URL Naming Question

[John K.]

I looked throughout BV and could not find an exact answer, tutorial, video to this specific question:

I want to have a parallel website in Russian.

Can I name my parallel Russian pages as such:

hxxp://www.progresslanguage.com/ru/home.php (putting in the /ru/ to distinguish the Russian home page from my English index page

And then mimic all the Russian pages to my English pages using the /ru/

If this is a no go, then does anyone have any way of distinguishing the URL in this regard?

Thank you

[Vasili]

Re: URL Naming Question

Creating a Sub-Directory to serve as a website is certainly possible, but every website type - be it a Primary, Add-On, Sub-Domain, or Sub-Directory - in all cases requires an 'index' page to be the first page of that site (or that directory), never a 'home' page! This is a core directive that is detailed in the Naming Tutorials and throughout the Forums in countless instances, so it is odd that you state that you could find no reference whatsoever.
Thus, your links using such a Sub-Directory would look like this:
1. Default, to "Home" page ('index' page) to be used for all navigation: www.ProgressiveLanguage.com/ru
2. Additional interior pages (example): www.Progressivelanguage.com/ru/second-page.html and www.Progressivelanguage.com/ru/next-page.html and so on.

The potential issue arising out of a Sub-Directory as a different language is that most Search Engines will automatically translate the Content to English as a normal manner of ascertaining some Metric values when evaluating the sites (not being dependent upon a Visitor manually translating the site as an option), and if upon this initial translation the Content seems to appear as Duplicate (or "spoof") Content, your entire site (including the root Domain) will be penalized. It is important to not only have each image Titled page-specific in each site, but especially if using them in a mirrored fashion: make sure any object, image, or element is Titled completely differently even in Russian (i.e. Site 1 Image titled "Intro_photo_dog_in_snow" in Site 2 should be something like in Russian "snow-dog-introduction"). In a Sub-Directory, the distinctions must also be made with regard to all Page Titles, H-Meta, Page Descriptions, Keywords, and even structure of Page Relevance in order to not appear as a duplicated Site or a directory with duplicated Content to merit harsh SE penalty. If you really take a close look at the major sites, they do in fact use Sub-Directories to create language versions of their sites (for example: www.microsoft.com/en-us = English/US, www.microsoft.com/es-es = Espanol/Espania, etc.), but the sites are in fact quite different from each other (most noticeably the organized Content), possibly reflecting the cultural differences that a professionally designed website naturally dictates in order to present prominent distinctions to avoid SE penalties ....
These principles too, have been discussed at length in the Forums, and repeatedly referenced!

To keep the site truly distinctive and with preserved individual metrics, you would be better off setting the site up as a Sub-Domain, as Sub-Domains function just as an Add-On Domain (to the Primary Domain of a single hosting account) and in no way are dependent upon another domain for metric values or distinctions. More "clumsy" as a visible URL, and possibly less Visitor-friendly (i.e. http://russian.progressivelanguage.com or the cleaner abbreviated http://ru.progressivelanguage.com), the truth is a Sub-Domain is the only method to maintain such safe SE independence other than resorting to purchasing another Domain to serve as an Add-On.

MORE >> Using Sub-Directories Properly

>> Useful Post on Creating, Managing, Publishing, Links for Add-On Domains, Sub-Domains, and Sub-Directories

[John K.]

Re: URL Naming Question

Thanks for all the information. In the mean time, I'll get the English website up and running and in my spare time I'll look more into this.

I read those links you provided and the thing that is throwing me off is differentiation and engagement "how to" on domain, sub domain and sub directories. I'll get that portion covered over time.

I don't want to have to rely on a "Google Translate" button since Google does not do a very good job at translating one language from another, but I do need a solution to have duplicate content for my potential English and Russian-speaking customers, but without the two being seen as duplicate. That is another thing that is vexing me.

Searching the BV site is an endeavor that is unique to each individual's understanding of what it is they are trying to look for. The key words one uses, combined with the choices given in the advanced search engine, can be intimidating at best, since a lot of the key content that one needs is buried under general phrases and ambiguous titles. As I told you, I tried to find information, and it was the best I had at that time. Your information enlightened me and gave me clearer direction.

But thanks for your patience nevertheless and weeding out a lot of time for me. I sincerely appreciate that. I also do use some of the words that you type (that I do not quite understand) and use Google to get to the meat of the meaning of those words.

Cheers.

[Vasili]

Re: URL Naming Question

One must assume by "how to" you are referring to the proper creation of Add-on Domains, Sub-Domains, and Sub-Directories. Except for Sub-Directories, these are all explained in detail by Tutorials (specifically, the cPanel Tutorials).

The Search Engines are uncompromising on maintaining their standards and safeguards against duplicate Content and non-conforming websites, and whatever tedium you experience as you cleverly compose compliant and distinctive Content while attending to the intracacies of Basic optimization of your pages is moot when considering the penalties for ignoring these requirements and the potential beneficial results from diligently covering all the bases.

Google Translate does in fact use an advanced, more 'intuitive' coding to translate languages accurately and precisely, albeit literally, which reflects directly on the composer of the text being translated as it mirrors every mis-usage and all the common errors. And, it does not go the extra mile of properly rendering accepted syntax, which can be confusing for some seeing this literal translation for the first time.