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

One of the most popular topics among site owners looking to organize their site content is the decision between using subdomains vs subdirectories (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.

But first, here's a tricky 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 confused.

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 froogle.google.com travel.state.gov

Each of these is a separate entity or section within a main site. But now you're probably wondering '...