Subdomain vs folder vs TLD

[medico]

We are launching in a number of international markets and I am trying to figure out if I should be launching them as folders, e.g.: /es (spanish), /br (brazil), /in (india) or whether they should be subdomains, e.g. es.mysite.com, br.mysite.com, etc.

In brazil we managed to secure the tld (.com.br) but not in other regions.

Whats the best strategy for us? I was thinking of doing folders as I understand that this strengthens the main domain, while subdomains are considered as separate sites.

For Brazil, should we also use a folder, or launch on the .com.br? I assume that using the .com.br means we will have to build up authority from scratch, and in addition, the authority we build up on the .com.br will not help to grow the .com

In addition, is there value in interlinking between verions  (the versions will have the same content but in different languages)?

Thanks!

[MikeFeuti]

Sorry this comment field doesn't like my iPad and removes all paragraph spacing. .......... Generally speaking separate ccTLD are better but more time and resource intensive since you'll be maintaining multiple sites. With country specific TLD you will find it easier to entice local linking from within the country. Overall you will have a better time convincing the search engines that you are running a targeted, local customer centric web experience. .......... But you don't have the country domains, right? Personally I like the idea of subdomains purely for the separate site treatment. Often the architects make the appended folders and that is probably what you'll end up doing. That method confuses people the least. .......... Regardless of what you pick, keep an eye on duplicate content. Also recognize that the appended folders will not add much at all to your main .com if the traffic is truly arriving from diverse countries. Beyond that work on your community building, quality link building, content, blah, blah, blah (add your favorite SEO buzzwords here). I don't think hosting server location matters too much, either as long as all the signals indicate that it is a country specific site.

[JamesNorquay]

Hi,

The thing about country level TLD's is they will rank well in that country, If you use a .com.br domain it may not rank well in Australian results or USA results only for the brand term, even if you geo target sub folders on the domain.

Can you acquire the .com domain? From my experience .com works the best on a global level.

My advice is to use the domains you have for specific markets on the CC TLD's yet for other areas which you are not able to acquire the domain use SUB FOLDERS on the .com domain and then GEO target these sub folders in Google webmaster tools.

Finally do not use sub domains it is not a wise strategy, you will have no internal linking value.

[onlinemediadirect]

a .com domain does make the most sense I feel good point.

[onlinemediadirect]

This is how I would go about this project. Try and purchase the .com domain and then setup the sub domains for each country based close to the specific countries domain shortening code. So for brazil .br . I would also install separate content management systems on each subdomain to enable different users to control the sites. I presume different people will be making changes on the sites.

[medico]

Thanks for the replies. Some clarification: we do own the .com domain. I was only able to get the ccTLD for brazil, not for any of the other markets we are targeting. For the other markets I have to use a subdomain or folder. I am still debating whether to set up the brazilian site on the ccTLD or to set it up on the .com (w/ subdomain or folder) and just redirect the .com.br to the .com.

[tomypro]

Hey medico,

I am in the same boat as you and I am actually running an empirical experiment right now where I am testing how a switch from directory to ccTLD will affect search traffic. I should be able to post something on my blog soon and will let you know.

The feedback I got from experts was the same as presented here with the difference that in my experience server location does have a significant impact on your local search rankings. I am including this aspect actually in my experiment.

What I am doing is this

1. month: run uk country specific site under .com/uk/... on a dutch server

2. month: run uk country specific site under .co.uk... on a dutch server

3. month: run uk country specific site under .co.uk... on a uk server

Good luck with your campaign. /Thomas

[medico]

Very interesting! Would love to hear your results. You are testing to see if the IP of the server is more important than marking the location in webmaster tools?

[shoggoth]

Actually I have a very similar issue, but already some data, that unfortunatly does not help me (as I just started with seomoz).

My issue is sub-domain, TLD or folder - and yes, brazil is one of my targets as well.

For European countries I had already set up subs and 1 tld where a sub redirects to...I know that i still got some work to do, so don't hit me for that - thats what I am here for

SeoMoz tells me this in the report:
Domain / Page Authority / Page MozRank / Page MozTrust / Domain Authority / Domain Moz Rank / Domain MozTrust

Root (.com) / 46 / 5.45 / 5.37 / 36 / 5.45 / 5.37

sub / 16  / 4.67 (all subs have this) / 5.09 (all) / 36 / 4.67 / 5.09

Genuine TLD (sub 301ed) / 31 (!) / 4.67 / 5.09 / 26 (!) / 4.67 / 5.09

This genuine TLD has about 8 times as much links pointing to it (its older and was "alive") as the subs have (so far), but it actually lacks domain authority while it outperforms the subs in page authority.

I'd be really one happy guy, if someone could explain to me the real pros and cons for the useage of subs, folders and genuine tlds per country for SEO.

[tomypro]

Shoggoth,

So how is the TTLD site working for you in the search results compared to the subdomain pages?

To my knowledge sub domains are the worst approach as you have to build up dedicated domain authority for the subdomains (as for TTLDs) without the benefit of improved local search results based on the local TTLD.

/Thomas

[tomypro]

Yes, we already seen this giving an additional boost. Your physical server location will definitely help you getting local search rankings for that country. Our numbers will hopefully give an insight into how significant that boost is.

[shoggoth]

I am actually stil waiting for the final lists to ensure a comparable search result "study".

Regarding subdomains & worst approach:

thats whats confusing me (maybe due to my newbie status with seomoz): The domain authority for the TLD is lower than the ones for the subdomains. I actually figured this to be a hint, that subdomains do inherit this from the root domain.

But I hope to be able to tell you more in 2-3 weeks, when I have those lists ready and can compare the search workds/phrases over all countries.