Subdomain v. subdirectory v. other domain for blogs
-
I have a good amount of content on our main domain ( http://m00.biz/w4Ljfr ) let's say for discussion it's doctors.com and as you can see, much of it is in subdirectories. Traditionally this was the approach. Now I have some other content on subdomains but it's primarily directories and databases.
Now I see that Google is giving subdomains their own SER as if they are a separate site and competitors are locking in the top few results merely by having their content on subdomains. Now I have an opportunity of doing two things:
1. Current content: moving all the content of the past few years on their own subdomain (forum, blog), and I'll be moving forum software anyways. Not sure about our own guide, which has been up there for a while.
2. New content: putting up some new blogs/magazines such as "Doctor's Handbook." Let's say that is a common phrase. I can choose between the following:
I've got a bit of a quandary here, not sure of the best course of action and am curious to hear from many of you who have handled situations like this before.
-
I am not going to tell you what I "would do"... I am going to tell you what I "have done".
Within the past year I have redirected all subdomains into folders in the root directory of the main site. Most thin content was thrown overboard, some thin content is being improved, the rest of the thin content is temporary and has been noindex, followed.
-
Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys. EGOL - the branding aspect is a good point for the domain v. other domain issue. But I'm still troubled by the subdomain v. subdirectory setup.
Dan - The user experience of subdomain v. subdirectory is not relevant with a good dropdown menu. I don't know that they will type in "guide" to get there or "journal" either, except after becoming very familiar with the site. They'd know the subdomain anyways. The problem is I've moved to mixture of both. Google allegedly penalized us for having 'thin" content in a lawye r directory that was "thin" and supposedly more acceptable on the subdomain, which is a whole other site - at least to Google. To me, this is a paradox. The form over substance treatment is ridiculous and leads to ridiculous results (like one dominant site appearing 3-5 times at the top of page 1 as if each subdomain is a separate site.) Now I'm being told that Google is reacting to this but I'm still not sure what this means. Will I be creating problems by serving up my content on subdomains (which also saves three characters of www and creates shorter urls)?
Bottom line - if you guys were resetting up the site and given Panda's killing "thinner" content such as storefronts and directories:
(a) would you stick with all subdirectories (or all subdomains) or use a combo of the two?
(b) If you'd use only one, which one would you use? I've got the site URL up there but, in short, the primary content is on the subdirectories.
(c) If you continue the subdirectory setup, how do I avoid getting killed by Panda solely because some content isn't as "thick" as others inherently, e.g. a storefront with products? Google doesn't seem to care much about noindex tags on my site for "thin" content.
-
Hi
I'd also look at this from the user's point of view. In my personal experience the first option (a subfolder) is the least confusing.
-Dan
-
If your main site is already dominating the SERPs for every keyword that your blog will cover it might make sense to put this content on a subdomain or a secondary site..
However, if your main site is not killing the SERPs and the content that you will be publishing is worthy of links, tweets, likes, and other forms of sharing then I would place it in a folder on the primary domain. You want to focus this attention on the primary domain because this attention is what drives rankings.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Subdomain cannibalization
Hi, I am doing the SEO for a webshop, which has a lot of linking and related websites on the same root domain. So the structure is for example: Root domain: example.com
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Mat_C
Shop: shop.example.com
Linking websites to shop: courses.example.com, software.example.com,... Do I have to check which keywords these linking websites are already ranking for and choose other keywords for my category and product pages on the webshop? The problem with this could be that the main keywords for the category pages on the webshop are mainly the same as for the other subdomains. The intention is that some people immediately come to the webshop instead of going first to the linking websites and then to the webshop. Thanks.0 -
Should I run my Shopify store on a subdomain or buy a new domain for it?
I'm planning to set up a subdomain for my Shopify store but I'm not sure if this is the right approach. Should I purchase a separate domain for it? I'm running Wordpress on my website and want to keep it that way. I want to use Shopify for the ecommerce side. I want to link the store from the top nav and of course I'll use CTA's in a variety of ways to point to merchandise and other things on the store side. Thanks for any help you can offer.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ims20160 -
Moving blog to a subdomain, how can I help it rank?
Hi all, We recently moved our blog to a sub-domain where it is hosted on Wordpress. It was very recent and we're actively working on the SEO, but any pointers on getting the subdomain to rank higher than the old blog posts would be terrific. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DigitalMoz0 -
Subdomain SEO question (php script on domain + wordpress on subdomain)
Hi Moz fellows, I am doing my first website which is entirely .php scripted. But I would like to have a wordpress blog to create content and blog posts, while the .php side of the website is more for sales pages and user generated listings.The only way to do this is to install wordpress on a subdomain "blog.website.com" QUESTION: If all my keywords targeted content is on the subdomain's Wordpress blog, but all my guest blogging efforts link to my main website, which one will rank? The subdomain or the domain? I need the domain to rank well as it is a Fiverr-like script, so if tons of people land on my "blog.website.com" subdomain, they will not convert into users... Let me know if you have experience with such a scenario, and thank you all in advance for your help! -Marc
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | marcandre0 -
URL or Domain length
Hi All, I am wondering if google still does give importance to the length of the domain or url. If yes then how much is the acceptable length of a domain and URL. Many Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | HiteshBharucha0 -
Domain with a Virus History
Hi, I have a domain that I am working on that has a past we did not know about. Doing a bit of research it appears that back in 2010 the domain had a link to a virus or had a virus on the domain – because of this certain anti virus sites are blocking the domain. Interestingly Google, Norton, Firefox say the domain is fine.... IE, Kaspersky and a few still block it. I am going through and manually searching and trying to get them to agree the site is safe BUT I am having a problem with mywot.com. They refuse to take down the “reviews” staying its a virus site. Anything I can do? Any suggestions? Any legal action we can take? Is there anything else I can do or should be doing to check else where? Thanks in advance Fresh Fire One
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JohnW-UK0 -
Duplicate Content On A Subdomain
Hi, We have a client who is currently close to completing a site specifically aimed at the UK market (they're doing this in-house so we've had no say in how it will work). The site will almost be a duplicate (in terms of content, targeted keywords etc.) of a section of the main site (that sits on the root domain) - the main site is targeted toward the US. The only difference will be certain spellings and currency type. If this new UK site were to sit on a sub domain of the main site, which is a .com, will this cause duplicate content issues? I know that there wouldn't be an issue if the new site were to be on a separate .co.uk domain (according to Matt Cutts), but it looks like the client wants it to be on a sub domain. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | jasarrow0 -
Changing domain extension to detoxify a domain
Hi there, A linkbuilding company that has been building links for us has not gained any sustained results. They have advised that our domain may be toxic, and that we should consider permanent redirecting from .co.uk to another domain extension in order to remedy this. Is this a recommendation worth considering?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Maximise0