Subdomains or Sub Directories

One thing i want to ask.

I have to make several sub sections on a website

Say for
heart care
skin care
weight loss

what should i choose

heart-care.domain.com or domain.com/heartcare
skin-care.domain.com or domain.com/skincare

I was told that yahoo prefers sub domains. Is there anything of this kind where sub domains are given preference ?? i can have sub domains, but that will need lot of other management hassles.

Thanks for tips in advance.

Dhaliwal

 

I personally think you should go for subdomain option, not only yahoo but google too, gives some sort of extra weightage if you have keywords in your subdomain.

the domain management hassle would be worth it..

 

thanks for advice.
the mangal pandey thing looks cool

 

There was a similar thread on my own forum (link) with an interesting response:

A subfolder will be treated as an extension of the same domain - so that means that the link popularity towards to main domain as a whole will count toward that subfolder (much like it does regular pages in the root of the site). If you use a subdomain, most engines treat it as a completely seperate entity - i.e. it is like launching a brand new domain as far as backlinks are concerned.

Hope that helps!

 

Lynn, sounds like you prefer the subdirectory approach - personally I agree. Ranking aside, I think most people have an easier time remembering directories than subdomains and it's much easier to manage.

 

for management reasons too, i personally think subdirectories are better. besides, it's also true that people have the tendency to remember it easier.