To Subdomain or Not To Subdomain?

by crowemaster

Posted: 13 years ago 13 replies

WEB DESIGN

I'm working with a list of 100 keywords, my questionis a simple one. Is it better to make a 100 1 page websites with the keyword in the subdomain or is better to use the keyword as a sub directory.

Question 1.
Example
For instasnce www.productx.mydomain.com Or www.mydomain.com/productX

Question 2
Part two of this question when your keyword is a long tail like

Example
three part product name That is part of the keyword your targeting.

Do you create the page with hyphens in it
three-part-product-name or do you use threepartproductname all as one word since you can't have spaces.

Question 3
Ok one more website development keyword ranking quetion.
If you have variation of a keyword. that look like this:

Example
This is your keyword
This keyword is yours

Basicly they are the same damn thing just typed diffrently into a search brouser do you create pages for each use a 301 redirect or target just one. Assuming that each page would have unique content so you don't get slapped by google for duplicates.

Last and final Question.
Question 4

Since page ranking is based on pages and not whole websites will having crud loads of subdomains kill me on ranking? It doesn't seem to be killing walmart, but I'm a little fish and I don't know if the rule applies to me.

Well I can't wait to see some of your answers. Hopefully I posted this in the right section.

#article titling #keyword ranking #subdomain

RichKent

13 years ago

I think this belongs in the SEO section - however:

1. A subdomain doesn't have a www - it's just http://productname.yoursite.com/

I prefer to use subdirectories - www.yoursite.com/product-name

I also prefer to use hyphens. Google seems to like it and they rank well. Note that when you use subdomains, each site is a different website, vs. when you use subdirectories you're building all the pages on the same website.

For the keywords you might consider creating a separate page for each keyword. I don't think redirecting one to the other would help with rankings at all.

4. This is why I prefer subdirectories over subdomains - Google likes BIG websites. If you have a 100 page site it's easier to rank for things than if you have 100 1-page subdomains.

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MickeyMil

13 years ago

From what I've read/heard Google will class a subdomain as a seperate website. Although I can't vouch for how accurate that is.

If it was a seperate part of the website then a subdomain might be a good idea e.g for a blog but in the case of products I would go something like this...

domainname / product-category / product-subcategory (if needed) / product.html

Hope this helps

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dapwalvekar

13 years ago

Help me about what is the difference between the domain and subdomain?

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BizWebMan

13 years ago

I have struggled with the whole issue of domains, sub-domains and folders etc.

This blog post from an SEO site offers the best explanations and advice I have come across in overcoming the dilema.

Multiple Domains vs Subdomains vs Folders in SEO | Web SEO Analytics

Grahame

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jvorstermans

13 years ago

Thanks gonzo

Originally Posted by gonzo;3522661

[URL="http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/multiple-domains-vs-subdomains-vs-folders-in-seo/"

Multiple Domains vs Subdomains vs Folders in SEO | Web SEO Analytics[/URL]

Grahame

This is a very good articles and makes it clear that each option has something going for. In the end it all comes down to what you are trying to accomplish. I use subdomains in one of my niches where each site targets different keywords and offers products for sale associated with those keywords only.

As the articles makes clear, each subdomain is a separate domain but does takes some authority from the main domain which is good for a niche.

I think in the case here were you are looking at 100 websites, then you are probably moving beyond the subdomain usefulness.

Essentially there is not right or wrong, just pros and cons.

John

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Davy44 13 years ago

Originally Posted by dapwalvekar

Help me about what is the difference between the domain and subdomain?

Domain is like this: Forum.com- this is a domain name; this is what you register with a domain registrar.

URL is www + your domain name

Subdomain is like this: webdesign.forum.com- this is a domain under your main domain. That's why it is called sub-domain.

URL for subdomain is www + your subdomain

Hope this helps.
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carrot

13 years ago

As others have mentioned, go for the single site sub directories method.
This is because a sites 'seo weight! (poor name, cant think of a better one) is a sum of all its pages, so single pages from big sites do much better than single pages on small sites (EMD being an exception, but as subdomains dont seem to really benefit from a large exact match bonus, its not applicable.).

Re page naming, hyphens are both search engine and human friendly, so a good choice.

Re key word variants, if they are very similar, as in your example, dont do 2 pages.
Ideally if possible work both into your title and h1 tags (just stick one in the url, its not THAT important, and very long urls is a bad move), like so:

Buy beds cheap - get cheap beds here

If the phrases are too long to do this in a nice readable way, pick the highest search one (one will invariably be searched more than the other) and go with that, then include the second one quite early on in an h2 tag, and in the copy.

When building backlinks to said page, use a weighted approach to anchor text. Eg do 60% 1st phrase, 30% second phrase 10% longtail. (not precision maths here, just an example)

I find that equal splitting gets odd unreliable results, whereas focusing on one helps get results quicker, plus google can tell related phrases, so the very act of ranking higher for the 1st phrase will in turn help your ranking for the second.

Hope this helps

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davidlieder

13 years ago

I agree with everything the first three posts said.

Also, for each separate site (domain) you should only target one main keyword phrase and five secondary keyword phrases.
You asked this question, and the answer is that Google will not give you credit for 100 keywords on one site.

Instead of subdirectories you can just put them as pages like this: www.mydomain.com/this-is-my-keyword-phrase.html

IN regards to Rich Kent's post I disagree with one point about Google liking big websites, while that was true in the past, it is no longer true, since new small websites are ranking higher than megasites with 30,000 backlinks. You should go with small sites that have good targeted content, and make sure the domain name you use is your master keyword phrase, like http://www.my-keyword-phrase.com. Support each keyword page with an Ezine Article that has your keywords in the header and footerk, and make a Squidoo page based on your keyword phrase and point it at the domain or page.

The important thing to remember that most IM people really screw up on is that if you have more than one site then you need to put them each on a different web host that has a different C and D level IP address. For example, if you put two sites in the same account on a single web hosting company, and they both share similar keyword phrases, Google will flag your account as being from the same IP and Google will only give you one listing for whatever is the dominant keyword phrase. Thus, if you put 100 domains (sites) on the same web host then you will still only rank for one dominant keyword phrase.

So you could set it up like this:

Main keyword domain-----> 5 sub pages, put a menu on the home page with keyword links like this:

<a href="http://www.mydomain.com/this-is-my-first-keyword-phrase.html">Yogurt Recipes Keywords 1</a>
<a href="http://www.mydomain.com/this-is-my-2nd-keyword-phrase.html">Banana Recipes Keywords 2</a>
Etc.

Then put a separate website up on a completely different web hosting company and do the same thing but with different content and different keyword phrases, and you will get multiple listings in Google that way.

Also, in regards to 301 redirects, they are useless for you. They are for when you have a pre-existing page that is important to Google, and then you notify Google it has changed. Using it the way you suggest will do nothing for your cause and goals.

Last and final Question.
Question 4

Since page ranking is based on pages and not whole websites will having crud loads of subdomains kill me on ranking? It doesn't seem to be killing walmart, but I'm a little fish and I don't know if the rule applies to me.

This is incorrect, your main Page Rank is completely for your entire website. Then after that, each page gets a separate type of rank. Even though they are both called "PR" they are still a separate thing. So a lot of info is kept about the semantic relationship between your content, your pages, even the IP addresses of the websites, etc.

Don't go crazy with keywords, start with five and create good content. Don't get greedy or you will just create crap content and then you will lose out in the end. Work hard and put up a new site on a new host each week, and make a schedule to do all 100 keywords in two months, the way I've suggested above, with good content.

I hope that helps.

David Lieder
Astral Universe Worldwide Media

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OliverBurrell 13 years ago

I am only replying to the subdomain or not subdomain question. Look at amazon.com! They have thousands of keywords and they still use 1 domain, but why? It is not because a huge site "weighs" more - it is because it does not really pay off to have more domains than 1, provided the theme of keywords is the same. If you have a sub-domain you would think because you would have the domain name like [keyword].[domain].com it would rank better but it does not because the SEs see that as a completely different domain and they check if they have the same IP address! To overcome this you would have to register with different hosting companies (you would then get different IPs). This is a lot of work and more cost and it just does not balance out if you just go the easy way of having a sub directory (which has your keywords enclosed). I would go for [www].[my domain with main keywords].com/[my category]/[my product or keyword]. If you want to have this pages ranked at the top of Google you need to provide link juice with keyword rich links to it (high PR). That works best. Hope this answers your question and saves you a lot of work and cost. liver
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LastWarrior 13 years ago

Use the sub-directory style. It's what works and you build upon your
site with each new page.

Originally Posted by davidlieder

Also, for each separate site (domain) you should only target one
main keyword phrase and five secondary keyword phrases.

I couldn't disagree more with that statement.

A well optimized page, on and off, along with relevant backlinks from
decent PR sites still position well at the search engines.

One can have just one website using sub-directories and still have
thousands of keywords and phrases and do GREAT with the SERP's.

On each of my sub-directories, ie, pages, I don't target more than 3
keywords for each page. In fact, I like staying at 2. It's easier to
optimize for only 2-3 keywords or phrases and it keeps your content
focused on what you are presenting, selling or offering. The viewers
like it and the 'bots like it as it's easier when the indexing comes of
what the page is about. If doing PPC, then I can use many more key-
words or phrases for each item I'm trying to bid on.

Remember, search engines gets you results for a webpage...
not a website.

LastWarrior
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russjam 13 years ago

Go for a single domain.
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- MoneyMonkey 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by russjam
  
  Go for a single domain.
  
  I also agree go for the single domain and just branch out with that site. Create a new folder via Cpanel or your FTP and then just add whatever content you want there. Win-Win situation.
  
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crescendo 13 years ago

YES, I also agree go for the single domain. And optimize you all keyword with different pages.
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To Subdomain or Not To Subdomain?

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