Multi Langauges: Which is better?

Second Level Domain or different URL?

[Rollo]

I can't decide between making one big site and putting multiple langauges on a second level domain, or puting them on differnt URLs tailored to each langague, i.e. .com.xx and just linking them together.

I guess integrating the CP and hosting them on the same site would both lighten the workload and make the site seem bigger. But only one langauge could be accessed directly by going to site.com other would have to be: xx.site.com.

Having two sites would help in terms of geo-location I suppose as well as to make the all people confortable with the URLs.

Still, I'm not certian which would be best. What have been your experiences with multi-laugague sites and which would you recommend?

[bill]

You can work with either scenario, but I prefer to put the different languages on country specific domains. You get a few more benefits from local SEs and Directories that limit their listings to country specific domains.

[JKMitchell]

I'd agree with Bill, and even go so far as to say that if you can find a host in the other country you would gain a few extra points for SE's.

[bill]

It depends on the country and language market for the hosting. For example, the Japanese market wouldn't require local hosting, but a local domain name would be a real plus. In some other markets, local hosting would be much more of a benefit. You have to look at each market separately though.

[Rollo]

What would you say about Mexico? Local hosting isn't required.

How much do the big three look at where your actual host is located?

[bill]

I'm not well versed in the Mexico market, but if I were targeting that market I'd think a .mx domain combined with Spanish language content would be enough to indicate to the SE that I was targeting Mexico. You're not gaining rank by hosting locally. You're making it clear to the SE that you're targeting the local market. It's a matter of relevance. Some SEs, like Google, use the IP as a factor in determining if your site is relevant to that area.