John Mueller, a Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, mentioned in an office hours hangout this week that Google search treats subdomains and subdirectories the same way.
A question arose about whether there was a difference between using a subdomain, like example.google.com, versus a subdirectory, like google.com/example.
Mueller provided a concise and straightforward answer, stating that Google considers both of them equivalent.
He noted that there are strong opinions on each side, but in his view, related content should be grouped together on the same site whenever possible.
For site owners trying to decide between using subdomains or subdirectories, Mueller suggests only using a subdomain when it offers something distinct compared to the rest of the site.
If you’re a site owner who isn’t particularly concerned either way, then it’s fine to keep everything on the same site using subdirectories.
Mueller’s full response can be heard in the video below, starting at the 11:18 mark.
“In general, we see these the same. I would personally try to keep things together as much as possible. So if it’s the same site, then try to put them on the same site, essentially, and use subdomains where things are really kind of slightly different.
There are lots of really strong opinions on this so, from my point of view, this is something that could go either way. If you have really strong reasons to go one way or the other, then, obviously, that might be what you’d want to watch out for. On the other hand, if you’re like ‘well I don’t care either way,’ then I would just keep it within the same site.”
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