Hi all
Our site had a significant drop in traffic a few weeks ago. We were averaging around 2-3 across most capital cities in Australia but now we are all over the place - as low as 9 in some places.
The only change we had made recently to our website is that we have added a couple of subdomains. An online store and a resource center. As both are for current customers I made them not crawlable. I was under the impression that google sees subdomains as separate domains and that each is a separate WordPress install that this could not be the cause?
Has anyone else been seeing a lot of volatility lately?
Google ranks subdomains more or less the same as subdirectories (also referred to as subfolders). ... It's important to consider the practical impact on your SEO before choosing to place content on a subdomain or a subdirectory.
FEB was full of an algorithm update (unconfirmed spikes)
So you're not alone in this. even our site is impacted. :(
Yes, we had also face a huge fluctuation in the month of February!!
Essentially, great content that's earning great backlinks will almost always contribute to better SEO results when hosted on a subdirectory rather than a subdomain.
Google ranks subdomains more or less the same as subdirectories (also referred to as subfolders). But there's a key difference, in that subdomains are considered standalone sites and distinct from the main domain.