When MetaLocator generates the SEO-optimized landing pages, we create a sitemap, a hierarchical directory and a series of landing pages for each location. These pages are automatically generated and available at <yourchosenhostname>.locationlandingpages.com.
A static, crawl-able link to this URL is placed beneath your Interface and is included automatically in the code we provide for that Interface.
Some customers prefer a different URL for their location pages. Most commonly, customers request to use their own domain name, such as locations.yourwebsite.com. This can be accomplished simply by using a DNS CNAME. CNAMEs can be configured by your hosting company, and are often available as an option in your hosting control panel. In this example, you would request from your hosting company to create a CNAME from locations.yourwebsite.com to <yourchosenhostname>.locationlandingpages.com. This would present the content at <yourchosenhostname>.locationlandingpages.com under locations.yourwebsite.com while the pages would still be hosted with MetaLocator.
The process for creating a subdomain CNAME differs by hosting company. Here are instructions for various popular hosts:
Subdomains versus Subdirectories
Many users believe that a subdomain (as in locations.yourwebsite.com) is less effective than a subdirectory (as in yourwebsite.com/locations) in SEO. According to Google, there is no practical difference between these two scenarios.
Here's a video of Google's Matt Cutts explaining this idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MswMYk05tk
Another from Google in August 2016
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-treat-subdomains-vs-subdirectories-22485.html
Despite those positions, some customers still prefer a sub-directory model.
Reverse Proxy Documentation
Hosting our SEO pages in a subdirectory on your Website is possible by using a technique called reverse proxy. This Web server configuration change presents <yourchosenhostname>.locationlandingpages.com when a user requests yourwebsite.com/locations. Configuration of a reverse proxy can be done with the assistance of your Webmaster, and is a task performed on your Web site. When forwarding requests to MetaLocator, we recommend you use the full secure URL, such as https://<yourchosenhostname>.locationlandingpages.com, where <yourchosenhostname> is the hostname chosen when obtaining the Interface installation code.
3rd party documentation resources