Using Folders for SEO

Hey all,

So I'm trying to work on my on site SEO and I've been reading about using folders and subdomains. I'm working in a broad niche with tons of different low competition keywords that are all highly trafficked. I've decided to make one large site that is broken into about twenty different categories, each representing a keyword i'm targeting. I'd love to rank my homepage for each of these keywords, but I suspect that I will lack the necessary keyword density and on site seo if I have to spread it that thin. So what I'm thinking is using folders for each category, or at least a handful of those categories that have a ton of content. So I have a couple of questions.

1. When making a new folder, do I have to have a separate wordpress install?
2. Should I just link to my subfolders from my homepage?
3. Will link juice from my homepage carry over and vice versa?
4. Is this the best way to go about targeting many different keywords?
5. If not, what's the best way?

Thanks everyone! I'll be sure to give thanks to anyone who helps!

Anyone?

I'm not too much of an SEO expert, and my online marketing experience is mostly book knowledge since I've never had enough time or money to really start anything, but I can help answer this for you.

1. When making a new folder, do I have to have a separate wordpress install?

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No. You do not need a separate wordpress install. If this is going to be mini-sites than all you need is to turn your wordpress install into a wpmu system. Then you can make multiple wordpress "sites" through one main installation.

2. Should I just link to my subfolders from my homepage?

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You can, but also link these sub-sites back to the main homepage. That way you have a loop of backlinks pointing back to your main site.

3. Will link juice from my homepage carry over and vice versa?

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No clue on this one. I'm still at a loss to what "link juice" is.

4. Is this the best way to go about targeting many different keywords?
5. If not, what's the best way?

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The basic jist from what I've seen is that you have your main site, mini-sites pointing back to it, and optimize these for the keywords. This should ultimately optimize your main site as well as the mini-sites.

I'm still new to this stuff, and I really need to get my buttox in gear, but I hope I helped somewhat.

Thanks for your reply. I hadn't heard of the multi user Wordpress environment, so that should help a ton. As for link juice, I simply think it refers to the momentum in serp movement that backlinks as a whole provide. Link juice is merely a conceptual structure to help frame the enigmatic contribution that backlinks provide to serp rankings. At least this is how I understand it!

First of all, I'd suggest using pages if you actually want a custom page for the category. You mentioned your categories are your keywords...so all you'll need to do is use the permalinks in WP to structure your URLs ie. /%category%/%postname%/ Then any page you create for a specific secondary keyword will fall under parent cat correctly. There is no need to create separate WP installs or use WPMU...unless I misread your post.