How do search engines handle sub-domains?

Having some rather large websites, subsequently I have many sub-domains in place as well.

Now I am wondering how search engines handle those, as I've never seen an actual 'sub-domain name' showing up in SERP.

a) Do search engines basically only deal with the page name, the sub-domain is linked to?
Or b) do they take into account the actual sub-domain wording as well, when ranking the page?

Many thanks for your answers.

 

Let me help you here a little.

First of all, I can assure you that subdomains do appear in Google searches, seems like you just never stumbled on one. So, having that in mind - Domains and Subdomains are practically considered 2 different things. As the subdomain is a completely separate section of your website, it will often present different information, target different keywords, get different backlinks etc. Even keywords in the subdomain URL will be considered.

There were a lot of back and forth opinions in the last few years on the subject "Subdomains vs Subfolders are better for SEO" and there are mixed feelings about both. Subfolders seem to be preferred a little better by experts, however as everyone says - if you setup your pages, paths and meta properly - both should work just fine.

 

Thanks for your reply Rado_ch.

So basically it will make a difference whether the direct link to a page or the subdomain to that page is used within a webpage?

Or is it best or simply wiser to always use the subdomain in links, for the search engine to pick up on the keywords within that subdomain and a l s o for them to use the keywords for the page it's linked to? (Kind of like getting a 2 for 1 deal.)
Unless it wouldn't work that way at all, if the search engines only use the keywords of the subdomain then(?)

Once again, thanks for your replies.

 

They are different pages still and both keywords and links should be set up like it is a standalone page. You can always do interlinking and let some link juice flow through more relevant pages instead of directing links only to the main one. So, in that regard, your first scenario would work better - use your subdomain in the links that are most relevant to its page and the keywords would be picked within thaat subdomain

 

There is no real difference if you try to rank a.com or b.a.com... It depends on the quality of the website (the content, the On-Page SEO and the quality of the backlinks!)