Subdomains vs Folders

[Andreas8]

Hi, I have a site and I'm about to build a new product into it. But I'm not quite sure about how to structure the new content, so I would like to hear what the guru's think :-). Do I use a subdomain or a folder off the main domain. e.g www.example.com/blue.html or http://blue.example.com

Which one is better in terms of PR/ Trust Rank, indented listings etc etc?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[edited by: tedster at 9:05 pm (utc) on June 12, 2009]

[ecmedia]

A subdomain is like a new website and does not benefit from your existing well ranked domain but a subfolder immediately benefits from the ranking of a domain.

[perseo]

< moved from another location >

hi everyone,

i've been thinking about subdirectories and subdomains while i was reading this:

"#subfolder-subdomain
Q: Is it better to use subfolders or subdomains?
A: You should choose whatever is easiest for you to organize and manage. From an indexing and ranking perspective, Google doesn't have a preference."

from JohnMu, located here: [sites.google.com...]

is that really true? if it is, why i can still add a robots.txt at a third level domain and Google follows the rules inside and treat it as a separeted entity?

also, i consider third level domains a poor solution, because they don't help to improve a single domain popularity and ranking (yes they help to boost a keyword ... for short time), but if the answer of the question above is true, i should reconsider my thought.

quite confuse, any opinion about that?

[edited by: tedster at 3:02 pm (utc) on June 12, 2009]

[Andreas8]

Is it possible to get some clarity on this

'A subdomain is like a new website and does not benefit from your existing well ranked domain but a subfolder immediately benefits from the ranking of a domain.'

Is this true?

[jdMorgan]

A few comments:

Ranking is passed by links.
URLs, not sites, get ranking.
Indented search listings include only URLs within the same domain (or within the same subdomain).
A subdomain can have its own robots.txt file, located at the root URL-path of that subdomain.

The decision to use subdomains or subfolders depends on usability factors (e.g. how long are the resulting URLs, and can they be easily typed-in if you advertise in non-Web media such as radio, print, or television?), what 'degree of separation' you want to be perceived between the new content and the previously-existing content (e.g. indented search listings and "sitelinks" would include subfolders but not other (sub)domains), and technical factors (e.g. is it possible and easy to define and configure subdomains with your hosting and domain services?).

Jim

[BradleyT]

Do domains get authority and trust? If yes then subfolders > subdomains.