Subdomain or Subfolder which one is better for SEO?

[GigaBot]

I would like you to tell your opinions and experiences about this subject.
If I already have a good ranked website in root domain and want to create an additional subsite, but with a slightly different niche, but not completely different. Should I create it with subdomain or should I create it in subfolder.
What is the better way for SEO?

 

[Hazem]

Subdomain is better for SEO

 

[GeorgeAbraham]

If the site is in completely different topic / subject the better go with sub domain. If the niche is related to the existing one prefer sub folder.
Note I am not a expert in this but my best option from my experience.

 

[eclisseweb]

Using subdomain is better for seo, I've experienced it with my joomla site. the sitemap url is better for a subdomain than a folder

 

[xdude]

I noticed several members say subdomains are better for SEO than sub folder. It would be nice to hear reasons too.

In my experience link juice flow faster into pages in sub folders. Do you guys know you have to verify each sub domain in Google search console ? It tracks performance per subdomain and also crawl each separately too. So it would slow down things in SEO.

Subdomains are useful for massive mega sites to organize things well. Because these sites have massive amount of information and subsidiaries. For example Canon or Disney. But for a small site its not point put things in separate sub domains IMO.

 

[binil]

I noticed several members say subdomains are better for SEO than sub folder. It would be nice to hear reasons too.

In my experience link juice flow faster into pages in sub folders. Do you guys know you have to verify each sub domain in Google search console ? It tracks performance per subdomain and also crawl each separately too. So it would slow down things in SEO.

Subdomains are useful for massive mega sites to organize things well. Because these sites have massive amount of information and subsidiaries. For example Canon or Disney. But for a small site its not point put things in separate sub domains IMO.

I do agree with you, for small sites its better to go for a sub folder. For massive sites its a different story.

 

[divaan]

Big differences are between subdomain and sub folder management in your host manager and cms as well; crawlers behave like a totally different domain with subdomains, but security for subdomains in case of compromising main domain is also higher than sub folders.

 

[elezionioggi]

I think:

subdomain is for a new site
subfolder is for the same site, different category

For my categories I prefer to have a subfolder, but for example, a forum I'd prefer to have a separate subdomain.

 

[blanewaxman]

I would like you to tell your opinions and experiences about this subject.
If I already have a good ranked website in root domain and want to create an additional subsite, but with a slightly different niche, but not completely different. Should I create it with subdomain or should I create it in subfolder.
What is the better way for SEO?

I used to do a lot of paid link placements. people are really picky about subdomains because technically it's not the same domain as your main site. I stopped using subdomains and just used a folder so everything is technically on the same domain. This was pretty much just to keep advertisers happy and keep money coming in. From a design perspective, it really doesn't matter. I know some people are a little more savvy on this stuff than I am personally especially since I have been out of the game for a long time.

 

[Freya009]

I would say if it the altogether different massive product so have it as a subdomain else subfolder can be the option. Understanding this aspect is crucial. Take examples of big firms like Microsoft. Azure Services, Office 365, etc. are the major products that they have made as to the sub-domain. So understand your product well and see if you will be able to manage the pages and then move on to SEO thing.

 

[swetajoshi]

Both Sub-domain and Sub-Directory serve the same purpose. You can publish your web content on both the areas. When you look at the SEO purpose, both have some differences.
Sub-Domain:
When you create a sub-domain outside root folder of your server architecture, it functions as a separate domain.
You have to perform separate SEO activities for this sub-domain.
It helps to separate your site file to manage different sections easily.
If for any reason, your sub-domain is penalized, you won't get any problem to your main site.
Sub-Folder:
Here, you create a sub-folder inside the root folder of your server which acts as your sub-domain.
Any impact on SEO on this sub-domains will surely affect the main domain.
Doing SEO is simple when compared to sub-domain.