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Subdirectory vs Subdomain vs Root

by itservicebiz
3 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey,

Which is the best for page ranking? and getting results in the search engines? What setup do you use?

Some insight from my perspective...
Root domains are the best and if you use a subdirectory for microsites, different blogs, etc. the juice your subdirectory site gets flows through, but if you use a subdomain then its viewed as a different website completely in Google, etc. and you essentially have double the work to get it page ranked. Many people recommend installing additional blogs, microsites, etc. in subdirectories (www.myrootdomain.com/myblog/) for content page ranking, but from a consumer perspective that doesn't look as nice or clean as mysubdomainblog.myrootdomain.com.

It's a challenge managing multiple blogs or microsites and its unrealistic to register a new domain name for each.

What are your thoughts? (your setup and results from experience, etc.).

Thanks for sharing.
#root #subdirectory #subdomain
  • Profile picture of the author TheContentAuthority
    Itservicebiz,

    This has been a subject of much debate. Personally I don’t think it matters (in terms of SEO) whether you use a subdomain for a blog or other parts of a website or you install those files in a sub-directory.

    I would use whatever is easier for you to manage or looks good for your brand. Google and other search engine bots don’t see websites, they see the internet as a series of interlinked documents. Each document can rank on its own. In search results, it is not websites that get served but pages (individual documents). The documents that get served are those that search engines think are most relevant to a user’s query based on a variety of factors. Keywords in a domain (whether sub domain or sub directory) however the structure doesn’t matter.

    Of course there are a variety of other reasons that it may be beneficial to use one or the other. More on that in this thread,
    Subdirectory vs. Subdomain | SEOmoz Q&A

    Hope that helps,

    Shawn
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  • Profile picture of the author LinkBuildingNinjas
    I have actually wondered this and after reading about the flow of link juice by using the sub directory vs having to do double the work with a sub domain makes total sense to me now.

    I have two clients in the same niche one who I used a sub directory for their blog (mostly only because of a windows server issue) and the other my usual choice of creating a sub domain. Now after reading this I have come to realize why the one ranked almost three times as faster. The blog trackbacks on and social sharing was contributing to the link juice of the main site for the sub directory one whereas the other does not.

    I am personally going to choose the sub directory from now on but I would have to add in to make sure you a strong hosting provider just so it does not affect load time.

    Thanks for this post! Hope my example add some worth.
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  • Profile picture of the author abdul786
    All are equally same. It depends on your how strong and smart your seo approach is for either one.
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