Contact Us
Our Team
  • Schedule 15-Minute Intro Call
  • Services
    • Search Engine Development Services
      • Organic Search, Spanish SEO
      • Local SEO – Local Listings Management
      • Spanish Link Building Services
      • Professional Webmaster Services
      • Hispanic Press Release Packages
      • PPC Services, Paid Advertising
    • Language Services
      • English to Spanish Translations
      • Website Translation Services
      • Translation Services for Government
      • Document Translation and Localization
      • Content Updates Synchronization
    • Hispanic Marketing Services
      • Hispanic Marketing for Lawyers
      • Hispanic Marketing for Surgeons
      • Hispanic Marketing for Dermatologists
      • Hispanic Marketing for Dentists
      • Hispanic Marketing for Franchises
      • Hispanic Marketing Agencies
    • Other Services
      • Responsive Email Marketing
      • Responsive Website Design
      • Mobile Marketing to Latinos
      • Content Marketing Services
      • Software Development Services
      • All Services
  • Articles & Infographics
    • Blog
    • Articles
    • Infographics
    • Noticias Newswire
  • Press & Media
  • FAQs
    • Search Engine Development
    • Website Translations
    • Document Translations
    • Hispanic Marketing
    • Hispanic Marketing Strategies
    • General Questions
  • SEO/AI Search
  • Collateral Resources
    • [White Paper] SEO Success in Spanish
    • [White Paper] Lawyers Success in the US Hispanic Market
    • [White Paper] Working With Cross-Functional Teams
    • [Case Study] Latinx Marketing: Consolidated Credit
    • [Case Study] Franchise: Maid Right Franchising, LLC.
    • [Case Study] Boston Immigration Law: Fitzgerald Law Company
    • [Case Study] Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon: Robert J. Troell, M.D., F.A.C.S
    • [Case Study] 24/7 Card Spanish PPC Campaign
    • [Case Study] Consolidated Credit Reaching US Hispanics
    • [Case Study] Blogger: Mamá XXI
    • Other US Hispanic Market Resources
    • Client Testimonials
  • Client Access
  • Client Testimonials
Hispanic Market Solutions: Language, Search, Content, Social
  • Schedule 15-Minute Intro Call
  • Services
    • Search Engine Development Services
      • Organic Search, Spanish SEO
      • Local SEO – Local Listings Management
      • Spanish Link Building Services
      • Professional Webmaster Services
      • Hispanic Press Release Packages
      • PPC Services, Paid Advertising
    • Language Services
      • English to Spanish Translations
      • Website Translation Services
      • Translation Services for Government
      • Document Translation and Localization
      • Content Updates Synchronization
    • Hispanic Marketing Services
      • Hispanic Marketing for Lawyers
      • Hispanic Marketing for Surgeons
      • Hispanic Marketing for Dermatologists
      • Hispanic Marketing for Dentists
      • Hispanic Marketing for Franchises
      • Hispanic Marketing Agencies
    • Other Services
      • Responsive Email Marketing
      • Responsive Website Design
      • Mobile Marketing to Latinos
      • Content Marketing Services
      • Software Development Services
      • All Services
  • Articles & Infographics
    • Blog
    • Articles
    • Infographics
    • Noticias Newswire
  • Press & Media
  • FAQs
    • Search Engine Development
    • Website Translations
    • Document Translations
    • Hispanic Marketing
    • Hispanic Marketing Strategies
    • General Questions
  • SEO/AI Search
  • Collateral Resources
    • [White Paper] SEO Success in Spanish
    • [White Paper] Lawyers Success in the US Hispanic Market
    • [White Paper] Working With Cross-Functional Teams
    • [Case Study] Latinx Marketing: Consolidated Credit
    • [Case Study] Franchise: Maid Right Franchising, LLC.
    • [Case Study] Boston Immigration Law: Fitzgerald Law Company
    • [Case Study] Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon: Robert J. Troell, M.D., F.A.C.S
    • [Case Study] 24/7 Card Spanish PPC Campaign
    • [Case Study] Consolidated Credit Reaching US Hispanics
    • [Case Study] Blogger: Mamá XXI
    • Other US Hispanic Market Resources
    • Client Testimonials
  • Client Access
  • Client Testimonials
Hispanic Market Solutions: Language, Search, Content, Social
Core Services
  • Why Hispanic Market Advisors®
  • Grow with Spanish SEO
  • Contact Us
1-844-HMA-FITS (462-3487) Join Our Team

The Process of Selecting
Your Spanish-Language Domain

Grow with Spanish SEO
Home » Our Blog » Spanish websites

Spanish SEO: Domain per language, subdomains or language folders?

March 28, 2019 by Hispanic Market Advisors® Leave a Comment

Many prospective clients (small business owners and Webmasters) ask us this question when they are in the process of developing a Spanish-language website. Should I develop the new site in a new domain, subdomain or language folder? As in many other topics, there’s not one right answer that would apply to every single case, but let me present you with some pointers that will help you gain clarity when facing that dilemma.

Let’s discuss this from the technical perspective first. Then, in order to get a holistic view of the issue, we’ll discuss it from a non-technical perspective as well.

From the technical perspective

Generally, keeping the two language versions in separate folders is the best approach. e.g. put all the Spanish pages in a folder called /es/ or /spanish/ so that their URLs all begin: http://www.yoursite/es/ or http://www.yoursite/spanish

That helps search engines see them for what they are – like a minisite within the bigger domain. Also, it helps if the main domain has authority, trust and domain strength. For this case https://www.drbadia.com, for instance, it will help the Spanish pages published on https://www.drbadia.com/es gain SERPs more rapidly. I know… if anyone is wondering whether helping positioning the Spanish pages will have a negative impact on the English pages (legitimate concern), I could share hundreds of cases in which evidence shows that having a language version actually helps seo wise of the overall domain – however, to cut through the chase, let’s hear directly from Google folks [ watch this video from Google Webmaster tools ] who inform us that having extra subdirectories or subfolder such as /es/ next to the root level is not a major factor in Google search engine rankings. By Google themselves, “it doesn’t matter, it’s got barely any effect.”

The most straightforward and safe solution is to use language folders, because no special code is needed to handle the different parts of the website. The folders are the most common, easy to use and all purpose solution. It is the safest method in terms of SEO and Web Development. You should use folders such as /es/ when you have a relatively small website (the case of http://www.drtroell.com with less than 250 pages) and when you want to maintain the authority of the domain in the main category. Less targeted and low PageRank pages that belong to high authority websites appear on the top of the search engine results (for example Wikipedia). Other examples using this approach are those from Consolidated Credit Counseling Services and Debt.com:

https://www.consolidatedcredit.org/ [English-language pages for country USA]
https://www.consolidatedcredit.org/es [Spanish-language pages for country USA]

https://www.debt.com/ [English-language pages for country USA]
https://www.debt.com/es/ [Spanish-language pages for country USA]

For dynamic multilanguage websites that change content all the time, subdomains are a great solution because they can be easily coded and they can achieve good SEO Results. For instance, Indeed uses https://co.indeed.com for their website in Colombia.

https://www.indeed.com/ [English-language pages for country USA]
https://co.indeed.com/ [Spanish-language pages for country Colombia]

Creating multiple subdomains (e.g., es.yoursite.com or espanol.yoursite.com) usually means that you have additional parts of the website that need to be handled separately. Since the sub domains can be hosted on the same or on different servers, they can execute the same code or have a completely different technology to support them. The same happens when you use multiple domains. Of course from one point of view this approach gives you the freedom to handle those parts differently from the main website (good for some cases where the English SEO and Spanish SEO teams are two different companies with different budgets, processes, and goals), but this certainly is going to create additional costs for you since more time and resources are needed to position the sub domains well on the eyes of the search engines. We can discuss more details in a future forum.

Different Domains Subdomains Folders
Geo Targeting High Medium Low
Authority, Trust,
Domain Strength
No authority is inherited A part of authority is inherited The authority is inherited
SERPs Increased number of results Increased number of results in some cases Limited number of results per domain
Sitelinks Support No Yes Yes
Website Control Very Difficult Difficult Easy
Design & Web
Structure Freedom
Very high Medium-High Very low
Link Building &
Link Structure
New Link Building Campaigns
Cross linking domains
New Link Building Campaigns
Cross linking Subdomains
Single Link Building Campaigns
Internal Link Structure

Source: http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/multiple-domains-vs-subdomains-vs-folders-in-seo/

From a non-technical perspective

Many experts say that choosing between a domain per language, subdomains or language folder isn’t actually a technical question, but rather depends on what you’re trying to achieve. To answer this, we need to think about your site’s contents and what appears in each language.

Translated contents or unique contents per language. What’s the difference between translated contents and unique contents per language?

Translated contents means different language version of the same page say the same thing (have the same meaning), just in different language. This will be the case for Dr. Troell’s website en español. Interested in translating your site to Spanish? Learn about our English to Spanish website translation services.

Unique contents per language means your site conveys a different message in different languages. This is the case where different languages reflect different service or product offerings. The Spanish pages aren’t just a translation of the English pages. They are different. For instance, Dell has different Spanish contents for Argentina and for Mexico.

For big sites (international-multilanguage situation) they also usually choose “domain per language” or “domain by country” or “country specific top level domains”, for they have resources enough and everybody agrees it is the best strategy, plus this strategy tells both people and search engines that the contents of that site are specific to that country.

For instance:

http://www.ebay.com [For USA]
http://www.ebay.ca [For Canada]
http://www.ebay.fr [For France]
http://www.ebay.com.mx [For Mexico]

For Sandoval Law Firm, LLC case, choosing (https://sandovalpllc.es) was obviously not an effective strategy for targeting US Hispanics in Houston, TX given the fact that the target audience is a city within the US, not in Spain. For that reason, Attorney Hector Sandoval chose (https://sandovalpllc.com/es/) for his Spanish-language website.

Since this site https://sandovalpllc.com/ will have translated contents, not unique contents per language, the best approach for this case was to use either language folders or language sub-domains.

Language Language folders Language sub-domains
English (source language) https://sandovalpllc.com/ https://sandovalpllc.com/
Spanish (target language) https://sandovalpllc.com/es/ https://es.sandovalpllc.com/

Hope this helps clarify when to use domain per language, subdomains or language folders. Thank you and I welcome any questions and comments regarding this post.


Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Do you want to know more?
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

SEO Success in Spanish [White Paper]

SEO Success SpanishExcecuting a cost-effective Spanish SEO campaign

Client Testimonials – Spanish SEO/SEM

“Hispanic Market Advisors’ SEO work was key in the development of our marketing and PR strategy in Spanish at Consolidated Credit.
They were able to position 21… Read more
Ines Mato

Ines Mato

Product Specialist
Miami, FL

“We hired Sebastian Aroca and Hispanic Market Advisors to help us at 24/7 Card with PPC in Spanish (AdWords + Bing) and Spanish SEO (search engine optimization) for… Read more
Andrew Latimer

Andrew Latimer

CTO at 24/7 Card
Los Angeles, CA

“Sebastian: I appreciate all of the help and guidance that you have provided me over the last 18 months! Thanks to your Spanish SEO/SEM expertise …

Read more

Ines Mato

Ronnie Schwartz

President, Students Connecting
New York City

“Sebastian is very thorough and enthusiastic about helping us with all of our SEO needs!.
He is very proactive and provides solutions that have lead to a…

Read more

Ines Mato

Storm Josefsberg

Product Marketing Specialist at Siemens Energy
Orlando, FL

“Hispanic Market Advisors’ SEO work was key in the development of our marketing and PR strategy in Spanish at Consolidated Credit.
They were able to position 21…

Read more

Silvia Prado

Silvia Prado

Advertising, Marketing
Miami, FL

“Hispanic Market Advisors’ SEO work was key in development of our marketing and PR strategy in Spanish at Consolidated Credit.
They were able to position 21…

Read more

Sofia Keck

Sofia Keck

Hispanic Marketer
San Francisco, CA

CASE STUDY

How we Made It Happen

Consolidated Credit

Small Bussiness: Consolidated Credit

Latino SEO, Spanish SEO

Consolidated Credit Counseling Services improved its online presence in the US Latino market by adopting a pure organic Latino SEO …

Read More

WE OFFER

A Premium Translation service, search engine marketing services and tons of unique and original bilingual content.

WE CARE ABOUT

Assembling our teams according to your needs, treating your business as ours, and keeping our 100% customer retention rate.

WE PROVIDE

Personalized customer support, a principing structure that fits your wallet, and innovative and effective ways to promote our clients.

WE NEVER STOP

Following metrics very closely, delivering Top Ranking, and working with the key players in the industry.

About Us

  • Hispanic Market Advisors®
  • 3250 NE 1st Avenue, Suite 305
  • Miami, FL 33137

Related Links

  • Estimated Times for WP Support Tasks
  • Estimated Times for Shopify Support Tasks
  • Client Access
  • Careers
  • Plugins

Connect With Us

  • 1-844-HMA-FITS (462-3487)
  • (305) 677-0651
  • support@hispanicmarketadvisors.com
  • Schedule an Appointment

Our Services

  • Responsive Website Design
  • English to Spanish Translations
  • English to Spanish Website Translations
  • Spanish SEO
  • PPC Services for Latino Market
  • All Services

Copyright © 2025. Hispanic Market Solutions: Language, Search, Content, Social. – All rights reserved. Privacy Statement – Terms and Conditions – Our Best Practices - Disclaimer
Your one stop source for Hispanic marketing and Spanish translation needs – Sitemap

:: WE NEVER STOP

Following metrics very closely, delivering Top Ranking, and working with the key players in the industry.

Following metrics very closely – “Some deliver empty promises, we deliver trackable results.” Among the first questions we ask our potential clients are: do you have Google Analytics set up? What about Google and Bing Webmaster Tools? And what about tracking your calls and analyzing user behavior? If you don’t have these tools set up, don’t feel bad. Most don’t.

We will help you set up the right “lean” metrics (they vary depending on the business). Then, as we go, we will track the impact of all of our efforts. After all, your marketing dollars are not unlimited, and we know that. As your business receives more qualified web traffic, leads, and sales, we all win.

Delivering Top Rankings – We will track all relevant keywords and send you monthly ranking reports. SEO involves also tracking number of visits and building a balanced link profile. PPC involves tracking pageviews, clicks and conversions. CRO involves tracking calls and user behavior to optimize the lead funnel and maximize leads and sales. Numbers don’t lie and we will make them all visible to you. Set up an initial consultation.

Working with the key players in the industry – Having the right team in place is as important as setting the right strategy. Our team is composed of Latina bloggers, Community managers, SEO specialists, PPC AdWords certified experts, and recently added, a software development team that focuses on responsive technology and conversion rate optimization. All together have one common goal: delivering trackable results to our clients.

Hispanic Marketadvisors logo

:: WE PROVIDE

Personalized customer support, a principing structure that fits your wallet, and innovative and effective ways to promote our clients.

Personalized customer support – We feel proud of the personalized support we offer to our clients. Since we are a boutique niche market agency, you will most likely deal with the owner, Sebastian Aroca, and one account manager or specialist. Most of our team works in the backend (even when you sleep) to make sure that everything flows in the most optimized way possible. We persist until we get things done!

A pricing structure that fits your wallet – We realize that customers also come in different sizes. Thus, after our initial consultation, in most cases, we will send you a proposal with three different levels (conservative, moderate, and aggressive) so you can choose the intensity of our marketing efforts. Most of our customers start with a conservative or moderate approach and upgrade to a higher level once they start seeing results. We tend to like that too, so trust and confidence is built in stages. Set up an initial consultation.

An effective ways to promote our clients – We will not impose any particular marketing strategy. Instead, we will study your product(s) or service(s), your industry sphere, and your customer profile, including user behavior. Only then, we will adopt the right combination of SEO, PPC, social media, SMS marketing, and more! List of our web services.

With an excellent Past Performance Evaluation (PPE) score of 94 to current and prospective customers, Hispanic Market Advisors℠ is certified by Open Ratings (a Dun & Bradstreet company) as a Top 20% Performer. Why Hispanic Market Advisors℠

Hispanic Market Advisors

:: WE CARE ABOUT

Assembling our teams according to your needs, treating your business as ours, and keeping our 100% customer retention rate.

Assembling our teams according to your needs – As an integral, fast growing company in the Hispanic marketing field, Hispanic Market Advisors ℠ integrates four forward edge virtual teams (Search, Language, Content, Social) led by Sebastian Aroca, each one of those teams providing results oriented services designed to help you achieve success in the prospering online Hispanic market.

Our main office is in Miami, FL (Midtown area), and we assemble specific teams depending on our clients’ needs and budget. Learn more.

Treating your business as ours – We will act as an extension of your own team. We will study your customers and help you create customer profiles. We will also help you with client acquisition strategies that will help grow your business. As you grow and expand your business, we grow alongside you.

Keeping our 100% customer retention rate – “Some deliver empty promises, we deliver trackable results.” We monitor all of our actions, and upload monthly reports for you to keep track (Client Access).

With an excellent Past Performance Evaluation (PPE) score of 94 to current and prospective customers, Hispanic Market Advisors ℠ is certified by Open Ratings (a Dun & Bradstreet company) as a Top 20% Performer.

Hispanic Marketadvisors logo

:: WE OFFER

A Premium Translation service, search engine marketing services and tons of unique and original bilingual content.

A premium translation service – There is nothing more inviting to a potential consumer than to be addressed in his or her own language. Taking the time to provide this service shows respect for culture as well as a willingness to engage that the consumer will likely attribute to the rest of your business. In short, your goodwill with that customer starts off on the right foot.

Obviously, the website will also be much easier for them to read. For serious business owners and marketers that care about their brand, we strongly recommend professional translations over automatic free translations like Google Translate. Learn more.

Hispanic search engine marketing services SEO, PPC) While your PPC campaign efforts can result in instant benefits; your organic SEO when done effectively can help you rank higher over a longer period of time. Striking the right balance is the challenge and what most marketers strive for! Check this page and let’s discuss and build together an integrated Hispanic marketing strategy that works for you.

Tons of unique and original bilingual content – Creating a bilingual website is possible even if you do not know the language in which you would like to translate.

Cultural heritage plays an important part in the lives of Hispanics. Foods are especially influential. Traditions and holidays are influential. The culture is relational, and it’s important to consider that special events are priorities. Content should capture the heart of the topic, whether it’s focused on a product or an event.

Hispanic Marketadvisors logo