Subdomain or Folder, which would work best on an aged domain

subdomain if you plan to make the information unique
google will only index about two of these subdomains per main domain, you have to convince them the information is totally different from the main domain

also any age of the main domain or PR I dont think will necessarily pass to the sub
google considers subdomains new domains to some extent

Thanks outwest, anyone else care to comment please.

Hey Mike,
Here's my take on it. Google used to treat sub-domains as completely different entities, my understanding now is that they have to some degree attached a relevancy score to sub-domains and linked this back to the main domain. So basically, outwest is right.

Only develop sub-domains if you plan on making these unique i.e. in totally different niches because google will only index your subdomains if you can prove without question that each is independant from the other. Why? Well, the reason for this change was simple. It was becoming too easy to game rankings by just firing up a new sub-domain with your chosen keyword in the same niche and achieve a ranking for it.

Google's approach today means its far less likely that you would see sub-domains from the same domain in the same set of top 10 results.

Hope this helps mate.
Derek.

I think a folder is better. A subdomain is like a new domain for google.

domain age does not matter but site age does. if niches are about completely different topic i would suggest you follow this site, no1reviews.com

Think sometimes we spend too much time on a forum reading posts rather than engaging in the marketplace in which we participate.

The decisions for folders/subs for niches is just a personal one. Look at Squidoo, About.com, HubPages, CNN, etc. Different structures, good ranking potential.

As for indexing, About.com, TopTenReviews.com and many other sites use subs and rank all over the place. No need to guess, theory-craft and other nonsense. Just do a search and behold what your eyes easily see.

As for aging, think about why age really matters and why it's site age, not domain age that counts. If I have a site (not domain) that's say 5 years ago, in that time it will have added content, received links, built up authority in a niche or niches, been talked about perhaps and so forth. It's like child. As it grows, it develops more and more and eventually becomes and adult. Now think about domain age. You have a domain that's 10 years old, but has nothing build up. That's like going to the hardware store and buying all the pieces to making a project but putting it in the garage for years. When you come back years later, the project isn't done and it isn't any further along than when you stopped.

I would recommend going for folders instead of subdomains personally.

But I guess with enough work you could make the subdomains work.

Not only are folders easier in my opinion, but they pass juice a bit easier as far as I understand.

@ MikeBarcus

no, no1reviews.com is not mine. I found it while i was searching for a niche.

Hey Mike:

I was having trouble deciding whether I should add a folder
or a subdomain to a site where I am adding on a blog.

From what I've read on this thread, I have chosen to add a
new folder for the blog.

- Rick