Putting an End to the Subdomains vs Subdirectories SEO Debate. When it comes to SEO in general, when should I use subdomains vs subdirectories (subfolders)?
The subdomains vs subdirectories debate is a bit strange because many people seem to think either one approach or the other should be implemented, when really they are two different animals all together and a combination of using both is appropriate in many situations with respect to search marketing. The decision to utilize subdirectories and or subdomains can be thought of as a marketing and an information architecture consideration, largely based on how you want your site’s content to be recognized by the engines and how you want to position yourself on the web for maximum profitability.
Subfolders v/s Subdomains: Which one to choose for SEO? - SEO HAWK Blog. Domain per language, subdomains or language folders? When you set up a multilingual WordPress site using WPML you can choose to have different languages in different domains, in sub-domains or in language folders.
This article will explain where each of these options should be used. This isn’t a technical question, but rather depends on what you’re trying to achieve. How to start a multilingual site. Making Geotargeted Content Findable For the Right Searchers - Nine By Blue. A few weeks ago, I organized and moderated several sessions at SMX London. One of those sessions was about international SEO, which in part, touched on the issues related to having content available for multiple countries and languages. What’s the best way to make sure that searchers in a particular country or speaking a particular language are able to easily find the content you have available for them? Last week, I was reading Eric Ward’s column Now Is the Winter of Linking’s Discontent, where he writes: Personalized search results have been with us for a while, but this patent [about Google's personalized search patent that Bill Hartzer discssuses on his blog] is chock full of link building implications.
I’d say this is especially true for web sites trying to do business in multiple countries but offering their content in only one language. These questions came up at SMX London as well. How search engines determine the geographic intent of the searcher. International SEO and Geolocation: top 10 factors - Multilingual SEO. How to do Multilingual SEO? (1/2) The last session on day 1 of SMX London I attended was the "International SEO" session.
For an international search marketing blog like SearchCowboys this session couldn't be skipped of course. How Changes To The Way Google Handles Subdomains Impact SEO. At Pubcon last week, Matt Cutts mentioned a change in the way Google handles subdomains.
To better understand this change and what this means for search marketers, let’s revisit common site structure choices, how they’re handled by Google, and how that impacts SEO. Although URLs may take many forms, the overall structure can be distilled into one of three basic types: within a single domain (pages from the root of the domain as well as within subfolders), subdomains, and separate domains. Generally, a site begins with a single domain. You decide to sell widgets online, so you open a site about them at this domain: widgets.com Within that site, you have pages about various types of widgets, like this: widgets.com/blue.html widgets.com/red.html widgets.com/green.html. Multiple Domains vs Subdomains vs Folders in SEO. Usually the most important decisions in SEO are the ones that affect the structure of the website.
A popular SEO debate is if one should use multiple domains, sub-domains or folders when he/she has multilanguage websites or various main categories/activities. This decision can heavily affect the performance of the Website in the major search engines and if someone makes the wrong call, it is extremely difficult to make changes. The truth is that there is not a single best practice, since all of the aforementioned methods have several pros and cons.
In this article, we’ll discuss when it is advisable to use different domains, subdomains and folders and we’ll analyze how each method affects the SEO campaign. Search Engine Optimisation News & Jobs in Australia. If you are looking at building a large content-driven website, integrating a blog to your current domain or expanding the focus of your website with additional content, there are 3 options available to structure your site and format your URLs: - Folder Structure: - Sub domain Structure: - Separate domain or Top Level Domain (TLD): Not long ago, Google handled sub domains as different domains.
Do sub-domains hurt SEO. Site Redesign and SEO – Web Site Redesign and SEO. Taking on a complete site redesign can be scary as hell from an SEO perspective, but if it is well planned, well tested, and well executed then you can reap huge rewards.
SEO is equally as important as usability and aesthetic appeal when redesigning your web site. There is almost no better opportunity to fix SEO problems with an existing web site than when implementing a redesign. SEO and Website redesign … how to keep your ranking? Best practices for Country location and languages on Global Websites (was Language Picker) 6 Ways Local Domains Crush Dot Coms In International SEO. In 2003 I first began speaking on international SEO at conferences and seminars and have lost count of the number of times I’ve heard the question, “Is it better to use local domains or dot coms with a folder or sub-domain for my site?”
To me, the answer to this question was obvious even a decade ago but the debate has continued to rage. The next question in popularity is always “…and do I need local hosting?” I’ll address the hosting issue in a future column. Today we’ll look at the top six reasons why local domains are for winners and dot coms for runners up. SEO For Regional Domains. Translation & Globalization - MarkTheGlobe.com. Multilingual SEO: Multilingual Search Engine Optimisation - WebCertain. International SEO International Search Engine Optimisation or Multilingual SEO is the backbone of any global search marketing campaign.
Often referred to as "natural" or "organic" search, SEO is the process used to improve website rankings in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). International SEO is especially complex in, with both language dependant and independent processes being employed to ensure that the relevant search engines can crawl and understand your website. The aim of WebCertain's Multilingual SEO service is to make websites more visible in search engines across the world and to ensure they are relevant and appropriate for the specific market they are targeting.
WebCertain uses a range of strategies and processes to achieve this. Search Engine Compatibility Audit (SECA) The SECA analyses different aspects of your website, in order to create an action plan of the short, medium and long term actions needed to improve your organic ranking. Bilingual website structure.
Web strategy. To define your internet strategy, you need to identify the direction your company should follow so as to create and reinforce its online presence, while supporting the strategic objectives of your firm. So as to be effective, an internet strategy should understand the role of social media for your company and for your industry: what technologies are used, what makes people create, publish and share content, why do they connect and communicate with each other? Brand Control is more and more in the hands of consumers, not companies. Therefore, in the social web marketing has to be informative, educational, and fun to seduce user communities. At OpenValley, our creative process places a great deal of emphasis on not only learning about your company but also understanding the behaviour of your visitors.
For your online presence to really count, your brand needs to exude credibility, confidence and efficiency through its website. Listen first, then action. SEO for multilingual sites - SEO Best practices II. SEO for international multilingual projects. Design Multilingual Website: A Beginner’s Guide. The ‘look and feel‘ of a website is the cornerstone of any successful online venture.
But the very nature of the internet means that the instant you upload your carefully constructed pages onto the World Wide Web, you’re global. Image: via YukoTVXQ Indeed, regardless of whether you intend to make buckets of cash from your website or simply build a strong international following online, there are numerous aspects of your site’s design you should consider from the start, to ensure it’s flexible and adaptable to international requirements. If you want to build a number of foreign-language equivalents of your main site, they need to be properly localized before you launch and the process can be made much less painful if you plan from the start. 1.
Image: via subgrafik For those more inclined towards the front-end design aspect of websites than the ‘behind the scenes’ system-related aspects, consider this technical truism: computers deal with numbers, not letters. 2. Image: via djFargo 3. 4. 5. Multi-Lingual SEO « Lexington eBusiness Consulting: Mark Sprague's Blog. International Content / SEO Strategy A human understands what is going on when they see content in two languages on a single web page, but a search engines may have trouble figuring out which country search index it belongs in.
Multilingual SEO presents a set of problems that must be dealt with on a number of levels. Not only do you have the problem of properly translating your English-oriented website into another language, you also have to deal with a number of technical issues that impact your SEO footprint. These issues include the flexibility of your content management systems, your domain name strategy, the software platform that you’re using and real estate display issues, such as getting text to fit in the original allotted space (e.g., buttons and menus). At the highest level these are the important issues you will have to deal with, and we will talk about the first four in this post: Content Management Systems (CMS)
Working with multi-regional websites. Webmaster Level: Intermediate Did you know that a majority of users surveyed feel that having information in their own language was more important than a low price? Living in a non-English-speaking country, I've seen friends and family members explicitly look for and use local and localized websites—properly localized sites definitely have an advantage with users. Google works hard to show users the best possible search results. Many times those are going to be pages that are localized, for the user's location and/or in the user's language. Working with multilingual websites. SEO-friendly way of switching languages - Webmaster Central Help. @squibble Yes, Google does seem to find some of the other languages. I believe that's mainly because of our sitemap.xml, which we submit on a regular basis.
The point is, there really isn't any way for Google to see non-English versions, because the language switcher is a dropdown which is dynamic (using JS). I've already read the two articles that you've suggested, but haven't really seen an answer to the question I was posing here in either of those. Regarding url parameters, we're in the middle of reorganizing the site's url structure to conform to what Google is suggesting. I don't see any problems with that, then again, my main concern is with crawlability. SEO Solutions for Language/Region Selectors. Erik Dafforn | September 30, 2009 | 0 Comments inShare0.
Localization and SEO. How to build multi-regional or multilingual websites.