title: Folder vs. URL structure and routing for SEO
body: <p><strong>Does an MVC site suffer in SEO because the url structure is different from the folder structure?</strong></p>
  
  <p>Our web group currently does mostly classic asp, but is evaluating newer technologies for future development.  We have been playing with ASP.NET MVC, but our management seems hesitant to embrace it as a good solution for SEO.  One main point of contention is the idea that physical (folder) structure of website is vitally important to SEO.  Since MVC "routes" the URL requst and returns html that is based on the view file, but by default restrcts access to the view folders, the argument has been made that MVC is inferior to "simpler" website structures for SEO purposes.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Supposedly Google and other crawlers are so sofisticated that they can sniff out the folder structure</strong> and that this is important enough to forego moving to a newer technology.  My gut tells me that Google may be able to do that, but that what is returned by the server when a particular address is requested is the really important part.</p>
  
  <p>I have found lots of best practice about optimizing MVC for SEO, but have literally spent days <strong>trying to find evidence one way or another that folder structure trumps routing for SEO.</strong>  I am happy to create simple html sites if that makes a difference, but I prefer my actions be directed by knowledge and not a theory.  Any input would be appreciated, but something like a Google doc, or a whitepaper, or an authoritative source would be really appreciated.</p>