Many business owners are unaware of the impact their website URLs can have on traffic and site performance. It’s important to understand how URLs work, how they’re structured and what impact this has on traffic.
There are two types of website URL; subdirectories and subdomains. These differ in appearance and functionality but both stem from your home page URL. Firstly, a subdirectory is a separate page on your website and follows after a slash in the URL. If your domain name is domain.com, a subdirectory could be something like domain.com/about-us.
On the other hand, a subdomain is a separate URL (but still related to your main URL), such as blog.domain.com. It still links to your main website but is a subdomain. So why does all of this matter, and why should business owners care?
Why the URL matters
The answer is search engines; Google, Bing and other search engines use these subtle differences in URLs to crawl and rank websites in their results indexes. For example, subdirectories will rank higher than subdomains in the results pages. When someone searches for your website, they will often be shown subdirectories before subdomains.
If you have a blog section, it’s better to categorise it as a subdirectory (domain.com/blog) than a subdomain (blog.domain.com) as this will result in more web traffic clicking on the link in Google.
Why subdirectories are better for search engine ranking
The way a URL is structured is important for search engines crawling your site. Google will view a subdirectory as one page of a larger website. These subdirectories will inherit the qualities of the domain and form part of the website index, like chapters of a book.
A subdomain, on the other hand, is viewed as a separate website that is unique (but still linked to the main URL). This can create a disjointed ‘picture’ of your website for search engines, which is why they are often ranked lower.
In addition to the above SEO benefits of subdirectories, they also have other advantages over subdomains. Subdirectories are easier to track with analytics tools as they don’t need cross-domain integrations. It makes it easier for IT managers and business owners to see a holistic picture of their viewership stats when the website is structured with subdirectory URLs.
This structure also makes it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for. They are more intuitive and easier to understand; you have the main domain name, followed by sub pages of the website. If a user wants to find a certain page, they can simply edit the URL in the address bar and navigate directly to that page.
Subdomains have their uses
One of the benefits that subdomains have over subdirectories is that they allow web developers to create unique web pages for separate sites, whether it’s temporary competitions and campaigns, or for discreet sites on a larger hosting platform, such as Tumblr (yourname.tumblr.com).
This allows people to have unique blog pages on Tumblr, so they can be found easily and are regarded as separate entities from one another. If your website is going to make use of user-generated content, then using subdomains might be the answer.
These subtle distinctions in URLs can impact your site’s performance of search engines. You may want to consider restructuring your website URLs so they work better for your needs. You could see a boost in traffic by switching from subdomains to subdirectories.
At Mobimeme, we understand the small nuances of search engine optimisation and website URLs. We are digital marketers with in-depth knowledge of websites and search engines. If you need advice or guidance on your URLs, we’re happy to provide assistance. Please contact us today for an assessment or to get started with your digital marketing journey.
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