[Multilingual Website Development Diary - Day 7] Solving the Translation Plugin Dilemma!

I spent a lot of time wondering whether to use subdirectories or subdomains, and I also spent a lot of time considering which translation plugin to use.

Since I'm not a developer, I prefer the simplest approach. So I chose a plugin with good compatibility and good after-sales support. The GTranslate plugin is well-automated, and if problems arise, the company handles all the settings. The price wasn't too burdensome either.

For country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and subdomains, you need to purchase a $399 subscription.

For subdirectories, you need to purchase a $199 or $299 plan.

The difference is whether or not the unique address is translated into multiple languages.

In the case of durumis, the unique address is all in English, and the other languages are also in English.

Therefore, the English plan is $299, and the other languages are $199.

I paid for the startup plan for one year.

Subdomains are significantly more advantageous for exposure, but to operate subdomains, I'd have to do the same work 49 times. Managing hosting and making 49 revisions every time something happens... I just don't have the time.

Question here!! Why 49?

There are 195 countries in the world. However, there are only 49 countries where AdSense is available. Another question!! Why doesn't durumis operate 49 languages, but only supports 18 languages?

It's probably a budget issue. As a startup, we have to prioritize. Personnel costs, rent, server costs, etc. The burden is significant. And decisively, we don't handle "Arabic", because implementing Arabic is difficult.

Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, etc. What do they have in common? These are right-to-left languages. So, Arabic can be implemented using code, but to review it, you need a local person. You need to verify with an Arabic speaker who can communicate whether the code implementation is correct and the meaning is accurately conveyed. But it's difficult to find an Arabic speaker, and because we can't review Arabic, we don't support Arabic. I cautiously "guess"! And the reason we don't support the other 30 or so languages is that they aren't profitable. Because AdSense rates are low and the population is not large in those countries, the profitability is low compared to the development effort. I strongly "guess" that's the case. Therefore, durumis is adopting a strategy of selection and concentration!

I also agonized over this decision, just like the durumis developers. I agonized over and over and over again before making a payment.

1. $399 subscription: Operate all 49 languages using the subdomain method.

2. $399 subscription: Operate only some languages using the subdomain method.

3. $299 subscription: Operate using the subdirectory method, translating the unique address into 49 languages.

4. $299 subscription: Operate using the subdomain method for only some languages, translating the unique address.

5. $199 subscription: Operate using the subdirectory method, setting the unique address as simply as possible for 49 languages.

There are countless possibilities! I chose strategy number 5. There was a difference of $100 between options 3 and 5. While I understand that issuing unique addresses in local languages is advantageous, I had a different strategy. To focus more on content quality and SEO exposure strategies, I chose the $199 plan. I plan to issue unique addresses using only numbers. If I have more time in the future, I plan to operate up to 3 multilingual websites with different themes.

Example of method 5

durumis.com/1
durumis.com/ar/1
durumis.com/hi/1
durumis.com/fr/1

I concluded that operating 3 sites using method 5 is more likely to succeed than operating 1 site using method 1.

I'm sleepy. See you next time~

Multilingual website creation progress 90%

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