Why Multi-Language?

I run a niche content site about NBA jerseys. Basketball is global — fans in China, Japan, Korea, and Latin America search for the same jerseys in their own languages. By adding 4 additional locales, I 5x'd my addressable search traffic overnight.

But manually translating 60+ articles into 4 languages? Not happening.

The Stack

Next.js 16 App Router

next-intl v4 for routing and message handling

MDX for content

Claude API for translation

Custom pipeline for batch processing

Architecture: Locale-First File Structure

content/ ├── en/ │ └── jerseys/ │ └── michael-jordan/ │ └── bulls-pinstripe.mdx ├── zh/ ├── ja/ ├── ko/ └── es/

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Each locale gets its own content directory.…