Subdomain vs Subfolder
There are two types of site structures that are widely used for websites, and the debate over which one is better has been long ongoing. We are talking about subdomain vs subfolders. How do they impact your SEO? How do they make your website more recognizable for search engines? Which one is the better option? Let us take a deep dive into the subdomain vs subfolder debate and identify which one comes out on top.
Difference Between a Subdomain & Subfolder
While both subdomains and subfolders have a lot of similarities, they are also vastly different from each other.
A subfolder can be defined as a “child directory” which functions under a parent directory. Simply put, it is a folder under another folder within a home directory. They act like a path within a parent domain.
Subdomains are similar and are also a content repository, but the major difference here is that subdomains also have their own URLs, which makes them directly accessible just like a normal website.
What is Subdomain?
Subdomains are separate domains created by websites when they don’t want those sections in the root domains. These domains serve their own unique purpose and Google sees them as completely different websites. For instance, Netflix has a vast list of subdomains, each serving a different purpose.
SEO Benefits of Using Subdomains
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Improves Rankings
Subdomains work seamlessly in incorporating their own SEO rankings with the parent website. This can be especially helpful for brands that want to segregate their content within a multitude of niches and domains.
Since subdomains are seen as different websites on Google, they stand on their own in terms of ranking. However, internal linking on these subdomains can help Google in connecting the dots and improve the reach of your parent website. Moreover, this can also bring in organic traffic to your main website from the users going on these subdomains and getting engaged with the content. This will work towards improving your website’s rankings.
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User Segmentation
Since most of the subdomains are used for unique purposes, they help segregate the various use cases of the users. Netflix does this by sending users to different subdomains made for different tasks, as discussed before.
Subdomain or Subfolder? What to Choose
While John Mueller says that Google has gotten better at differentiating subdomains from main websites and allocating keywords in the root URLs, various businesses have found the case to be otherwise.
Looking into analytic proof, many studies were conducted, and the data showed that the results don’t match with what Google is saying. These studies found that the keywords used by subdomains were also allocated to the root domain.
SEO benefits of using Subfolder
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Link Equity
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Increases domain authority
Conclusion
Your website should be the most profitable employee in your organization, and it’s always better to take the help of an SEO company like Infidigit to get the job done. Having experts who know the ins and outs of both subfolders and subdomains, we can help you in making full use of both, and significantly enhance your website’s SEO. Contact us to know more.