How can I add a Linux-hosted Wordpress blog at /bl

Question

I have a website which is built on ASP.NET MVC and hosted on Windows server (IIS 7.0). Now I wanted to add a blog specifically wordpress blog. I wanted to add this blog at this particular address http://thedomain.com/blog (not like subdomain http://blog.thedomain.com)

I have heard from someone it is good for search engines to host under http://thedomain.com/blog rather than http://blog.thedomain.com

1) Is this right?

I have another provider (linux based) where usually I host my Wordpress blogs and I can add unlimited subdomains. I would like to install the above said blog here with this provider rather than my windows based server (where my MVC app resides).

2) how can I host my Wordpress blog at Linux box but still be able to access it using http://thedomain.com/blog ?

Please help me how to do this or just throw some ideas.

I know I can install Wordpress on Windows server as well but due to the cost concerns I wanted to host this on Linux box.

Answer 1

For the First question:

99.9% of the time, if a subfolder will work, it's the best choice for all parties. Subfolders have all the flexibility of subdomains (the content CAN, if necessary, be hosted on a unique server or completley unique IP address through post-firewall load balancing) and none of the drawbacks. Subfolder content will contribute directly to how search engines (and users for that matter) view the domain as a whole. The link in to subfolders are considered relevant to the domain as a whole, and while this rule applies for many subdomains, the exceptions make it worth avoiding them.

For the second one:

There is no elegant way to do this. So go for WordPress on same Windows Server

Answer 2

What's good for search engines is to have a good blog with relevant, updated content that people actually link to. The domain name stuff is a red herring pushed by folks who can't actually create relevant, updated content so resort to gaming systems to make sure people read their irrelevant stale site.

Damn, that was a rant. Anyhow, if you must host at /blog, there really isn't any reason why you can't just add a new Application to your site and host the blog there. It might require a bit of config-monkeying but it will work at the end of the day.