Domain vs Subdomain for Multi-Location Practice

[Red_Spot_Interactive]

I have a client who has 2 locations (Orlando & Tampa) and would like to keep the current domain for both locations (DA 29).  We want to target additional cities within each service area (Orlando & Tampa). Each service area would target 2 cities on the main pages and 4-5 cities with "SEO" pages which contains unique content specific to the given city.

Would I be better off creating sub domains (www.orlando.domain.com & www.tampa.domain.com), creating subfolders (www.domain.com/orlando, etc) or keeping the domain as is and create SEO pages specific to each city?  We want to spread the domain authority to both locations.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Jason,

As for as the bots are concerned, there is no difference between subdomains or subfolders in terms of SEO. I've always gone with subfolders, myself, as I find them easier to manage than a bunch of different subdomains, but you are free to use whichever format with which you are most comfortable.

Just make sure you are creating really good, unique content for these city landing pages to avoid looking manipulative. Remember, true Local rankings hinge on physical location - not service area - so these city landing pages will need o be thought of as more organic than local, and all traditional SEO tactics apply.