using sub-domains rather than main domain

[grichards]

Hi there,

I have decided to develop a website over the next couple weeks. Before I start, I was wondering about whether using sub-domains is good for search engines or whether it would be wise to stick to just using the main domain.

i.e.

sub-domain examples:

articles.example.com
news.example.com
mail.example.com

main domain examples:

www.example.com/articles/
www.example.com/news/
www.example.com/mail/

I just wondered whether using sub-domains affected ranking within search engines? I know very little about SEO, so I just thought I'd ask those that are knowledgeable.

Thanks,

Greg

[thebillionaire]

I thing that subdomains aren't that useful because people "many" aren't used to it.

[ozgression]

Originally posted by grichards
Hi there,

I have decided to develop a website over the next couple weeks. Before I start, I was wondering about whether using sub-domains is good for search engines or whether it would be wise to stick to just using the main domain.

i.e.

sub-domain examples:

articles.example.com
news.example.com
mail.example.com

main domain examples:

www.example.com/articles/
www.example.com/news/
www.example.com/mail/

I just wondered whether using sub-domains affected ranking within search engines? I know very little about SEO, so I just thought I'd ask those that are knowledgeable.

Thanks,

Greg

Greg, it would make no difference, either way. The main thing Google looks at is anchor text.
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[incka]

For memory I perfer to see websites using both.

I like to be able to type in:

new.bbc.co.uk

or

bbc.co.uk/news

[grichards]

Thanks for the replies Guys.

Just checking because I wasn't sure if each sub-domain was considered a separate domain as such - therefore, it would be hard to rank high in Google with your main domain name i.e. www.example.com.

Good idea Incka - I think I may give the option for both!

Cheers,

Greg

[Chris]

Don't use both.

Then you have two distinct URLs to access the same content. That is a very bad thing.

I don't use subdomains because of their complexity. They are both more complex for users and more complex to set up. Considering they're no better than directories I go with the simpler option.

[grichards]

Thanks for your reply.

Can I ask why using both is bad? I can kind of understand from some stuff that I remember reading, but is it because it looks like I'm duplicating content to try and get more links out in Google.

I agree setting them up is a pain. I might just stick with using directories then :p

This all came from an idea I had about sub-domains looking more professional :D

Thanks for the help!!

[Chris]

Its like divide and conquer. If visitors use both methods then visitors will link to both methods on their websites which means you'll have two pages of the same content each with half as much pr as they could have.

[incka]

What Chris is saying is more like divide and be conqured...

You could do a redirect thing on one if you wanted to do both, the code has been mentioned several times here.

[grichards]

Thanks for your replies.

I understand the reasons now ;) I think I'll stick to just using one or the other! Thanks for the redirect tip aswell!

By the way Chris, I really like your latest Jewelry website!! Good work!