Best SEO Strategy for Multilingual Websites: Database-Driven or /tr - /en URL Structure?

If you want to translate your website into a second language like English, you need to establish a structure that is not only linguistically accurate but also SEO-effective. A properly structured multilingual site will improve your ranking in search engines both locally and globally. So, should you build this multilingual structure through a database or with subdirectory structures like /tr, /en? In this article, we compare both methods from an SEO perspective, explaining best practices with examples.

Methods for Publishing a Multilingual Website

Method	Example URL	Description
Subdirectory	`site.com/tr/`, `site.com/en/`	Recommended method by Google
Subdomain	`tr.site.com`, `en.site.com`	Indexed as a separate site
ccTLD (country code top-level domain)	`site.com.tr`, `site.co.uk`	Provides region-specific targeting
Language switching with database (session or parameter)	`site.com/page?lang=en`	The weakest method for SEO

Which Method is More Effective in Terms of SEO?

✅ 1. Subdirectory Structure like /tr /en

Advantages:

Benefits from the SEO authority of the main domain
Recommended by Google
Easy language targeting with Hreflang tags

Usage:

example.com/tr/hizmetler
example.com/en/services

❌ 2. Language Switching with Database/Session (e.g., ?lang=en)

Disadvantages:

Google usually does not perceive these structures as separate pages
Hreflang usage becomes complicated
Increases the risk of content duplication
Analysis and redirection are weak because the page URL does not change

⚠️ 3. Subdomain or ccTLD

Suitable for high-budget corporate structures. However, SEO authority is created separately.

Using Hreflang Tags (mandatory for SEO)

Tags like must be added to the HEAD section so that Google can make the correct matching between each language version.

️ Best Practice Recommendations

Use a separate URL structure for each language (/tr, /en, etc.)
Notify search engines of the language relationship with Hreflang tags
Prevent content duplication issues with Canonical URLs
Specify language versions separately within the Sitemap
Give the user the chance to choose a language instead of automatic language redirection

Example Configuration (Applied)

TR version:

URL: example.com/tr/
Hreflang: tr
Language Tag:

EN version:

URL: example.com/en/
Hreflang: en
Language Tag:

✅ Conclusion: Which is the Best SEO Strategy?

The most accurate method in terms of SEO: is the use of subdirectories such as /en/, /tr/. This structure complies with Google's guidelines, clearly shows the URL-based language difference, facilitates hreflang support, and increases SEO success without dividing site authority. Database-based language switching is not recommended for SEO and can only be preferred for in-application language switching.