forum.mydomain.tld or mydomain.tld/forum ?

[Meti]

Hey,

I've done some research on this topic and it seems that many SEO guys recommend mydomain.tld/forum as a better choice, one of them being SEO.

However; I really don't think there's any difference, what do you think about this point, do you think there's any difference from SEO perspective?

Also, which is the best choice? I think directories can be easier to type, you will be able to type it faster however, large networks often use subdomains, now my question would be why?

- Meti

[vicdigi]

An interesting question and damned if I know. I recently created a blog which was on a sub domain but got told off by Temi and told to have it as sitedomain/blog.

I guess the emphasis was for seo purposes which is working wonders but as for having forums.domainname or domainname/forum not sure.

[Meti]

I've also heard and been advised the same, I am not a real SEO expert, however I do know a few basic steps. This topic has always remained unanswered over here, and now, I'm looking for some advice, as this is good to know for future reference.

Will wait for other users' inputs

- Meti

[SkinnerW]

Main reason for the subfolder domain/forum - that it will be followed from the main domain and bring some extra juice to the main domain also.

Subdomain (forum.domain) is treated as a separate site and will not gain/pass any juice

Same with the blog or directory...

Unless your site is huge in terms of content/traffic or some parts of it completely unrelated - I would stick with subfolder instead of subdomain...

[Meti]

Main reason for the subfolder domain/forum - that it will be followed from the main domain and bring some extra juice to the main domain also.

Subdomain (forum.domain) is treated as a separate site and will not gain/pass any juice

Same with the blog or directory...

Unless your site is huge in terms of content/traffic or some parts of it completely unrelated - I would stick with subfolder instead of subdomain...

Thanks for your view Skinner, I actually didn't have any clue that subdirectories could be much better than subdomains, thanks for the information!

- Meti

[SkinnerW]

Here is another opinion on the subdomain vs. subdirectory question - this time from Google expert:

...My personal preference on subdomains vs. subdirectories is that I usually prefer the convenience of subdirectories for most of my content. A subdomain can be useful to separate out content that is completely different. Google uses subdomains for distinct products such news.google.com or maps.google.com, for example. If you’re a newer webmaster or SEO, I’d recommend using subdirectories until you start to feel pretty confident with the architecture of your site. At that point, you’ll be better equipped to make the right decision for your own site.

Here is the full article from Matt Cutts