Subdomains and subfolders
Subdomains and subfolders are important elements of web structure that help organize and present content on your website in a structured way.
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What are subdomains?
Let's cut to the chase. Imagine that a domain name is like an address. Let's use Amplify as an example, located at Vesterbrogade 6D. Think of our domain as the building itself at this address.
Subdomains then act as different entrances to different parts of the building - for example, the front door, back door and patio door. These subdomains lead to separate areas on your website, just as the different entrances lead to different parts of the building.
This is what a subdomain looks like in the browser: karriere.amplify.dk.
What are subfolders?
Continuing the same example, instead of thinking of subdomains as entrances, you can now think of subfolders as different floors in the building.
For example, you could have a subfolder called "products", which corresponds to the first floor. Another subfolder could be "about us", which corresponds to the second floor. Each subfolder represents a specific part of your website.
When visitors use these subdirectories, they are taken directly to the relevant areas of your website. So when a visitor clicks on the "about us" subfolder, it's like taking the elevator to the first floor to read who Amplify is. If they click on the "products" subfolder, they take the elevator to the second floor to explore your products.
Subdirectories help organize your website just like different floors organize a building. They provide a clear structure and make it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for, just like finding a specific area in a building by going to the relevant floor.
This is what a subfolder looks like in the browser: amplify.com/about-os
Subdomains and subfolders from an SEO perspective
We often hear the question, "how can we best structure our website to achieve the best SEO results?". In most cases, sub-folders will have the greatest SEO impact, but it's not always the case that sub-folders are the best solution.
The choice of structure depends on many factors, SEO being just one of them. Ease of use, how information is organized and desired market positioning also play a big role. It's wise to carefully consider what works best for you and your business.
The benefits of using subdomains:
More locations in the search results
- Subdomains allow more potential rankings on the first page of the search engine as Google limits the number of search results from the same domain. Each subdomain is interpreted as an independent domain by the search engine.
Relevant keywords in the domain name
- Subdomains enable the inclusion of relevant keywords in the domain name itself, which have a higher value than subfolder keyword names. Furthermore, your subdomain tells Google and your visitors what your website is about, which increases your website's credibility and authority.
Global visibility strengthened
- To display the relevant parts of your website in different countries, you can create a subdomain for each language (e.g. dk.amplify.dk and en.amplify.dk) or use International targeting in Google Search Console. Subdirectories can also be used for language versioning. However, subdomains can be redirected to another web server to improve load time and give search engines an extra signal about your target audience.
More clarity
- Subdomains can be used to separate different business areas or categorize digital content on your website. This makes the website more manageable and SEO optimization easier as each subdomain focuses on a single area.
Position in new business areas can be strengthened
- To expand your business with new products that are different from your current ones, subdomains can build credibility around your new products and capitalize on the momentum associated with your brand.
Avoid software and speed issues
- If you have a large website with many visitors, splitting into multiple subdomains can reduce the amount of software and the risk of conflicts. Plus, any resource-heavy programs and plugins on your subdomains won't affect the speed of your main domain.
The benefits of using subfolders:
Boost your SEO with domain help
- When you use subdirectories, you benefit from SEO value and E-A-A-T signals from your main domain. This increases the chances of the content in the subfolders appearing high in search results. You don't need to invest a lot of extra work in SEO, as the subfolders already benefit from the strength of the main domain. However, remember that it's still important to customize SEO for each content in the subfolders, as Google also evaluates them individually.
Adds SEO value to the domain
- Subfolders increase the amount of content and thus visitors, boosting your website's authority and rankings in search results. They also have a reinforcing SEO effect on each other.
Meaningful organization of your content
- Subfolders organize content into meaningful and descriptive URLs. You can create a subfolder for each section content to show which section the content belongs to.
High user-friendliness
- Users often prefer URLs with subdirectories over subdomains, as subdomains can lead to invalid URLs if users type www before the subdomain.
Easy to create and manage:
- Subfolders are easier to create and manage than subdomains. They can be created in the same way as folders on your computer, and if you use a CMS system like WordPress, they are usually created automatically. Subdomains require more technical knowledge, work and higher costs, especially if they are hosted on different web servers.
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