Optimizing Multi-Language Setup for Improved SEO Performance
In today’s global digital landscape, effectively managing a multilingual website is crucial for reaching diverse audiences and maximizing search engine visibility. However, certain implementation strategies can inadvertently hinder SEO performance. Here, we examine common pitfalls and best practices through a practical case involving a Next.js site with Nordic languages.
Case Overview: Multi-Language Routing and Redirection Strategy
The website in question is built with Next.js, leveraging the next-international middleware to serve multiple Nordic languages. The structure is as follows:
- Default language (English) is accessible at the root URL
/. - Other languages—Norwegian, Swedish, Danish—are located under subdirectories, such as
/no,/se,/dk. - The middleware detects the user’s preferred language and redirects accordingly:
- Users visiting
/are redirected (via 307 temporary redirects) to their respective language version, if detected. - English users and bots that do not require redirection see the root page directly, receiving a 200 OK response.
SEO Implementations in Place
To facilitate search engines and users, the site employs:
rel="alternate"andhreflangtags on each page to specify language variants.- Canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues.
- A sitemap mirroring the site’s URL structure to assist search engine crawling.
Observations and Issues
Despite these measures, the site experiences notably low visibility on search engines:
- Minimal traffic on the homepage, with better visibility on other pages like
/about. - Difficulty in discovering the Nordic language versions.
- No significant indexing or ranking improvements after recent updates, even after ten days.
Potential Causes and Considerations
One suspected factor is the use of temporary redirects (HTTP 307) when detecting user language preferences. While user experience benefits may justify certain redirects, from an SEO perspective, this approach can have drawbacks:
- Temporary redirects (307) signal to search engines that the redirection may change in the future. This can delay or prevent proper indexing of the target pages.
- Search engines tend to prefer permanent redirects (
301) for canonical URL signals, ensuring they transfer link equity and index the correct pages. - Using server-side content negotiation or meta tags instead of redirects can sometimes improve crawlability and indexing for multilingual sites.
Best Practices for Multilingual SEO Implementation
- Use Permanent Redirects for Language Cycle
If redirects are necessary, implement `301 Moved