Did Google Change Their View of how the engine sees subdomains lately?

getvic.com · 11-13-2011, 06:01 PM

A year ago I posed a related question about wordpress Multi-Siteusing sub domains or sub-directories .... Which one was better for SEO???

Which is Better for SEO? - SubDomains or SubDirectories with keywords.

The general idea then was that each subdomain was seen by google as it's own site.

I verified that from a google video later.

However, I heard a rumor that Google changed that in 2011 and that subdomains are now viewed just as a part of your TLD.

Can anyone here validate this rumor?

Any input or ideas are appreciated.

dburk · 11-13-2011, 06:45 PM

Hi getvic,

It doesn't matter all that much. Search engines do not index and rank "websites", they index and rank individual web "pages".

If you include a keyword in the URL, it makes the URL relevant for that keyword, regardless whether it is in the sub domain or the web directory name.

While there isn't much difference, the sub domain will score slightly more relevant than the web directory, based on the prominence of the keyword, being at the beginning of the URL. Not enough of a difference to be concerned with, though. in my opinion. One extra backlink would probably counter any advantage, one has over the other.

11-13-2011, 06:01 PM	#1
getvic.com Need Help in IM. Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Phoenix, AZ USA Posts: 44 Thanks: 45 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Did Google Change Their View of how the engine sees subdomains lately? A year ago I posed a related question about wordpress Multi-Siteusing sub domains or sub-directories .... Which one was better for SEO??? Which is Better for SEO? - SubDomains or SubDirectories with keywords. The general idea then was that each subdomain was seen by google as it's own site. I verified that from a google video later. However, I heard a rumor that Google changed that in 2011 and that subdomains are now viewed just as a part of your TLD. Can anyone here validate this rumor? Any input or ideas are appreciated.

11-13-2011, 06:45 PM	#2
dburk Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 4,647 Thanks: 163 Thanked 673 Times in 583 Posts Contact Info	Re: Did Google Change Their View of how the engine sees subdomains lately? Hi getvic, It doesn't matter all that much. Search engines do not index and rank "websites", they index and rank individual web "pages". If you include a keyword in the URL, it makes the URL relevant for that keyword, regardless whether it is in the sub domain or the web directory name. While there isn't much difference, the sub domain will score slightly more relevant than the web directory, based on the prominence of the keyword, being at the beginning of the URL. Not enough of a difference to be concerned with, though. in my opinion. One extra backlink would probably counter any advantage, one has over the other.
	Don Burk * Get Results - Outsource Your PPC Management * Get a Keyword Domain Name - www.SeriousNames.com