Should default language of multilingual website be a part of the URL? [closed]

Answer 1

I think representing the default language in the URL is the better choice.

Pros:

• If you decide to change the default language, you don’t have to change your URLs.
• Consistency.
• It allows you to redirect from / based on the visitor’s language preference.
• It’s a signal that your site is available in multiple languages.
• It’s easier for users that want to change the language from the URL.
• It allows users of external search engines to search for pages in the default language only (site:example.com/en/; where site:example.com/ would find pages in all languages).

Cons:

I can’t think of any reasons not to include the default language’s code in the URL.

Answer 2

This is not a scientific answer, but we have our root url adaptive to the browser language. Eg.

www.supertext.ch -> Either FR, EN or DE based on the browser

everything else is

www.supertext.ch/en/help  
www.supertext.ch/de/hilfe

I would always translate the subdirectory. That helps in terms of SEO AND UX.