Full URL or Relative Link?

[james2007]

For internal links is it better to use the full URL or relative path for links?

Example:
Should I use "http://www.mysite.com/apples" or "/apples" for internal links?

Does it even matter?

 

[temi]

I tend to use relative path for internal links.

 

[mattinertia]

Ive heard people say that the full url is better but i really dont think it makes the slightest bit of difference. One theory is that if people take a copy of your then if you have full urls the images will still load etc...

 

[surreypcsupport]

Relative is better for one reason and one reason only. Your html document will be shorter and more concise resulting in less total kilobytes.

 

[johnafrankllin]

One more advantage of using relative path is that you can test your complete website without going online. A full path will require an active internet connection to test your website.

Regards
John

 

[stanneon]

for me, using your main url is still the best practice. you could also use some of your sub-pages(those pages that you're promoting)...

 

[John peterr]

hi,
when you promoting the inner pages of your site use the complete URL to promote it.Keep in mind that you use some keywords that you target in inner page URL.

 

[websensible]

For webmasters, designers, developers, relative URLs are covenient. But for SEO purposes, you should stick to absolute URLs.

 

[surreypcsupport]

For webmasters, designers, developers, relative URLs are covenient. But for SEO purposes, you should stick to absolute URLs.

Why are absolute URLs better from and SEO point of view? I would have thought the shorter, relative URLs would be better for SEO purposes simply to compact the markup as much as possible.

 

[bobwilson37]

It's always good and better to use full URL's to see actual content of your page whether it may be main page or internal page..Thank You

 

[YooHee]

i think it's good to use the full url....

but i never tried to use relative that you're saying

 

[BlueBoden]

I started using relative paths, but later changed to root relative instead. My experience is that it doesn't make any difference.

Absolute and Root Relative Paths are however better when using mod_rewrite, as your links to CSS files and such otherwhise simply break.

 

[seouk]

relative path is better than absolute path because absolute path increase your page weight