Please share best practices for subfolders and paths in a domain name

[PrintPlace.com]

I am seeking feedback on the best way to proceed with regards to a project I am working on. Say for example the domain was  domain.com and this site wanted to target specific markets such as realtors, attorneys, churches, and restaurants. Which URL structure would be better?

domain.com/industries/attorneys

or

domain.com/attorneys

Can I get your feedback along with any supporting articles.

This is for a large ecommerce site but these particular pages are solely going to be used for marketing purposes to bring those site visitors to the website to let them know we understand their needs.

Thanks for your help>

Malcom

[WilliamKammer]

It depends on a lot of factors, but in general, I don't like to put category subdirectories in unless they are necessary. For example, if a category page is useful to your audience, then it might be a good idea, but in this case it doesn't sound like one would be.

Also, consider how your audience will react to the URL: domain.com/attorneys looks a lot better to people, I think, than domain.com/industries/attorneys, which implies you're marketing to a bunch of different industries and may lead them to believe this is solely a marketing play and you don't actually understand their needs. A page right off the root seems more exclusive and like you care more about their industry.

These are just my opinions. From a strictly SEO perspective, you're fine either way, but I'd still go right off the root.