Absolute vs. Relative Linking URL's Which Is Better?

There are two ways to establish a URL linking structure within a website. Absolute or relative paths.

An absolute path defines a location by including the entire url path. An example is http://www.needagoodseo.com/articles/seo-services.htm or adding an anchor text to the absolute path would be Need a Good SEO. The code would look like this <a href="http://www.needagoodseo.com/articles/seo-services.htm">Need a Good SEO></a>

With a relative path, you skip the protocol and server/domain name and go directly to the page name. An example is a href="/articles/seo-services.htm or adding an anchor text would be Need a Good SEO. The code would look like this <a class= href="/articles/seo-services.htm">Need a Good SEO.</a>

So which is better? Ask 10 different webmaster you will probably get 5 saying absolute is and 5 saying relative. I always recommend absolute paths and here’s why: GoogleGuy, an employee of Google said, and I quote, "I recommend absolute links instead of relative links, because there's less chance for a spider (not just Google, but any spider) to get confused." Even though it shouldn’t make a difference, I recommend absolute URL's.