It seems there is a misunderstanding. TranslatePress has never advertised that it creates root subdirectories for each language. Can you tell us where you got this information from?
Our plugin creates virtual subdirectories for the languages, that appear in the URL like this: domain.com/es. Even though these folders are ‘virtual,’ they are still indexed by search engines just like physical subdirectories. This is because to a search engine, they appear the same as physical folders, thus they offer the same SEO benefits.
The ‘subdirectory’ structure, whether physical or virtual, provides a clear hierarchy and site structure that search engines can easily crawl and index, improving the SEO of your multilingual content. Whether a physical subdirectory exists or not is irrelevant in terms of search engine optimization, as long as the page URLs are structured correctly, which TranslatePress ensures.
Our plugin generates and links separate URLs for each language version of a page, complete with hreflang tags, which notify search engines about the different language versions of a page. This helps with indexing and presenting the correct language version of a page to users in search results. I hope this addresses your concerns.
Giving the plugin a small grade should normally be reserved for plugins with no support, unresolved bugs, or not following WordPress standards. This is not the case for TranslatePress. These being said, we would appreciate it if you would give us a review based on what we offer.
