i18n - Should the page URIs be translated on a regional website?
I'm working on a regional ecommerce website (ie. usa, uk, china) that offers a unique product line for each country. The 开发者_StackOverflow中文版site's URLs are currently in english only. Should these URLs be translated into the region's language? Are site URLs usually translated on regional sites?
Example URLs:
http://domain.com/products http://domain.com/collection/a_product_line http://domain.com/styles http://domain.com/press_roomI always translate URLs for regional sites. I believe there are several advantages to that:
- More search engine friendly
- Links are more recognizable by humans, they are easier to pronounce and to communicate to the users and among them (over the telephone, on ads and commercials, among friends, etc...)
- The user confidence and familiarity is improved, as the user will better perceive that the site "speaks his language", and is not just a mete translation from a different language
It's by no means necessary, but I'd call it a very user friendly practice.
Monster has solved it by translating subdomains, I like that very much:
Monster.com: http://jobsearch.monster.com/Search.aspx?brd=1&q=java&cy=us&lid=316&re=130
Monster.es (Spain): http://buscartrabajo.monster.es/Search.aspx?q=java&cy=es&lid=166&re=130
although it should be http://buscartrabajo.monster.es/Buscar.aspx?q=java&cy=es&lid=166&re=130
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