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Subdomains are finally getting the same treatment as folders by Google
It’s been announced that subdomains of a website will soon be treated as folders of the website instead of independent websites. So what does this mean exactly? It could mean that Google is leveling the playing field for all players by merging domains and not allowing multiple results on a search results page.
I understand why a webmaster would want to have subdomains if he or she is part of a large company – it’s easier to manage and market the information for a company with multiple divisions if that information is categorized by subject. But I’ve never understood why one would want to take away the depth of their main site by separating all those pages and content into subdomains.
I think it’s a very smart move by Google to fix this situation, since in some cases I’ve seen a company dominate the first page of search results with their main domain and numerous subdomains.
Good work Google!
So if you have subdomains on your website, it might be wise to eliminate them and include them into your main site, utilizing 301 redirects so the SEO credibility of the subdomains is carried to the main domain.
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Comments
8 Comments so far8 Responses to “Subdomains are finally getting the same treatment as folders by Google”
While I am impressed that Google is making this change, I have to wonder if larger companies that utilize subdomains will actually notice.
I have to agree that Google is leveling the playing field – whether intentional or not, creating inbound links via subdomains isn’t exactly the best SEO practice. That being said, I don’t know how many companies have built SEO into their design strategy if they are using subdomains.
I see this is yet another smart move by Google to refine the search results. Are Yahoo, MSN, and other SERPs following suit? Or was Google just behind on this one?
Hi,
I haven’t heard anything about Yahoo and MSN as of yet but it won’t be long before Yahoo puts the filter in place since they tend to parallel with what Google does.
Beth
I am sure this is not the best news for some websites. Even Yahoo has used subdomains for the marketing of other non related websites.
I work for a large organisation in Australia and the reason we use subdomains is so that microsites and sections of the website can be hosted externally.
So this will be a big win as the Search Engine Rankings of the subdomain will be able to piggy back on the Authority of the main domain.
I am looking forward to it!
This is indeed good news from Google. I hope they start to do something about Wikipedia dominating the SERP pages. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
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I think its more related to bandwidth usage
when ur site eating alot of bandwidth u will be forced to move it to sub domain.
i dont think rating them as folders will have a big effect.
wow, that’s a good step by Google. I saw many companies created subdomian and try to get backlinks to their home page that’s actually not a good way to rank well in the search engines.