As per Yoseprgr the first option. Re-direct chains negatively impact on page speed and crawlability.  Hence the one chain re-direct is optimum. Google published a video - think Matt Cutts stating - they do not crawl after 4-5 redirects.  SO taking into account loss of link equity, google recommendations and speed impact - the direct link is optimum.

Hope that helps.

Without going into how to technically achieve the outcome. It may be beneficial to go back one step and consider drawing up a the url structure. Lay out the keyword/s being targeted for the global home page and then the first sub-folders. The url structure, when laid out, with keywords, should provide guidance on the layout of Title's and H1's.  We often take out the company name/brand when required and use the 600 pixels available to optimise the page. This allows more individual title tags for search and customers.  ie Your client will likely rank No 1-3 for their brand and brand labelling inner pages, unless beneficial for the customer experience is unlikely to assist brand ranking...

You may only want to index some of the sub directory pages... as well.  rel canonical the juice back to the header page..

Anyway I like to go back to the url structure, and find when I get that right everything flows easily from there...

So in answer to your question - No I would not recommend you put vertigo tiles on every page of the sub-folder. I would make sure each page has a unique relevant title.. and a closely though not exact matching H1... to the page content. I add I see "black vertigo tiles" as different to "white vertigo tiles"

Hope that assists.

Hi agree there is no right answer - but we need a starting point, and the below works very well for us.

We target 1 keyword per page, however, expand on same for context to the main keyword.  So let's say someone makes a blog on "I can't sleep".  We would target  "cant sleep" -  as the head term as in Australia that has circa 1900 searches a month.  "Ï cant sleep" is 590 per month.  So in this instance, we would recommend the URL for the content www.website.com.au/cant-sleep

The Title

Cant Sleep | Why Cant I Sleep | Forty Winks

H1

I Cant sleep

H2 (Not overly necessary, but if we can squeeze it in)

What do to when you cant sleep

This is a rare term where the grammar is not ideal. But that is what we would recommend consistent with customer queries. One keyword per page gives you a starting point, then as the page is crawled by google webmaster lets you do a deeper dive into what it perceives the page should rank for.

Adjust accordingly and deliver what the customer wants.

Hope that helps.

It is a loaded question as there are many other more important facets than Title tags. So wary of answering. A site audit is where to start. https://moz.com/blog/technical-site-audit-for-2015

Other factors to consider and monitor carefully include page loading speed, and the combinations of the url and H1's. For example I have seen sites penalized for having the same url, title tag, h1 and the meta description keyword stuffed with the same keyword. All that said title tags are still important though less so but to answer we would need context with what else is happening on site.

A quick check tool is website.grader.com  On your specific question of how long until Title tags may impact usually after indexing so 2-7 days. Use fetch for google if wish to make happen sooner.

Hope that assists.

I have not used Drupal for a couple of years, but there used to be a plugin called Fast 404 for some versions. Need to check whether suitable and if it weighs downs page speed. Zach is right if you can manually handle it do so, but if not perhaps research a plugin and research side effects.

I am not sure of the site is wordpress but have you considered 'smart 404' plugin. Could consider adding to the site, a solution.

Hope that assists.

Regards

It is getting over complicated. First principal is do not harm.  I would not recommend a reverse proxy.  301'ing each page carry's the juice over.  A 301 does everything you need.

However prior to any 301's I would be auditing each sub domain for a penalty - ie you could be pushing a penalty to the main site. So i would suggest a very thorough audit. If in doubt rel canonical that page.

Hope that assists.

Not enough info.  Can you identify and target key influencers within each niche?

In short it pops up as it is based on search preferences.  The algorithm behind it is complicated however primarily it is based on search history and data or inputs you (or someone else) has made into your safari  search preferences pane.

If using Chrome - and undertaking keyword research it is a important method into collating keywords.  The suggestions are usually in some form of popularity...

Hope that assists