Google’s recent modification of how link data is categorized in Webmaster Tools had observant SEO practitioners and clients asking interesting questions. If you’re wondering if it’s time to put the brakes on rolling up your subdomains as an SEO tactic because of this Google change, this post has important information.
To be clear, though Big “G” tossed around twenty-five cent words like “reclassification,” there is now confirmation that the update changed nothing algorithmically and only affects how Google displays existing link data in Webmaster tools.
Google is now displaying subdomain data in the “internal links” section instead of the previous “links to your site” section in Webmaster tools. This is a subtle change webmasters have been asking about for years.
There are currently no additional user-controls/options/functions that didn’t exist before. After the Reorganization announcement, nobody published observations noting changes in the SERPs. Still, there was a lot of reckless speculation as to whether an algorithmic shift had actually taken place in regards to subdomains. It did not.
Below are some additional resources if you’re interested in the greater discussion:
- New: Google Classifies Subdomains As Internal Links Within Webmaster Tools
- Google Redefines External, Internal Links in Webmaster Tools
- Google Classifies Subdomains As Part Of The Main Domain Now
- Google Changes Classification of External and Internal Links
Again, this only a cosmetic change to how subdomain links are counted in Google Webmaster Tools and there is no change to how links pass PageRank. This is not a solution/substitute/alternative method for what SEO pros try to achieve by consolidating Subdomains as part of classic SEO strategy.
photo credit: JD Hancock