Why does SEOmoz use /blog/content-title vs /category/content-title? Any difference?

[JasonJackson]

Assume a brand new blog being designed and all other things equal.

What are the pros & cons between using the url structure /blog/content-title vs. /category/content-title?

Note:
Both scenarios would be using categorical archiving.

[conquerapathy-64412]

In my experience with content management solutions, it's easier (and thus more common) to keep all blog posts under the blog directory, then use categories in the URL and/or the Title tag (if necessary at all).

That said, most of the time I find categories to be more useful for users, and less helpful for engines.

So, to me the pros of using /category/content-title would only apply if the categories are very straightforward and short (which depends on your industry).

For example, if you run a outdoor hobbies blog, and you have clear, distinct categories like backpacking, camping, hiking, fishing, and so on, then using the category URL structure would be great.

However, if your blog is more specific (say backpacking only), your categories will start to become more convoluted and long, taking up a large part of the URL.

In addition, this can cause unnecessary redundancy in your URLs, which can appear like keyword stuffing.

Overall, I prefer to stick with /blog/content-title, and possibly include the category in the title tag if it's really important.