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Subdomains and indexing

by Crows
16 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi all,

Ive been on this forum for a few months now and trying to absorb all the useful information. I think at times it's better not to read so much as my direction seems to change like the wind.
Anyway my question:
Are subdomains acceptable? I'm trying to setup products or services on my host which are unrelated to each other, I'm not quite ready to have separate domains for each product.Should I be looking at something else?
I have done research on this and it appears that Search engines should have no problems indexing subdomains.

Thanks
Crows
#indexing #subdomains
  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by Crows View Post

    I have done research on this and it appears that Search engines should have no problems indexing subdomains.
    This is a religious issue. I am on the side of subdomains/subdirectories being just fine. I don't see any problem with myproduct.mydomain.com, and I don't see any problem with mydomain.com/myproduct. (Both of these are sometimes called subdomains. Only the first one is really a subdomain. The other is a subdirectory.)

    Many people violently disagree with me, and think you should get a new domain for everything. They may be right.
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  • Profile picture of the author pmlharry
    Yes, it is acceptable, and the search engines definitely have no problems indexing the subdomains.

    BUT...

    This may not be the question you really need to ask.

    The reason I say this is because you said these subdomains are for unrelated products and services.

    I know you are not quite ready for separate domains. But if you are serious about this as a business, then if I were you these will be my 2 current options:

    1) Concentrate on ONE service or product on ONE domain and promote it like crazy. Further down the road when some cash flow starts coming in, then start another domain with the next product/service offering.

    2) Alternatively, bite the bullet, get some budget from somewhere else (e.g. search more thoroughly and find a cheaper but still decent graphics designer) and use the money saved to buy all the other domains you need now.

    The point is that if this is supposed to be a long-term business, focusing on one product/service per domain will make it easier on a lot of fronts in the future, as compared to lumping everything together first, and then try to split them up later.

    Hope I'm making sense!
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    • Profile picture of the author patje72
      I use some subdomains and I have no problem to get them indexed.
      Be carefull with linking between the domains. I think google doesn't like that.
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      • Profile picture of the author HomeBizNizz
        Originally Posted by patje72 View Post

        Be carefull with linking between the domains.
        I think google doesn't like that.
        What if you have...?
        blog.domain.com
        forum.domain.com

        With a link to each from eachother...?
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      • Profile picture of the author shooting_star
        Originally Posted by patje72 View Post

        I use some subdomains and I have no problem to get them indexed.
        Be carefull with linking between the domains. I think google doesn't like that.
        Its best to have all separate domains unless your subdomains are close to what your main domain is. And true Google does not like domains linking to each other from the same server. There is a way around that and that is to purchase seperate IP's for each domain "seperate domain" not subdomains that way Google will see the domains as different and you can link your domains together greating a "web" which helps a lot.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Koop
    I'm with pmlharry on this one.

    If separate domains are out of the question for now then use subdomains. I'd sure rather see you taking action and out there promoting than to think you had to wait on the sidelines.

    Long term though, separate domains (preferably .com, .org, .net) are ideal.
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  • Profile picture of the author dzulnaz
    Hello,

    Yes they accepted but beware of "Add On Domain Duplicate Content"

    Do you know when you add the domain you buy and add it to your hosting that support add-on domain the domain can cause duplicate content penalty by google?
    Example if you have add-on domain like this :
    Try to surf like this for your url :
    If the add-on domain did not setup properly. You will get the same page as your www.add-on-website.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Grossman
    "www" is just an arbitrary subdomain

    Realize that and you know all you need to know
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  • Profile picture of the author Crows
    Thanks for your replies.....will stick with subdomain per product for now.

    Crows
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  • Profile picture of the author maestro2010
    There is no problem if you have irrelevant products. You do not need to have separate domain to sell different products.
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  • Profile picture of the author Crows
    Sorry guys one more question.....what about several domain names but using only one host provider? would this be a problem as all the domains will have the same IP address.

    Thanks
    Crows
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan Grossman
      Originally Posted by Crows View Post

      Sorry guys one more question.....what about several domain names but using only one host provider? would this be a problem as all the domains will have the same IP address.
      So does every site on Blogspot, and the hundreds of sites per server at every shared host. This isn't a problem.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jgregory
        I've used sub-domains for years.

        Each sub-domain has it's own index.XXX page that is considered a home page; however, Google has never given it same status as a top level domains when it comes to Thematic indexing. And Themes are everything when it comes to domain/sub-domain ranking

        Remember the Duplicate penalty for same website. Google treats a sub-domain the same as a sub-directorry. Put the same content on domains and sub-domain and you get slapped with duplicate penalty. This means Sub-domains should be considered same as a sub-directory.

        Additionally, about 6 months ago Google made a slight change in the way it indexes sub-domains. Previously, related content on a subdomain could be shown on same Search page as a related page on the main domain. Not any more, and that was a big benefit to use sub-domains to pile in on specific keywords.

        Subdomains are still great for organizing and making it easy on visitors

        But, unless you have the pocketbook for a mega-site such as About com, then stay with tightly focused sub-themes from your main domain.

        Example would be
        insurance com
        car.insurance com

        if it is unrelated, violins.insurance, then you weaken your thematic scoring potential. Stay with true sub-categories and it's a good way to expand on a single domain and keep it organized
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  • Profile picture of the author basmin
    I create new subdomains and I have no problem to get them indexed.
    thanks for tips above this increase my knowledge.
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  • Profile picture of the author UBotBuddy
    Have a plan and stick to it.

    I create and use subdomains but not for primary products but rather for traffic and list segmentation. For instance, my public product is the root domain. When I setup my first WSO I do it via a subdomain as well as on for the DP forum.

    Just my opinion.
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