This talk will be about structuring content and configuring multi-territory sites. I will cover two questions that repeatedly come up in the SEO world and remain a challenge for many brands. Question 1 - Should you put your content on a sub-domain or in a sub-folder? This question keeps coming up and Google assures us that it is becoming better at associating content on a sub-domain with the main domain. I will present evidence proving that putting your content in a sub-folder instead of a sub-domain delivers a considerable boost in domain authority, rankings and search traffic. Question 2 - Should you structure your multi-territory site under multiple ccTLDs or a single TLDs with sub-folders for country-specific content? ccTLDs are a strong way to show search engines and users that your site content is specifically targeted to a certain territory and should appear on SERPs in that area. But, because they are seen by search engine crawlers as entirely separate sites, any link equity passed to one ccTLD site stays there and it does not impact the other site. So, if you're promoting several sites, you'll need to build up the authority of each ccTLD, which is often not financially viable. I will present evidence that hosting your country-specific content on a single TLD in sub-folders means that any link equity built will impact all sites. In this talk want to focus on how you can maximise your potential SEO benefit while minimising costs.

1. © Copyright 2020 Delete
By: Polly Pospelova
Subdomains vs. Subfolders
and ccTLDs vs. TLDs
for SEO

2. #TECHSEOWOMEN
My talk is about structuring
content and configuring multi-
territory sites while focusing on
how we can maximise our
potential SEO benefit while
minimising costs.

3. #TECHSEOWOMEN
Two questions that
repeatedly come up
in the SEO world.

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And remain a
challenge for many
brands.

5. #TECHSEOWOMEN
1.
Sub-domain or a
sub-folder?

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2.
Single TLD or
multiple ccTLDs

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1.
Sub-domain or a
sub-folder?

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Should I put my
content on a
sub-domain or in a
sub-folder?

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
blog.yoursite.com www.yoursite.com/blog
Enginesmayconsider content on a
separatesubdomaindifferently.
Allthecontenton asingledomain
benefitsalltheothercontenton
thesite.
Should I put my content on a
sub-domain or in a sub-folder?

10. This question keeps coming
up.
Googlers say Google has
got much better at
associating content on a
sub-domain with the main
domain and you don't
need to worry about
placing content on two
separate subdomains.
#TECHSEOWOMEN

11. Google's John Mueller says:
“Do what is best for your
business and server set
up. Google is fine with
both, and both rank.”
#TECHSEOWOMEN

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No doubt that
Google has made
good progress in
this area.

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But this question still has the
same answer as it did a few
years ago for me, and I will
show you some examples.
“Subfolders are almost
always better for
rankings.”

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
blog.yoursite.com www.yoursite.com/blog
Sub-domainsareusuallyeasierformatechnical operations, but fromanSEOpointofviewitcanbe
dangerous.

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Search engines may
associate content from a
sub-domain and so all of the
links, user usage and
ranking signals may benefit.

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We have migrated
from sub-domain to
sub-folder
many times.

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
blog.yoursite.com www.yoursite.com/blog

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
careers.yoursite.com www.yoursite.com/careers

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
corporate.yoursite.com www.yoursite.com/corporate

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Each time seeing a
considerable boost
in domain authority,
rankings and search
traffic.

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
EXAMPLE 1: MIGRATED 3 SITES FROM SUB-DOMAINS TO SUB-FOLDERS
PROPERTY CLIENT
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 1
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 2
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 3

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 1
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 2
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 3
EXAMPLE 1: MIGRATED 3 SITES FROM SUB-DOMAINS TO SUB-FOLDERS
PROPERTY CLIENT

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 1
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 2
EXAMPLE 2: MIGRATED 2 SITES FROM SUB-DOMAINS TO SUB-FOLDERS
PROPERTY CLIENT

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 1
MIGRATE SUB-DOMAIN 2
EXAMPLE 3: MIGRATED 3 SITES FROM SUB-DOMAINS TO SUB-FOLDERS
PROPERTY CLIENT

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
REPOINTING SUB-DOMAINS TO SUB-FOLDERS
mysite.com/subs
sub1.mysite.com Stronger
Domain
50
Linking Domains
40
Linking Domains
60
Linking Domains
80
Linking Domains
sub2.mysite.com
sub4.mysite.com
sub3.mysite.com

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We’re not alone.
Many SEOs start by
putting content on
blog.site.com.

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But later migrate
blog.site.com to sub-
folder and see benefits.

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
EXAMPLE 1: MIGRATED BLOG FROM SUB-FOLDER TO SUB-DOMAIN
SWITCH TO SUB-DOMAIN
IWANTMYNAME.COM

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It is dangerous to
put content on a
sub-domain.

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Search engines
keep different
metrics for domains
than they do for
subdomains.

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Even though Engines say that from
a ranking perspective content in
subdomains and subdirectories is
treated roughly equally,
SEOs should still place link-worthy
content like blogs in subfolders
rather than subdomains.

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www.example.com/blog
blog.example.com
This is how you maximise your
potential SEO benefit.

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2.
Single TLD or
multiple ccTLDs

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TLD
a top-level domain at the
highest level in the
hierarchical Domain Name
System of the Internet.

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TLD
in the domain
name www.example.com,
the top-level domain
is com.

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ccTLD
a country code top-level
domain generally
reserved for a country.

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ccTLD
for example,
Canadian ccTLD is ca
German ccTLC is de.

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Should you structure your
multi-territory site under
ccTLDs or a single TLD
with subfolders for
country-specific content?

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ccTLDs are a strong
signal for user and
search engines that your
site content is specifically
targeted to a certain
territory.

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or that your site content
should appear on SERPs
in a certain area.

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If example.fr, example.ca, and
example.com are equal in
quality, authority,
trustworthiness, and other
optimisations, example.fr will
likely rank better in a French
user's SERP than example.ca or
example.com.

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But, because they are seen
by search engines as entirely
separate sites, any link
equity passed to one ccTLD
site stays there and does not
impact other sites.

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
ENTIRELY SEPARATE SITES
mysite.co.uk
mysite.no
mysite.fr
mysite.de
If you're promoting
several sites, you'll
need to build up the
authority of each
ccTLD, which is often
not financially viable.
£ £
£ £ £ £
£ £

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
CONSOLIDATED
mysite.com/subs
Stronger
Domain
mysite.com/subs
More
Budget
£ £ £ £
£ £ £ £
I will show examples
that hosting your
country-specific
content on a single
TLD in subfolders
means that any link
equity built will
impact all sites.

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We have migrated
from multiple ccTLDs
to a single TLD with
sub-folders.

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
52 ccTLDs
mysite.co.uk
mysite.jp
mysite.ru
mysite.ft
mysite.pl
mysite.be
mysite.bg
mysite.es
mystie.fr
mysite.gr
mysite.it
mysite.lv
mysite.hr
…
1 TLD
mysite.com/uk
mysite.com/jp
mysite.com/ru
mysite.com/ft
mysite.com/pl
mysite.com/be
mysite.com/bg
mysite.com/es
mystie.com/fr
mysite.com/gr
mysite.com/it
mysite.com/lv
mysite.com/hr
…

47. #TECHSEOWOMEN
In 12 months…

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
EXAMPLE 1: MIGRATED 52 SITES FROM CCTLDs TO 1 TLD
FMCG CLIENT

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
EXAMPLE 1: MIGRATED 52 SITES FROM CCTLDs TO 1 TLD
4,270,450
back links gained
4,641,396 vs 370,946

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
EXAMPLE 1: MIGRATED 52 SITES FROM CCTLDs TO 1 TLD
10,314
referring domains gained
13,619 vs 3,305

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#TECHSEOWOMEN
EXAMPLE 1: MIGRATED 52 SITES FROM CCTLDs TO 1 TLD
71 vs 56
domain authority increased

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There is clear
evidence that:

53. #TECHSEOWOMEN
1.
Using sub-folders
instead of sub-
domains has SEO
benefits.

54. #TECHSEOWOMEN
2.
Using a single TLD
instead of multiple
ccTLDs has SEO
benefits.

55. #TECHSEOWOMEN
Make Your SEO
Strategy Smart
& Financially Viable.

56. #TECHSEOWOMEN
Learn more and
download slides:
www.deleteagency.com/womenintechseo

57. © Copyright 2020 Delete
#TECHSEOWOMEN
WWW.DELETEAGENCY.COM