The Subdomains vs Subdirectories SEO Smackdown: Which is Better for your Site Content?
 by Casey Markee

The Subdomains vs Subdirectories SEO Smackdown: Which is Better for your Site Content? - by Casey Markee & Kristi Hagen

Subfolders vs SubdomainsOne of the most popular topics among site owners looking to organize their site content is the decision between using subdomains vs subdirectories (also called subfolders).

Choosing one over the other involves an understanding of how you want your content organized for your site audience, while at the same time positioning it for maximum search engine visibility.

First, here's an important question...

What's the difference between a subdomain and a subdirectory?

If you know the answer, congratulations! ...if you're scratching your puzzled head, don't stress; you have plenty of company among the uninformed.

Answer:

  • Search Engines see a subdomain as an entirely different site and a subdirectory as an organizational component of an already existing site.

A subdirectory looks like this:
http://www.yourdomain.com/alligators

While a subdomain looks like this:
http://alligators.yourdomain.com

No doubt you've seen plenty of examples of subdomains. Some notable ones include:

sports.yahoo.com
travel.yahoo.com
news.bbc.co.uk
money.cnn.com
sportsillustrated.cnn.com
travel.americanexpres.com
news.google.com
plus.google.com
...

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