Blog for website, subdomain vs subfolder link for SEO purposes

JinkHost

JinkHost

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Hi there,

We're wondering if it's more beneficial to have a blog hosted under the subdomain (blog.xxx.xxx) or subfolder (xxx.xxx/blog) for SEO purposes.

Gemini and chatgpt are recommending subfolder over subdomain, but some Google searches are saying subdomain.

What's the recommended path to host a blog for SEO building?

Edit: Also right now we choose ''Writefreely'' over ''Wordpress'' and other options, are there any recommendations on what to use?

Jink Host
 
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there are pros and cons to both options, so it really depends on your preference.

If you choose subdomain you will have to work on upping its authority just like you would do with the main domain, whereas subfolders inherit the main domain's authority by default. This is just one of the differences, but there are more, I recommend that you google for them cause I don't remember them all.

But yeah, there's no right or wrong way of doing it, there are websites out there that have successful blogs with both options, so it's up to you :)
 
These days the only advantage of using a subdomain is you can host it in a different host without having to use reverse proxying rewriting

Lots of sites do acmesite/content and load images from cdn dot acmesite/logo.png and something like app dot acmesite for the main application. All three of those could run in different places. The cdn could be a static bucket somewhere, the site could be wordpress content and then the app could run anywhere you want, aws or whatever
 
I'd use the blog part as a subfolder but it's entirely up to you how you structure it.
The main thing here... subfolder gets the power from your domain but a sub-domains is treated as a different entity.
 
JinkHost said:
Hi there,

We're wondering if it's more beneficial to have a blog hosted under the subdomain (blog.xxx.xxx) or subfolder (xxx.xxx/blog) for SEO purposes.

Gemini and chatgpt are recommending subfolder over subdomain, but some Google searches are saying subdomain.

What's the recommended path to host a blog for SEO building?

Edit: Also right now we choose ''Writefreely'' over ''Wordpress'' and other options, are there any recommendations on what to use?

Jink Host
Click to expand...
Subfolder subdomain for SEO authority stays in one place
Platform doesn’t matter much clean structure control over SEO basics is key.
 
For SEO, a subfolder is usually better because it shares authority with your main site. Google can treat subdomains separately. Use platforms like WordPress for flexibility, though WriteFreely is fine for simple setups.
 
Subdomains can still work, but they often behave more like separate sites, so the SEO impact is usually slower unless everything is strongly linked and structured.
 
For SEO subfolder is generally recommended over a subdomain and wordpress platform offers more flexibility and Seo control than the writefreely.
 
For SEO, a subfolder is usually the better choice. It keeps all your content under one domain, so any backlinks, authority, and internal linking directly benefit your main site. It’s easier to build overall domain strength this way.

A subdomain is treated more like a separate site, so the SEO value doesn’t flow as strongly unless you put in extra work. It’s useful only in specific cases like separate platforms or very different content types.

As for platforms, wordpress is still the most flexible and seo friendly option because of plugins, control, and scalability.
 
JinkHost said:
Hi there,

We're wondering if it's more beneficial to have a blog hosted under the subdomain (blog.xxx.xxx) or subfolder (xxx.xxx/blog) for SEO purposes.

Gemini and chatgpt are recommending subfolder over subdomain, but some Google searches are saying subdomain.

What's the recommended path to host a blog for SEO building?

Edit: Also right now we choose ''Writefreely'' over ''Wordpress'' and other options, are there any recommendations on what to use?

Jink Host
Click to expand...
Subfolder > subdomain for SEO in most cases. It keeps all authority on one domain and helps rankings faster. Subdomains act more like separate sites.


As for platform—WordPress is still the best for flexibility + SEO control. Writefreely is fine for simple blogging, but limited if you plan to scale or optimize deeply.
 
Linkfinity said:
Subfolder > subdomain for SEO in most cases. It keeps all authority on one domain and helps rankings faster. Subdomains act more like separate sites.


As for platform—WordPress is still the best for flexibility + SEO control. Writefreely is fine for simple blogging, but limited if you plan to scale or optimize deeply.
Click to expand...
snowjon said:
For SEO subfolder is generally recommended over a subdomain and wordpress platform offers more flexibility and Seo control than the writefreely.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your replies. The reason we choose Writefreely over Wordpress, is because Wordpress has been hacked countless times and we really do not have trust in them. We believe we'll be less prone for hacks using Writefreely.

For the SEO control, Writefreely is automatically writing SEO metrics based of articles that gets posted. But since Writefreely is opensource, we can basically adjust the source to allow us to customize the SEO metrics ourselves.
 
Also thank you to everyone who replied the thread. We've learnt that Writefreely does not support subfolder blogs, and we'll consider if we'll try some other option over it.
 
Subfolder is usually the better choice for SEO, as it keeps everything under one domain and helps pass authority more easily.

Subdomains can work, but they’re often treated more like separate sites.

For CMS, WordPress is still the most flexible and SEO-friendly, but if Writefreely fits your needs and is fast/clean, it can work too.

Simple answer: go with subfolder + solid content.
 
Based on my experience with other people’s successful projects, I can say that, by all accounts, a subdomain is the better option
 
Stick with a subfolder every time because it keeps all the link juice on your main domain instead of splitting it.
Subdomains are often seen as separate sites by google so you'd end up working twice as hard to rank.
Also just use wordpress since it has all the plugins and tools you need to actually win unlike writefreely which is way too limited.
 
Subfolders are generally better because they inherit the main domain's authority immediately. Most SEOs prefer this over subdomains, which Google often treats as separate entities. For the platform, WordPress is usually the standard for SEO due to its extensive plugin support. :cool:
 
Blog on main site subfolder is better than on subdomain nowadays. That does not mean that your blog on a seperate tld domain will not rank or not will gain authority - this is bullshxxt , created from Marketing and SEO agencies "have it all on your domain", agencies who not know what crawl waste is and how to stop it. It's a global buzzword now have all on your site.

Many successful marketers have their blog on a separate tld domain linked to their main site , they have the blog on their separate tld domain for build topical authorithy.

When your main site get's a HCU hit, then your separate tdl domain with your blog will be safe- but most not understand it.
Ans most SEO and Marketing agencies not know the differences between wordpress selfhost and wordpress com. I call them liars.

Happy Weekend - meoooowwwww !
 
There is a lot to talk about that subject but I would say generally the best practice would be to use a subfolder since it share authorithy with your website.
 
A subfolder feels like the smarter choice for most websites It keeps everything together and makes SEO easier to manage
 
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