Geo-targeting a sub-folder that's had url's rewritten from a sub-domain

[Leighm]

I have a client that's setting up a section of his site in a different language, and we're planning to geo-target those pages to that country. I have suggested a sub-folder solution as it's the most cost effective solution, and it will allow domain authority to flow into those pages.

His developer is indicating that they can only set this up as a sub-domain, for technical reasons, but they're suggesting they can rewrite the url's to appear as sub folder pages.

I'm wondering how this will work in terms of geo-targeting in Google Webmaster Tools. Do I geo-target the sub domain or the sub folder i.e. does Google only see urls or does it physically see those pages on the sub-domain?

It seems like it might be a messy solution. Would it be a better idea just to forget about the rewrites and live with the site being a sub domain?

Thanks,

[RyanKent]

I firmly believe software and developers should enable site owners the freedom to make changes as they see fit. When a developer or software are not able to readily implement SEO best practices, it's time to look for alternatives.

Is the software being used a particular CMS or e-commerce solution which is in an earlier stage of development? How experienced is the developer?

If the URLs were rewritten (server-side) to provide the target pages with a normal header response code the process should work. My biggest concern is ensuring the sub-domain URLs are not crawled otherwise there would be a duplicate content issue.

[Leighm]

Thanks Ryan.

I've no direct contact with the developer, so I can't answer those questions. I'm afraid I just have to work with what my client is telling me.

By what you're saying, and if done correctly, the pages would look to google as if they were in a folder on that domain e.g. website.com/language-site, and we would geo-target that folder, and not the sub domain?

Then we'd need to find a way to stop the search engines crawling the sub-domain. Would this be done in the robots.txt file?

Do you think it we'd be just better off using the sub-domain and forgetting about the rewrites. The main reason I'm advising him to go for a folder structure is because of the uncertainty of domain authority flowing to a sub-domain.

[RyanKent]

My first suggestion is to push further on the "developer" issue. As an SEO, it is important to have the ability to implement recommended changes as required. If the changes are not implemented for whatever reason, results are affected.

We all work very hard to achieve the best results for our clients. Two common reasons a client might offer for not implementing a change are "my software wont support the change" and "my developer wont support the change". This topic will likely arise again on other matters. Additionally, I recommend a direct line of communication between an SEO and developer when possible. Each party can gain a higher understanding and appreciation for the other, miscommunications can be minimized and it simply creates a better working environment.

With the above noted, your decision to move the subdomain into the main site is the commonly accepted best practice. You are consolidating your DA. While Google has made some recent changes with respect to subdomains, it is still the best practice to make the change you have recommended to your client.

If the URLs are properly rewritten at the server level, no one will even know the actual path of the files. Anyone who visits the URL will simply see the page with a 200 response (all ok) header code returned. You can and should test this change after it is implemented.

Robots.txt can be used to block access to the sub-domain if you wish.

[Leighm]

Ok. Thanks for the advise, Ryan.