For SEO purposes, is best to have https://domain.com/country/presentazioni (which means presentations in Italian) OR https://domain.com/presentazion?

Great question, To get traffic from SEO it must be done diligently. And the best way to do that is from a well structured article. The key things to remember that will help your pages rank well: Keyword Headings Put your most important keywords here. They must be coherent, simple yet descriptive. If your blog allows you to insert H1 headings into your article, do so. Don't cram too much info into keywords though, Search engines are smart and recognize when someone is spamming. Maybe do a bit of research using 'Google Keyword Tool' In Google Adwords and see if your keywords are popular search terms. Links and Back links Include links to relevant info when you can, the more credible sources your website links to, the better appeal it has to search engines. Also include back links. Back links are links to a location somewhere that also features a link going directly back to your site, these also give your article good standing. Duplicate Content Try not to say anything twice, and if you do use different terminology. But the main focus here is to always write fresh content. If the content of your article has been written word for word somewhere else first how can yours possibly be more credible? Also write often, the more frequent you post articles, the more frequently your site will be "crawled" by bots. If you do this well your listing can only rise. Be Unique and have the Best Info This entails just doing what you do and doing it well. It might be difficult to compete with other websites if the topic your discussing is already covered in great detail. The best position to be in is one of having information that everyone wants but cannot find anywhere else. A good tip for this is finding a specific niche that suits you well to draw in traffic to your general topic. Hope this helps you get started. For an in depth look at SEO rankings, take a look at the 'Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors' http://searchengineland.com/seotable

I have been working in SEO for over 10 years and have built search agencies from the ground up. I've also worked with some big brands on International SEO like Active.com, as well as many US based chains like Extended Stay Hotels. I suggest sub-directories as they are MUCH easier to manage and promote via SEO. You can't have specific local IPs with sub-directories, but you can with sub-domains. But that's not hyper critical, there are WAY more important factors. Plus, you can geo-target in Google Webmaster Tools. Your current structure for sub-directories is perfect: http://drivingtests101.com/Canada/Ontario With subdomains, each will be treated like a brand new site. So you would have to work very hard to get each to gain good authority SEO-wise. Plus managing and hosting lots of subdomains is a ton of work! In order to not get penalized you need to: Implement the the "lang" and "hreflang" tags in the HTML of each country directory and all pages within. Have unique Title tags and descriptions written in each language. Have unique content for each country and state page. Written in each respective language. Yes, its a TON of work but hey, you are trying to take over the world! If you are serious about international search traffic then you will do these things and the costs should be balanced out with the extra traffic you'll get. If you can make the root domain super authoritative then it will boost ALL of the internal pages. This is also key to ranking well for international search. I'm open to a follow up call to elaborate on any of my responses or to answer other questions.

Obviously, no 2 situations are alike; and multiple factors affect any outcome. Practically, the number of answers is infinite. But one factor I've looked at intensively, full time for years is the role played by the brand name and/or the site's domain(s). Think of doing business -- online or off -- as moving along a path. Some paths are rocky or go through quicksand. Others can be made straight and smooth. Obstacles can be cleared, or the surface may be lubricated. For most niches, you'll see brand names / domains that add friction -- friction that is compensated for by extra marketing inputs ... effort or money. Suppose your niche were nicotine patches. Well, ideally you might own NicotinePatch(es).com to simplify brand recognition, add trust, increase click-through rates, and so forth. Traffic can be built up without an exact-match domain. No doubt about that. Still, not all domains / names perform equally well online or in the minds' of an audience. Answers aren't always so clear cut. However, since the internet is built on domain names, domains and names are worth evaluating very deliberately.

Two key concerns are 1. Customer confusion with the 2 offerings: Imagine being in an art gallery that sells photography training and fine art or a book store that tries to sell you fine art. Even if it's the same group of people, they may be in very different mind-sets and hence may not associate both together. 2. SEO challenges with mixed messages you're sending. Which keywords would you optimize for which part of the site? Advantage would be if the customer base is the same group of people, hence offering cross-sell opportunities. For instance, if your MAIN source of leads for the training site is the art site, then this would be more important. In general, I would suggest one site for one customer group. If there is likely to be a very high overlap, then same site, with multiple sub-sites might work. In matter of fact, it'll probably be EASIER to do two sites for this than one site. Your designer will thank you :) Then tastefully add cross-links in the places where someone is likely to use them. For instance the art gallery could have a post 'How I make art' and links to your other business there. And the photog training site would have your art pics with subtle on-image links to your art biz. While I'm not a branding expert, I do find that my engineering lead approach to challenges in Marketing/Sales usually works, and provides clarity and direction.

The best way to work around something like this is to map out the long-term strategy in phases. Build out a brief project map that outlines what they will receive within the 1-3 month period, the 4-7 month and the 8-12 month period. Set micro objectives for each period and this will give the client a bit more confidence in the short-term plans as well as the long. The key thing to remember here is that the client will often be worried about being tied into a contract that doesn't deliver results. As a result, you need to show why you need the time that you do. One thing that I often throw in is an extra incentive for longer contract lengths - for example, an extra PR/content campaign or some paid advertising extras. Try to assure them of some shorter term results that you can obtain as 'quick wins' and build their confidence this way - the major targets will always be longer term but if you can demonstrate that there will be progress between then they will be a lot more receptive.