Using subfolders on your website is better for SEO than using subdomains. But when the content resides on multiple servers, the only way to tie it all to the same root domain is with subdomains. However, a reverse proxy can make the subdomain appear to be a subfolder.
What is a reverse proxy? It is a procedure that allows you to create a relative path on your main domain to access the subdomain’s content. The reverse proxy requests the content and serves it up as if it is located in a subfolder.
Implementing a reverse proxy
You can set up a reverse proxy even if you are not particularly technical, because it uses plug-ins that are usually pre-installed on both Microsoft IIS and Apache servers.
• Apache servers use the plug-in mod proxy, which you can use from both the config and .htaccess files
• Microsoft IIS7 and higher uses the plug-in Application Request Routing (ARR)
• Microsoft IIS6 uses third party plug-ins at http://managedfusion.com/products/url-rewriter/ or http://iirf.codeplex.com/—these will also work on IIS7 and higher, if you prefer them over ARR
You will need to set up redirect rules on your content server (where the subdomain content is stored) so that search engines can learn to recognize the correct URL. If you are setting this up for a subdomain that already exists and has been indexed, you might take a short-term SEO hit, but the long-term benefits will be worth it.
You will also need to make sure the links in the content still work; especially if they reference a different subdomain, as those links will likely break and need to be rewritten.
Slingshot SEO has a wonderful infographic on their SEOmoz post, What is a Reverse Proxy and How Can it Help My SEO?; it’s worth reading if you think you’d like to set up a reverse proxy.
Information in this post gathered in association with Atlanta injury attorneys
