Here's the deal. I got a link from a domain (sitename.com). Now, there's a subdomain of the site (de.sitename.com). If I get a link on de.sitename.com, will Google take it that I got one more link from a root domain? I have a hunch that it won't because a subdomain is not a root domain? Please let me know what you guys think about it.
Google treat each sub-domain as a separate domain - so if you get a link from sub-domain , it will be treated as if you get a link from a different domain.
I am a bit opposite in this regard. Google consider the sub domain as a part of the root domain. Both the root as well as the subdomain will get the same priority in this case.
I think it doesn't whether if it is a sub domain or main but the most important thing is these domains are performing well in the web by providing interesting stuff and engagements to the targeted users.
I find it a little illogical for Google to consider links from a sub domain as completely isolated/separate from a domain. It just opens the potential for abuse. Say you bought a domain, create a hundred sub domain on it and started linking. Google definitely draws a connection, how strong that connection is or what kind of connection it is, hard to tell, but most certainly getting a link from domain1.com and domain2.com would differ from getting a link at domain1.com and sub.domain1.com.
Here is a good question to shade some light on what is being asked here; Would you rather get two links from PR4 pages from the same site or two links from two separate sites on two pages with PR2? PR was invented to rank pages separately not domain names. So we can assume it is all about on what page the link is placed.
If the content of the domain and the sub-domain is relevant, google MAY treat the sub-domain as part of the domain. Else, both are taken as separated sites.
Here is one of the most recent ones: http://www.scribewise.com/blog/bid/377702/SEO-Insight-The-Purposes-and-Benefits-of-Using-Subdomains As observed the subdomain can indeed be treated as a different domain and its best used to separate entirely different parts of your site (or separate mini-sites). Don't think that Google are fools for not seeing the obvious loopholes here so most interlinking or link wheel schemes one can come up with are probable on their radars
I think the subdomain is seen as a different site when "indexing" and ranking it, but I also think that link value to the primary domain will not be much. The link value will pass only as much value as any other page of your site does. Try this: Create a subdomain and get it indexed by google. Now at google, type: site:subdomain.primaryDomain.com You will get pages of subdomain. Now type: siterimaryDomain.com You will get pages from both primaryDomain and subdomain which makes you think that those subdomain pages are seen as a part of primaryDomain itself.
I'm quite sure that subdomains are independent in Google's eye and do not provide any seo juice to the root domain. In you case the "de" tag should be used as subfolder, sitename.com/de. Or you can use only the root domain and use .po files for translations. In this case you can decide with a geo script the user's language and show the right language version to him/her right on the root domain.
It is illogical, Google considers them to be the same somewhat. My root domain got hit with a hack, Google found that, and has punished all of the subdomains. I cleaned up the problem and put in a reconsideration request, but I'm getting about 1/10th the traffic I was before and none of the domains appear in Google Search any longer even if I type site:sub.sitename.com
Google has recently stated that subdomains are now not treated as independent. But I differ, because I have tested it ( I don't take google's word at face value). If you have a bunch of links pointed at your root url and no links to your subdomain, there may not be any juice, BUT, what many forget is if your site has trust or authority, the subdomain in fact will also have the same authority and trust, and hence is valuable for seo. Check out what blackhats do and you will see they use subdomains alot...
According to what I have read.. Basically the sub domains are considered as a Basic folders of the Root domain.
Google take into account the IP address. This is because many people set up hundreds of domains to push PR of their main site. In most cases these people use the same server for all sites and all have the same IP address. So if your link comes from the same IP address as the site it is linked to, it has very little effect on your PR. A sub domain will have the same IP address so you won't get much PR boost because of this.
If you think about it, the answer is quite simple. EVERY subdomain is considered a SEPARATE domain. For example EVERYONE on tripod.com has his OWN subdomain. Mine is "mmerlinn.tripod.com" but yours could be "vitaliykolos.tripod.com" and so on. If Google did not treat them as separate domains all of your statistics would be the same as mine and vice versa. Since tripod.com has THOUSANDS of subdomains, ONE for each user, if Google considered them all the same domain, any statistics, links, and so on that Google collected would be WORTHLESS. Further, even "www.mmerlinn.com" is a subdomain of "mmerlinn.com" and Google treats them both as separate domains unless they are specifically linked together via the control panel on the server. I have mine linked so that no matter which is used, the same page is served up and all Google statistics, links, etc. are common to both. And, yes, I resurrected an OLD thread simply because NOBODY really answered the question. Now, if anyone is searching for an answer in the future, he can get a clear answer with examples.