirectories for each language. This is an easy to create and maintain option.
  
  Also define language tags for each versions.