Sub-Domain, Folder or External Domain for SEO?
One of the questions I ask myself when doing an SEO website audit is whether the site is structured correctly. One of the things this includes is looking at whether (say) a blog, a forum or any other resource belongs in a sub-domain, a folder or on it’s own domain.
Now there are pro’s and con’s to all of the options, and what I suggest below is based around an ideal world scenario of lots of content being created, lots of relevant link building and lots of website traffic and engagement. So all things being equal and perfect lets take a look at which option is best for you and your website.
Should I Use a Sub-Domain?
A sub-domain is a website that sit’s outside of the root directory. This means that subdomain.rootdomain.com is treated separately by search engines to www.rootdomain.com or just rootdomain.com. This separation is one of the reasons why some companies would use this option as it distinctly shows sections of a website such as a blog or forum.
However, that advantage is balanced by the subdomain having it’s own link profile and not being seen as part of the root domain… this means for both subdomain.rootdomain.com and rootdomain.com to get a high ranking you have to work twice as hard (in theory).
Advanced notes: In reality a part of the link profile and ranking from the subdomain will pass to the root domain and vice versa, but not all of it. Indeed it is suggested that the proportion passed is less than 10% in some cases. Also in reality a subdomain is a folder within the root directory and is only aliased to the outside world. But shush, it’s complicated.
Should I Use a Folder?
A folder is for example rootdomain.com/foldername – it is a folder within a root directory or another folder.
The use of folders is again for organisation but also to give the website structure. This is why many websites in particular online shops, such as Little Beau Baby Clothing, where websites need to section the website into categories. For example boys clothing and girls clothing. In addition to this websites commonly use folders to hold subsections such as blogs, such as the outdoor gear blog or a forum such as the SEOMoz Pro Forum.
The advantage to this structure is that the root domain gets all of the link profile from that folder, and the folder gets the link profile of the site as a whole. It’s a win win… however, nothing is perfect. The folder option can cause technical issues with redirects, cross-linking of resources, conflicting htaccess files and some other bugs.
Advanced notes: Whilst you may choose a subdomain for recognition and a little extra freedom, it (in general) should be seen as a bad way forward for SEO. No body really wants to build up 2 link profiles or more for the same root domain, its creating a rod for your own back and whilst a subdomain can be removed later your link profile issue will still remain for sometime. Redirects are not a perfect solution for moving your rank profile, so where possible start with a folder.
Should I Use an External Domain?
Using an external domain (such as rootdomain.com and rootdomainblog.com) can be useful, as you build 2 link profiles compeltely independent of one another and you can use those profiles to (in theory) boost the other’s profile. But again building 2 link profiles isn’t the best idea nor the best for work load.
The only time I could really advise using an external domain is when you either want to target a specific country or when you have previously had a subdomain but realised it’s not the best solution. External domains are great for Geo Targeting, in partic if the external domain targets another country in another language.
If you are starting from fresh structuring your site and it’s assets, this is not an option you will want to take. It prolongs the ranking process and can at later stages be seen as manipulation, though from a separation of brand is handy sometimes.
So, Which Structure is for You?
Overall I hope the above has given you a good overview of each use case and some pro’s and con’s. The reality of recent updates from Google means that a subdomain should not really be a choice moving forward for new websites.
To decide which you should use, here are a few questions and answers:
Do you want and can you afford to support one domain or multiple domains?
If you want to look after a single domain, choose a folder.
If you have the time and want to have multiple domains, choose an external domain.
Do you have the skills and knowledge to set up a subdomain or additional domains?
If you answered “no”, choose a folder.
If you have the skills, all choices are open to you.
Can you build an SEO Campaign around them?
Any rootdomain (inc external) is easier to build a campaign around
A subdomain is less likely to be remembered and therefore harder to SEO.
Can you build enough links to two areas?
If you have a team of one or two you are likely to not have the resource to link build greatly for more than one area.
If you have a staff of around 5 you could and may want to look at an external domain.
Have recent updates changed anything?
Yes, recently there has been an update (spotted by SEOMoz) where subdomains seem to be being wiped from search rankings. It is unclear whether it is due to low quality content or spammyness or just a general move to “no more subdomains”. But for now better safe than sorry, don’t choose a subdomain for holding files.
Finally, which is the best solution for you?
Truthfully, as an SEO I would stick to using folders unless you are targeting a country or language. Even in these cases I would think carefully about a new domain compared to say integrating Google Translate. A subdomain is as hard to look after as a second domain, but a folder is not (given it’s part of the root). In most cases (not all but most) folders are the correct structure to build your website and link profile. If you really want to have a subdomain for recognition but have now changed your mind you could look at setting up a redirect for the subdomain url (which will only exist virtually in .htaccess) into the given folder.
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I know that I’ve rambled a little in this post, but I needed to give an overview of the solutions and possible outcomes.
If you have any questions about which solution is best for you, please leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you.
I have a site approved.co.za and its about finance, should i create subdomains banking.approved.co.za loans.approved.co.za etc… or should i use Folders ?
My domain has some authority and domain age. but i want the best long term approach.
If you have a domain with authority and the various folders are clearly related (as yours are) then I would suggest folders are the best way forwards. I would only suggest otherwise if there was no connection, such that one was about banking and the next chocolate or something. — hope this makes sense
How about a personal blog (not as specific as this one) and a personal portfolio. Should they be in separate domains? Technically the blog is dynamic and the portfolio is static (ish). So if I understand it right – using a folder, the portfolio would benefit from the blog. But should I use separate domains for the blog and portfolio?
- Great post
It depends if they are related topics. If design blog and portfolio the together works but if its say a design portfolio and blog about say social media it maybe worth splitting… Each case has its own merits –
Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
If I have a domain that has a domain age of 5 years, and I set up a sub domain to it, will it matter seo wise, because I know domain age is a huge factor in ranking a site, so lets say for instance my website is http://www.emarketingplaza.com and it has a domain age of 5 years, but I want to setup a separate sub domain to rank for a specific keyword “Buy Facebook Fans” will this domain and subdomain have the same domain age, in other words will http://www.buyfacebookfans.emarketingplaza.com have the a domain age of 5 years or will
http://www.emarketingplaza.com/buyfacebookfans have a domain age of 5 years
the later as its has both the page rank and site/root rank. the subdomain would just have the page rank.
would adding just a sub domain (uk.seoandy.com) and forwarding it to seoandy.com be any helpful??
nope, that would be a little odd as .uk .com etc all imply english so no translation is needed. if you had fr.seoandy.com showing french that would be an ok way to do it – if a tad confusing i feel.
Hi Andy, what would be your suggestions in this situation? I have a photography website myphotography.co.uk (example), it contains weddings and commercial. We want to separate the two so the current site gains better SEO for weddings. And create a new site for the commercial so that itself has great seo without having weddings mixed in.
Would you suggest commercial.myphotography.co.uk or mycommercialphotography.co.uk – The latter is a far too long domain in my opinion, but your article makes me think a subdomain is not the right way to go.
I know we don’t want to keep it as a folder as it currently is, as I feel the seo for weddings will improve removing commercial, but it’s now down to a subdomain, or completely rebrand the commercial to have a new business name, just so we can have a short domain.
What would be your suggestions?
Many Thanks!
Hi there,
A folder in my view would remain best route for anything like this. You mention a new domain or subdomain, either way its a long domain to remember and would require some rebrand work to make it fully work. You would get far more SEO worth from a folder in this aspect than a subdomain in my view.
kindest
I have a recruiting website for US & Canada. I want subdomains for Mexico, South America, Europe Africa, Asia, Oceania. Should the subdomain be in the form of an abbreviation or the complete word to improve SEO results? For example, Mexico.domain.com or should it be mx.domain.com. Should it be Europe.domain.com or eu.domain.com? It seems the full word would be better, but that makes it very long. Thanks for reply.
Hi John
I would use the full word in most cases. EU maybe the one not too, just like if it was a UK site USA would be better than america or unitedstatesofamerica
hope thats handy
Hey,
I am planning to create a blog, and improve the SEO. will the blog help improve my SEO? if yes, should i have sub domain or separate folder?
Please do advise.
Hi John,
A blog can enhance your SEO profile yes, it creates fresh content on a regular basis that should be of a high quality. I would advise putting it into a folder within the root domain, not a subdomain
Hi admin,
I am using subdomains now for geographic targeting for two asian countries – A&B
However one of my lesser linked B is totally overwhelmed /covered by country A in terms of SERP. In fact, some of the keywords typed in B’s google page returned country A listing. Country B pages are hard to find in the main content pages in SERP in B’s google.
I have geotarget in GWT, changed all the title tags and meta such that they are not the same and are dynamic targeting to each individual country, but it still not showing results yet!
Should i change to external root domain (ccTLD) ???
Hi Jason
my gut feeling without knowing the entire story is that each country should have it’s own ccTLD used and simply 301 from your old subdomains to this – in general this is the safest and best way to target specific countries.
The problem with GWT targetting is that Google has said that and every other setting is just a suggestion and isn’t always taken into account, specifically in terms of GEO targetting as it’s been often set wrongly and manipulated.
hope that helps
Hi Andy, a great post, thanks!
I work for spanish market. When a client with a website hires me to do a new website (to renew the old website) and also translate it to english and french for example, what do you think it´s better? .es for spanish market,.com for english market, and.fr for french market, etc.. or is better with folders /en /fr…?
Regards!
Juan
Hi Juan
If the content is the same across the languages then /es for example is fine, if the content differs then I would go with individual domains.
hope that helps
The problem with putting everything in the folder is that if you are using a hosting company and don’t have your own servers, then what can happen is that too much software on the website will cause the website to crash or dysfunction. I have had to re-install my website so many times. In the end, I used sub domains to prevent plugin conflict.
If you have those kind of problems then it’s likely because you have a problem in your hosting solution and not your site in all honesty. Sub domains may help with conflicts but it wouldn’t stop your site running slowly. If you want to run lots of software on your own site then you should invest in a VPS – and this also goes for large websites, such as this one.
I came here via google to find out if it´s better to have an own domain or a subdomain by free blog hosters like wordpress. At the moment I write on the free wordpress.com. I still dont understand if I have a disadvantage now or not when we talk about seo. What do you think? Should I purshase a domainname? Will it improve seo?
your own domain would certainly help in 95% of cases.