Main domain or sub-domain which is better

[kimkitch]

I have a sales page that I want to put up and I would like some advice as to which domain name would be better.
I currently have a domain name that is doing nothing at the moment and was thinking along the lines of having a domain name like this.
http://mydomainname.com/mysalespagename.com
Would i rank better if i bought a new domain name related to my sales page so it would just be http://mysalespagename.com.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Regards

Kim

[jaggyjay]

Hi Kim,

I think you should separate form from function. Yes, you can put an unused domain name to good use - but you have to ask yourself if that is the best way to go.

If you're looking to rank for a certain keyword, then having a keyword in the domain name *may* help. For example, www.KeywordSalesPage.com. By itself, this has no bearing on your rankings, except that when people link to your domain, many will use that convention (ie: check out "keyword sales page" for whatever...). As such, many incoming links will, as a result, pass on valuable "link reputation".

If you have a product or service, then you want to at least get a memorable domain. Doing this is kind of the equivalent of "branding" in the offline world.

At any rate, the domain name is just one piece of the big picture. Your sales page will actually do the selling; not your domain. So, focus on that.

Hope this helps.

- Jay

[rlscott2]

I agree with what jaggyjay has posted. I have a website with 6 sub-domains that do really well. I use keywords in the sub-domain urls. Having said that, I don't use sub-domains much anymore. I think in the long term that tightly focused stand-alone websites are the way to go.

[rlscott2]

kimkitch - The correct format for a sub-domain is http://subdomainname.maindomainname.com

When you view it in file manager it looks like http://maindomainname.com/subdomainname

[MasonRamm]

In my opinion and I'm sure most will agree,
a main domain name for any and each product
you have is better

However when it comes to ranking on the search engines,
I don't think it matters whether you use a main or sub domain
name for your product as ranking is based on your keywords
you use to promote your site.

[dotcompals]

go for stand alone websites. that is better in all aspects.

[theimdude]

Originally Posted by MasonRamm

In my opinion and I'm sure most will agree,
a main domain name for any and each product
you have is better

However when it comes to ranking on the search engines,
I don't think it matters whether you use a main or sub domain
name for your product as ranking is based on your keywords
you use to promote your site.

I second this. But now days it is hard to come by short meaningful domains. I manage to find a reasonable 4 letter brandable letter .com. Planning to then add the sub domains to that. You also need to keep those sub domains active if you do a lot of work on them

[3magicalsteps]

There are SEO tools (Web CEO is one) that suggests inserting main keywords in the domain name to help pull your site up high in search engines especially if you're starting out one. And there are sites that rank high using the exact keyword as their main domain name.

Try to google these keywords: virtual assistant, seo company, merchant services, health care

[kimkitch]

Many thanks to all who have posted replies to my question. I am overwhelmed by the people willing to help out on this forum.

Thanks again

Kim