Subdomain vs folder vs TLD
-
We are launching in a number of international markets and I am trying to figure out if I should be launching them as folders, e.g.: /es (spanish), /br (brazil), /in (india) or whether they should be subdomains, e.g. es.mysite.com, br.mysite.com, etc.
In brazil we managed to secure the tld (.com.br) but not in other regions.
Whats the best strategy for us? I was thinking of doing folders as I understand that this strengthens the main domain, while subdomains are considered as separate sites.
For Brazil, should we also use a folder, or launch on the .com.br? I assume that using the .com.br means we will have to build up authority from scratch, and in addition, the authority we build up on the .com.br will not help to grow the .com
In addition, is there value in interlinking between verions (the versions will have the same content but in different languages)?
Thanks!
-
I am actually stil waiting for the final lists to ensure a comparable search result "study".
Regarding subdomains & worst approach:
thats whats confusing me (maybe due to my newbie status with seomoz): The domain authority for the TLD is lower than the ones for the subdomains. I actually figured this to be a hint, that subdomains do inherit this from the root domain.
But I hope to be able to tell you more in 2-3 weeks, when I have those lists ready and can compare the search workds/phrases over all countries.
-
Yes, we already seen this giving an additional boost. Your physical server location will definitely help you getting local search rankings for that country. Our numbers will hopefully give an insight into how significant that boost is.
-
Shoggoth,
So how is the TTLD site working for you in the search results compared to the subdomain pages?
To my knowledge sub domains are the worst approach as you have to build up dedicated domain authority for the subdomains (as for TTLDs) without the benefit of improved local search results based on the local TTLD.
/Thomas
-
Actually I have a very similar issue, but already some data, that unfortunatly does not help me (as I just started with seomoz).
My issue is sub-domain, TLD or folder - and yes, brazil is one of my targets as well.
For European countries I had already set up subs and 1 tld where a sub redirects to...I know that i still got some work to do, so don't hit me for that - thats what I am here for
SeoMoz tells me this in the report:
Domain / Page Authority / Page MozRank / Page MozTrust / Domain Authority / Domain Moz Rank / Domain MozTrustRoot (.com) / 46 / 5.45 / 5.37 / 36 / 5.45 / 5.37
sub / 16 / 4.67 (all subs have this) / 5.09 (all) / 36 / 4.67 / 5.09
Genuine TLD (sub 301ed) / 31 (!) / 4.67 / 5.09 / 26 (!) / 4.67 / 5.09
This genuine TLD has about 8 times as much links pointing to it (its older and was "alive") as the subs have (so far), but it actually lacks domain authority while it outperforms the subs in page authority.
I'd be really one happy guy, if someone could explain to me the real pros and cons for the useage of subs, folders and genuine tlds per country for SEO.
-
Very interesting! Would love to hear your results. You are testing to see if the IP of the server is more important than marking the location in webmaster tools?
-
Hey medico,
I am in the same boat as you and I am actually running an empirical experiment right now where I am testing how a switch from directory to ccTLD will affect search traffic. I should be able to post something on my blog soon and will let you know.
The feedback I got from experts was the same as presented here with the difference that in my experience server location does have a significant impact on your local search rankings. I am including this aspect actually in my experiment.
What I am doing is this
1. month: run uk country specific site under .com/uk/... on a dutch server
2. month: run uk country specific site under .co.uk... on a dutch server
3. month: run uk country specific site under .co.uk... on a uk server
Good luck with your campaign. /Thomas
-
Thanks for the replies. Some clarification: we do own the .com domain. I was only able to get the ccTLD for brazil, not for any of the other markets we are targeting. For the other markets I have to use a subdomain or folder. I am still debating whether to set up the brazilian site on the ccTLD or to set it up on the .com (w/ subdomain or folder) and just redirect the .com.br to the .com.
-
This is how I would go about this project. Try and purchase the .com domain and then setup the sub domains for each country based close to the specific countries domain shortening code. So for brazil .br . I would also install separate content management systems on each subdomain to enable different users to control the sites. I presume different people will be making changes on the sites.
-
a .com domain does make the most sense I feel good point.
-
Hi,
The thing about country level TLD's is they will rank well in that country, If you use a .com.br domain it may not rank well in Australian results or USA results only for the brand term, even if you geo target sub folders on the domain.
Can you acquire the .com domain? From my experience .com works the best on a global level.
My advice is to use the domains you have for specific markets on the CC TLD's yet for other areas which you are not able to acquire the domain use SUB FOLDERS on the .com domain and then GEO target these sub folders in Google webmaster tools.
Finally do not use sub domains it is not a wise strategy, you will have no internal linking value.
-
Sorry this comment field doesn't like my iPad and removes all paragraph spacing. .......... Generally speaking separate ccTLD are better but more time and resource intensive since you'll be maintaining multiple sites. With country specific TLD you will find it easier to entice local linking from within the country. Overall you will have a better time convincing the search engines that you are running a targeted, local customer centric web experience. .......... But you don't have the country domains, right? Personally I like the idea of subdomains purely for the separate site treatment. Often the architects make the appended folders and that is probably what you'll end up doing. That method confuses people the least. .......... Regardless of what you pick, keep an eye on duplicate content. Also recognize that the appended folders will not add much at all to your main .com if the traffic is truly arriving from diverse countries. Beyond that work on your community building, quality link building, content, blah, blah, blah (add your favorite SEO buzzwords here). I don't think hosting server location matters too much, either as long as all the signals indicate that it is a country specific site.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Subdirectory vs. gTLD
So I am merging two ecommerce brands together and have decided to do so either under a Subdirectory or gTLD. My aim here is to increase the quality of my SEO for the weaker site (this would be the second italic domain shown in A and B below), thus taking domain authority from the dominant site, while 301 redirecting all pages from the old domain which will hopefully boost the authority and rank for the merged site). My options for the merged site are: A. www.website.com & www.website.com/hreflang=en B. www.website.com & www.website.com/us Or a combination of A & B (below): C. www.website.com & www.website.com/us/hreflang=en Factors: Option A and C results in a longer URL structure for the merged domain which has a negative impact on SEO, while Option B is much more succinct. Both Option A and Option B are the same distance from the root directory, weakening the SEO credibility of the merged domain somewhat. While option C would be further still. Here are my questions: Option B consolidates Domain Authority, but do Option A and C do the same? Will the first domain receive a boost in Domain Authority and Rank due to 301 redirects targeting the second italic domain? Will any option cause duplicate content issues (some categories/products are identical on both sites)? And if so, how best to avoid them (having Google ignore the subdirectory/gTLD is not an option). One website will target the UK/EU while the other will target the US, will the merged italic site be able to rank well in the US? Are there any other ranking factors I have missed or should consider? I know this is quite an advanced series of questions, so I would appreciate the opinions of others so I can make the most informed choice. Thank you
International SEO | | moon-boots0 -
Which will rank higher: Non-mobile friendly site in native language vs. mobile friendly global site in English?
Hi, we are currently implementing a mobile site, e.g. m.company.com. The global mobile site will only be available in English. We have local subsites of the desktop site, e.g. company.com/fr. The local subsites are not mobile friendly. If a user does a search for a brand term in France, **which site will rank higher in SERPs? **If it will be the global site, is there anything we can do (other than making them mobile friendly) to make the local sites rank higher? Would it be the mobile-friendly site, even though it is only in English, because the local site would be penalized for not being mobile friendly? Or would it be the local site, because Google will give priority to the fact that it's in French, which matches the language of the person searching?
International SEO | | jennifer.new0 -
If domain mapping subfolders to TLD's is it perceived as a fully separate entity/site therafter ?
Hi I take it once you have domain mapped a country specific subfolder to a country specific TLD (for better local region targeting reasons) Google perceives it as a completely separate entity and it no longer shares any of the parent sites domain benefits (such as domain authority etc) so from that point on requires its own dedicated link building etc ? All Best Dan
International SEO | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
Other country TLD's for US product
We have a product ( Example: Car ) where all of the TLD's for North America (Example: Car.com, Car.net, etc) have been taken. I've found several for TLD's like .IT, .LA, .AG, etc. If I purchased those and launched sites under those TLD's in the US on servers here in the US and marketed the same as a North American TLD, do you see any issues with this regarding SEO challenges? Thanks All! Hugs, Natalie 🙂
International SEO | | okiedokie0 -
International subdomains?
I have a US based site and recently got a backlink from the German version of IGN (de.ign.com). Does that carry the same weight because it is the same root domain?
International SEO | | garyislearning0 -
SEO for Subdomains for different languages .com/fr, .com/es
Hi All, I was wondering how best to to approach optimisation of a site that exists on a single .com domain, but has different subfolders for different languages. The site is a .com and it has subfolders for French, Spanish, Russian and English. The business is situated in France and the vast majority of clients are French and English speakers. I've read that it's possible to geo target these subfolders using webmaster tools however I believe this is an inferior method of optimisation than having tld's. Just wondered if anyone had experience of htis and could provide any advice ? As they won't be rebuilding the site for another year or so I wondered if there were any quick wins? My second question is to do with how best to set these campaigns up within SEO Moz. would it be better to track at a subdomain or subfolder leverl (for different languages)? If someone could advise I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks, vantresca
International SEO | | vanvallejo0 -
Removing United Kingdom next to a generic TLD
We have a generic top level domain (gTLD) called www.xyz.com which was set to target United Kingdom in Google Webmaster Tools. We have now launched a US version of the site targeting US consumers – www.xyz.com/us and set the geographic target to United States on GWT. When I search for xyz on www.google.com, the serps brings up the .com site with “United Kingdom” beside it. This will most likely confuse our prospects as they would think we only have a UK operation. How can I tell Google not to include “United Kindgom” next to www.xyz.com Any thoughts? Since this was happening, I removed the geographic location target for www.xyz.com to null on GWT. Would that help solve the issue? Look forward to your reply. Many Thanks Jay
International SEO | | jgohil0 -
Multi-lingual SEO: Country-specific TLD's, or migration to a huge .com site?
Dear SEOmoz team, I’m an in-house SEO looking after a number of sites in a competitive vertical. Right now we have our core example.com site translated into over thirty different languages, with each one sitting on its own country-specific TLD (so example.de, example.jp, example.es, example.co.kr etc…). Though we’re using a template system so that changes to the .com domain propagate across all languages, over the years things have become more complex in quite a few areas. For example, the level of analytics script hacks and filters we have created in order to channel users through to each language profile is now bordering on the epic. For a number of reasons we’ve recently been discussing the cost/benefit of migrating all of these languages into the single example.com domain. On first look this would appear to simplify things greatly; however I’m nervous about what effect this would have on our organic SE traffic. All these separate sites have cumulatively received years of on/off-site work, and even if we went through the process of setting up page-for-page redirects to their new home on example.com, I would hate to lose all this hard-work (and business) if we saw our rankings tank as a result of the move. So I guess the question is, for an international business such as ours, which is the optimal site structure in the eyes of the search engines; Local sites on local TLD’s, or one mammoth site with language identifiers in the URL path (or subdomains)? Is Google still so reliant on TLD for geo targeting search results, or is it less of a factor in today’s search engine environment? Cheers!
International SEO | | linklater0