Creating Authority and choosing URL's

[HMK-NL]

Creating Domain Authority and choosing URL's:

A:

What is better if you want to get higher Domain Authority? Choose keyword.domain.com or www.domain.com/keyword when other sites link to it?

B:

And for Page Authority? Choose keyword.domain.com or www.domain.com/keyword?

Thanks!

[RobertChapman]

Ha, very true.

Or we're both wrong. However at this stage in SEO, Rand's comments are practicably gospel...so I feel pretty confident.

[Matt-Williamson]

Hi Robert - how true lol - we must have been writing it at the same time as when I clicked submit your reply was already there! At least it qualifies this answer with two of us in agreement

[RobertChapman]

Great minds think alike!!

[Matt-Williamson]

I take it you mean is it better to use a subdirectory on your domain or a sub-domain in order to build your sites authority - I would go with the subdirectory as link juice isn't passed to sub-domains in the same way. Therefore building your content in a subdirectory will also help your new pages ranking being part of a domain that has authority. Quite often Google can treat sub-domains as separate sites so they have to build their own authority.

Have a look at this article - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites

[RobertChapman]

In answer to your question, Rand did a great article on this a while back as a follow on to a white board friday session.- http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites

There are also multiple other questions of a similar nature.

http://www.seomoz.org/pages/search_results?q=sub+domain+vs.+subfolder

The general consensus seems to be sub-folder over sub-domain. As Sub Folders tend to get all the benefits from the root domain.

To quote Rand from the top article his advice:

"1 subdomain under 1 root domain (but feel free to use subfolders as it makes sense). Starting a blog? I almost always recommend yoursite.com/blog over blog.yoursite.com. Want to launch a new section of content? Use yoursite.com/newstuff rather than newstuff.yoursite.com."

So both A and B - www.domain.com/keyword

Hope this helps.