Search Engine Marketing Spot

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. Thank you for visiting SEMSPot!

So you are launching a new website, or wiping the dust off an old one to re-launch it to the world. Before you get in to deep, you need to think about the link structure you want to put in place for this website. You looking at using sub domains to separate the different sections of your website and keep it organized? How about making sub directories and keeping your pages organized that way? Well lets take a look at the benefits of each first before you make your decision.

Sub-Domains: Using sub domains for your website would look something like this site.yourdomain.com, site2.yourdomain.com. They look short, clean and to the point. Well to the search engines they two different websites all together. It does not matter that the same domain name is being used, what makes the difference is what you are putting before your domain name, that being the sub domain. Using sub domains will not pass the link love around your main domain name as freely as using sub directories. Using sub domains however is a great SEO tactic if you have a large website.

You have your mainsite.com, and you want to add a blog and maybe a chatroom. So you would make blog.mainsite.com and chat.mainsite.com. Now keep in mind that the engines are treating them as different websites here, however when you start linking to other sections of your website, it will look like it is coming from 2 other authority websites. This is a great way to keep your brand recognition and at the same time have the ability to market several websites with each other because they are all under the same domain name. Marketing sub domains can take more time because you are essentially marketing several websites and not just one.

Sub Directories: Sub directories are nothing more then folders you have created to put your pages into, an example would be www.sitename.com/widgets. This is a great for smaller websites and also for people with a limited budget and time frame. I say time frame because no matter how many folders you create, they are all seen as one website by the search engines. So when you start your search engine marketing campaign you are only marketing one website and not multiple websites, like if you were using sub domains.

With sub directories all of your pages will be linked to the same domain and the link love will be passed around through your main domain name. When receiving backlinks, it will not matter what sub directory they link to, your main domain name will still get the “link credit”. Most common way of using sub directories is to have setup like the following.

www.sitename.com/keyword1/keyword2-keyword3.html

Or if you choose to use separate directories for each page then you could do the following

www.sitename.com/keyword1-keyword2

In the end use sub directories if you are running a smaller website and looking for quick link strength throughout your domain. If your site is thousands of pages deep, you have the time to invest in a good search engine marketing campaign and looking for brand awareness then use sub domains. Keep in mind that you will want to use keywords for either your sub domain or sub directory as to help with your optimization. What site structure are you currently running and why did you choose that route?

This article was originally written and posted on SEMSpot.com, a Search Engine Marketing Blog. If you like the article please sign up to our RSS Feed.