Hello guys I knwo this questions is asked so many times again but want fresh views.. what do you guys think should i install foum in www.mysite.com/forum ro it should be www.forum.mysite.com which is better for seo? I dont have any plans to put anything in root for now am just redirecting it to subfolder or subdomain... but I have kept root for future use to put some content in there... Please advise if subdomain is better for seo or subfolder?
I think you are better off using a subfolder rather than a subdomain. The SEs consider a subdomain as a separate domain and you will have to start everything afresh including link building for the subdomain. Advantages of a sub folder as I understand are: link popularity and page rank flow from the main domain to the sub folder.
Folder works better in my experience, get indexed faster, has the main domains credibility and avoids any sandbox issues.. folder all the way.
I'm usually a supporter of folder over subdomain for SEO purposes, but in the case of a forum, I'd go subdomain. If you end up with a popular forum you might want it on a separate server that is optimized for a forum environment, optimized for multiple queries and what not. Keeping the site on a subdomain will allow you to move that forum to any other server and just repoint your DNS. The worst thing would be having a successful forum that is slow or gets bogged down by unrelated events happen else where on the domain. Granted you can do the same separation with a folder system, but it's way harder to implement. Sometimes optimizing for search engines isn't the optimal solution.
Well he was asking for seo reasons....... I will answer with , Subdomains are like starting a new domain, but can be full of keywords Yet so can folders.. I use both depending on what I am doing
It does depend on what you plan to do with it. I prefer folders over subdomains still, but thats just cause i'm old school like that
First answer: - how big do you expect the forum to get - is it more important than the rest of the site - how much work are you prepared to do to SEO your forums - brandability Then you will be able to make the right choice. If SEO is your one and only concern, I'd go with folder. It's faster to get going and PR should pass easier* *Your results may vary.