{"id":201712,"date":"2023-10-17T10:24:57","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T17:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/?p=201712"},"modified":"2023-10-17T10:48:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T17:48:56","slug":"subdomains-vs-subdirectories-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/subdomains-vs-subdirectories-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Subdomains vs. Subdirectories and SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
The question of subdomains versus subdirectories has been hotly debated for some time \u2013 and Google has attempted to clarify its stance even though it doesn\u2019t always align with how SEOs view it.<\/p>\n
In this article, I\u2019ll review the two solutions, the debate, and which you should choose.<\/p>\n
A subdomain is a dependent domain set up within the main domain (also known as the root domain).<\/p>\n
For example, say your website\u2019s root domain is acme.com<\/strong>, and you have a subdomain for the blog \u2013 that would look like blog.acme.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n People use subdomains for things like blogs, country-specific locations, or any time it feels like there are substantial resources on a topic, and they don\u2019t want to build out the main site.<\/p>\n One example would be a help center like support.google.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n In all cases, subdomains help to organize the content by theme.<\/p>\n A subdirectory is a folder within your root domain that organizes your webpages. Subdirectories also organize content by silos.<\/p>\n For example, if your root domain is acme.com<\/strong>, you might have a subdirectory for the blog that would look like acme.com\/blog<\/strong> and a subdirectory for your products that might look like acme.com\/widgets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This keeps the blog content in one place and the product content in another. Think about how you organize content on your PC hard drive \u2013 in hierarchy structures called directories or folders.<\/p>\n For SEO purposes, how you organize the content on your website in its subdirectories can make or break your SEO. At Bruce Clay, we call this SEO siloing<\/a>, a concept we invented many years ago.<\/p>\n Both a subdomain and a subdirectory nicely organize content by theme. So what\u2019s the big deal?<\/p>\n Subdomains and subdirectories can both rank in the search results equally well, with the right content, all else being equal. However, if you want your main domain to benefit from the content on your subdomain, that may not happen.<\/p>\n Despite the fact that Google has said it doesn\u2019t matter which you choose \u2013 a subdomain or subdirectory \u2013 subdomains are treated as entirely separate sites and you even verify them separately in Google Search Console.<\/p>\n In a 2017 Google Search Central video, Google\u2019s John Mueller tried to settle the question of subdomains or subdirectories:<\/p>\n<\/a>What Is a Subdirectory?<\/h2>\n
<\/a>The Subdomain vs. Subdirectory Debate<\/h2>\n