Subfolders vs. Subdomains : Which is Right for Me?
An SEO provider stated that about a year ago, their client separated its blog from the main domain. They changed it from domain dot com slash blog to blog dot domain dot com. Their organic traffic dropped, as did the site's conversions. They wanted to know if the change was what caused the overall drop of the blog and other static pages on the site.
One person aid to keep a sub-folder instead of a subdomain. Google sees subdomains as a different site. The marketer should put a 301 on everything. Another person agreed and said that one of their clients has a subdomain and a root domain that is for vanity only. Each business is on its own subdomain. The subdomains aren't fully separate from the root. They notice similar traffic changes around Google core algorithm updates. In their experience, subdomain is not the end-all.
Another person added that it will affect site performance. The original poster needs to set up 301 redirects from old to new pages. This person added that they are not a fan of using a subdomain for a blog. They added that sub-folders give a bit of an edge, but either method can work. Others agreed that sub-folders are better for the purposes of SEO.
One person said that without proper redirects, the SEO would suffer. It is better to keep a blog as a sub-folder instead of a subdomain. However, this difference is not the only thing that will affect traffic. Someone else added that a subdomain is part of the website, but search engines see it as a separate entity. The sub-folder puts all the keywords into a single domain. A subdomain spreads them across all the domains. If the original poster wants better root domain authority, they should be using a sub-folder setup.
Most people were in complete agreement that the original poster should use a sub-folder rather than a subdomain. They did differ in their opinions of whether or not other factors affect organic searches and conversions, and if so, which ones of them play the biggest role after ordering. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/jqqmbk/whichoneisbestforblogseosubdomainor/.