Should I structure my site using subdomains or subdirectories?
Why Webmasters Stack Exchange recommends it
Webmasters Stack Exchange users cite it as Google's own statement on subdomains versus subdirectories when answering SEO questions about site structure.
Recommended by 1 people across 1 different months, 2015 to 2016.
What it is
A short Google Webmaster Help video from 2012 in which Matt Cutts of Google answers a viewer's question about whether a site built from subdomains is treated differently from one built from subdirectories. He explains how Google views the two structures and notes that subdomain use has been abused to fill search results.
What people said
Recommends Hugo Delsing · 2015-02 · Webmasters Stack Exchange · on “Can I brand a subdomain as a separate project?”
The link is in my answer, watch the video. Or watch it on Google Webmasters youtube channel [this video] . And it was linked exactly to prevent subdomain spam.
Cites Ethan · 2015-03 · Webmasters Stack Exchange · on “Will sub-domain errors effect parent domain SEO?”
Don't downvote unless you know what you're talking about. Google has only made the ATTEMPT to look at both as the same domain. Yet, they must ALSO recommend using subdomains if the content is different. [this video] [LINK]
Cites Nicolas Guérinet · 2015-11 · Webmasters Stack Exchange · on “Subdomain versus subdirectory”
According to an article from 2011 on the google webmaster blog, subdomains are considered to be internal links for a website: [LINK] I know it is possible to create a different entry in google webmaster tools for multiple subdomains but it does not mean they are counted as different websites. In fact, Matt cutts mentioned in a video, that they saw webmasters abusing subdomains in order to get more results on one page. By the past Google considered subdomains to be different domains but it is not the case anymore. Then, Matt cutts also said that subfolders and subdirectories are similar. Link to Matt Cutts videos about Subdomains Vs Subdirectories: [this video] if you consider https , you will nee
Cites Scottie · 2016-05 · Webmasters Stack Exchange · on “What would be the SEO impact of moving webpages under my root domain to a subdomain?”
There's contradicting information because opinion on it has changed over the years. Some people have a hard opinion each way and subdirectory has already seemed a safe option because it clearly maintains domain metrics. My opinion would be that Google now groups all of a brands domains and subdomains under some sort of umbrella because of the way some technology works people have to use different platforms which may mean different subdomains. See Matt Cutts' video on it here: [this video]
Cites Rob · 2016-08 · Webmasters Stack Exchange · on “Any real benefit from using a subdomain vs a folder vs just a page name?”
Except sub-domains might be treated as as a separate web site from example.com for a while. Matt Cutts from Google: [this video]