Would Google penalise subdir sites?

[bluecorr]

Situation: I have a web design/promotion site www.domain.com that belongs to me. I also have another that that's for a hobby of mine that's located in www.domain.com/othersite/ . The content is completely different from the mother site and totally uncommercial. I am now promoting the subsite and the refusal of a guy to link to me because it's subdir of a webdesign /promotion company got me thinking. The subsite is very rich in content and everyone gave me feedback on how good it is. The only link to the mother site is a "Created by..." link in the footer of the page but that's not uncommon, is it?

My question is, would Google start penalising such subsites or the mother sites? The guy accused me I was trying to promote the mother site by obtaining off topic inbound links (which have very low value for the mother site). The promotion is in full swing and I can't create a subdomain because for objective reasons I can't create any.

I find it's unfair to discriminate sites that do not have a dedicated domain but are still useful and content rich. What do you think?

Thanks

[jimbeetle]

Hey bluecorr,

Seems like the guy's refusal to link to your content rich section basically just shows a misunderstanding of PR and a bit of shortsidedness. The PR from his link goes to the page linked to. A certain amount is inherited by pages that this page then links to.

So yeah, in a way he's right, your main page targeted by the "Created by..." link will internally inherit a bit of his link's PR...

BUT...

Wouldn't that be the same as if your subsite sat on its own domain with the same "Created by..." link back to your design site? Your design site would externally inherit a bit of the PR boost that the other site got from his link. A common enough situation.

And for the big picture, when you think about it objectively, how many sites out of the total web universe can be sniffed out as purely on one theme by an SE? How is this blue widget really related to this red gizmo? And if SEs penalized for not being purely on one theme, how many sites would they then index?

I don't think I'd sweat it.

Jim

[jackofalltrades]

Hey hey bluecorr! :)

Im the guy that kb'd your link request! :)

My post on the matter is a few pages back and got no response.

My main reason for doing it was because i didnt want a SEO site in the tourism side of my directory.

There is absolutely no reason for not having a seperate domain for the site.

(IMHO)

JOAT :)

<added> yeh, i dont really have a great concept of PR or theming...was thinking more of the relevance for my users</added>

<added again> ps only just got your email on the matter...been at lunch! :) </added>

[jackofalltrades]

[webmasterworld.com...]

My post (mods can we combine them?)

JOAT

[kfander]

I have several different subject sites hosted on the same domain. Some periodically have better PR than the main page and, while I'm sure that there are those who have chosen not to link to them because they're on a subdomain, many more have chosen to do so.

[jimbeetle]

JOAT,

>was thinking more of the relevance for my users

Probably the best rule of thumb no matter how much we talk about SEs, PR and all the rest.

Jim

[bluecorr]

Subdomains or subdirectories. What's the difference? Then what makes sites that have a "Created by.." link and a dedicated domain different? The PR works the same way, off topic, low value.

I have read many topics on WW as regards having subsites with different content but can't recall anyone calling it "tactics" to promote the main site.

As for your other post JOAT, you make some rather superficial analysis of sites. If you had taken a closer look you would have seen that they are independent sites in content and have not been created especially to "feed PR" to the mother site.

I am sorry, I fail to see how such location of a site can be called manipulation of PR or whatever when the actual content of the site is rich and is product of long nights in front of a computer.

[jackofalltrades]

It depends on the subject.

What can I say? Im very weary about SEO/web companies asking me to link to content that isnt SEO/web related.

I get too many link requests for all my sites and when i saw regional photography on a web design site, I assumed company trying somehow to get links for client, or gaining PR, or link popularity or something. :)

Naturally there are cases where linking to sub directories is acceptable, IMHO (angelfire sites, etc) as they are all seperate sites by different people.

Im convinced from a sticky from bluecorr, that it was a legitimate request for a link and there are good reasons behind the sub directory, so i think that matter is being cleared up! :)

On the bigger issue though, my directory site technically has different content on different sub directories. But it is a directory and that is how they are meant to be.

Im still unsure about linking to content in a subdirectory that has only a handful of unrelated topics. Dunno why! :)

Any other thoughts on this?

JOAT :)

<added> i run several sites on my own and get numerous link requests each day (along with spam, internal email, business contacts, etc). I only have time for a superficial analysis of sites. I saw web design / SEO based in country A offering content on country X. Im sorry, but i dont have time to go through your site with a fine toothcomb. </added>

[bluecorr]

Yes I think it's all been cleared now :)

[jackofalltrades]

Indeed it has. :)

The wonders of WW will never cease to amaze me..... ;)

JOAT

[europeforvisitors]

blucorr:

Add me to the list of people who have "sites within a site" and has never had a problem with Googl.

One of those "sites within a site" dates back to 1996, by the way.

TIP: Try to get your hobby site listed in the ODP. The ODP can be huffy about "deep links," but if your hobby category's editor is reasonably intelligent, he or she will see the value of listing your site even if it is in a subdirectory of your main site.