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Can't afford Godaddy, How about subdomains ?

by Vinod Kumar Jadge
19 replies
Hi Warriors,

I need a bit of help and valuable suggestions here. I was not aware of how to use subdomains and how google treat them on SEO basis. So, bought some domains from Godaddy and while searching on Internet I found some tips shared on blogs "how they made money using subdomains".

I want to make lot of blogs on autopilot (WP Robot 3) and wondering if I could use the subdomains (Keyword researched) as hostgator provide unlimited subdomains. Is it a good idea and worth using this kind of strategy.

1. How google is going to treat these subdomains, regarding PR, indexing and SERPs.

2. Is it a good idea if I monetize them with adsense and other adsense alternatives, after autoposting some content and waiting for atleast 1 month.

I'm bit confused and really don't know whether my questions are making sense. I've gone through Matt's blog about the SEO and Subdomains but I thought this is the best place to clear my doubts.

Thanks in advance.
#afford #autoblogging #godaddy #hostgator #subdomains
  • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
    Vinod - I think I understand at least part of your question. I have Bluehost and one hosting account with a main domain. All of my other sites are subdomains (about 20 of them) to that main account so I don't pay any more for hosting.

    In Google, each domain really stands alone and has its own, unique URL so:

    Main site= www mainsite com
    Subdomain #1 = www subdomain 1 com
    Subdomain #2 = www subdomain 2 com

    Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the only difference is that a subdomain's files are stored within the root of your main domain on the server. When I assign the domain to my Cpanel it gives me an option to make the URL www subdomain com or to make it www mainsite com/subdomain but it will always store the files within the main sites's directory.

    All of my subdomains hold their own in the SERPs and appear to have no problems ranking for targeted keywords. They are not impacted - positively or negatively - because they are subdomains. I do not interlink them - each one is built as a stand-alone site in separate niches.

    I have subdomains with their own PR - one has a higher page rank than my main site, even.

    I followed this strategy for the same reason you mention - monetary concerns when I was first starting out. However, I do run the risk of either using up too much server space as these sites grow or getting a hack on my root directory and potentially wiping out all sites at once. I know I will soon need to look at alternative options as a couple of these sites have pretty decent activity and I intend to add more but at least to get going, it worked out well for me.

    Several of them have adsense on them and I see no impacts from having subdomains that have the same adsense account. Adsense is not my main source of income, though, and is not on all of my subdomains - maybe only on 5 of them.

    I do not use automated content so I can't speak to your content strategy.

    Hope that answers at least some of your questions.

    Erica
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    • Profile picture of the author Edie47
      I have both domains and subdomains. My host is Hostgator, and it is really easy to add a subdomain.

      From what I heard, subdomains take longer to climb in the rankings than domains, and also you cannot sell a subdomain. You can sell a domain.

      I had a subdomain that did very well and ranked higher than several of my domains. I decided to consider selling it, but I had to find a domain name, move the subdomain to the domain, I lost the images that went with the posts (it was about home decor), and it dropped in rankings and has yet to recover.

      So, it is important for you to decide whether or not you are ever going to want to sell your site. If you do not think you will want to, go ahead and use subdomains. They look the same as a domain name, it is just that the url is longer. For instance, my domain name ends in "reviews", so my url would look like this:

      www dot sitename dot reviews dot com.

      The url has that extra word "reviews" instead of just sitename.com. That is probably why they say it will take longer to climb in the rankings (?).

      Hope that helps you make your decision.
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  • Profile picture of the author Edie47
    Just a quick note. With domains, you have to try to find a good url against a lot of competition. With subdomains, all you have to do is find a great keyword and create your subdomain using that word. You can use ChristmasHolidays.subdomain.com if you wanted where you would probably never get ChristmasHolidays.com as it is more than likely not available. Just another thing to consider.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
    Clarification needed, I think....at least for me.

    The process I follow is to buy a new domain name and assign it as a subdomain in my Cpanel account but it is its own site, I can sell it, and it doesn't take any more effort to rank in the serps just because it is classified as a subdomain on my Cpanel.

    But the option others mentioned - which I've never used - is to create a subdomain under a main domain without registering a new domain....right?

    Two different approaches. One requires the purchase of a domain, one does not. I assume, too, that the approach that does not require a new domain would have some ranking challenges that the purchase of a separate domain name would not.

    Are both approaches really referred to as "subdomains" or is there some term of distinction between the two? Otherwise, I see how this would become confusing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Adams
    @Sojourn A sub domain is a part of the top level domain, not another domain name.
    -They are essentially no different than a page on your site i.e. yousite.com/topic.htm
    -If you sell yoursite.com then topic.yoursite.com will go with it.
    -You cannot sell them separately.
    -Every page, whether a subdomain or not has its own PageRank
    -Subdomains will not rank any better than any other page or top level domain
    -Google doesn't rank sites, it rankes pages

    Take a good look at the SERP for any desired keyword, very few are on subdomains. Few do well i.e. wordpress.com

    I would advise having a good TLD and just host a few sites under one hosting plan to lower costs.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
      Originally Posted by Mike Adams View Post

      @Sojourn A sub domain is a part of the top level domain, not another domain name.
      -They are essentially no different than a page on your site i.e. yousite.com/topic.htm
      -If you sell yoursite.com then topic.yoursite.com will go with it.
      -You cannot sell them separately.
      -Every page, whether a subdomain or not has its own PageRank
      -Subdomains will not rank any better than any other page or top level domain
      -Google doesn't rank sites, it rankes pages

      Take a good look at the SERP for any desired keyword, very few are on subdomains. Few do well i.e. wordpress.com

      I would advise having a good TLD and just host a few sites under one hosting plan to lower costs.
      Thanks! I understand now - terminology issue on my part. My sites are, as you suggested, top level domains under one hosting plan. Cpanel calls them ADDONS (not SUBDOMAINS). I think this is one of those things I keep getting hung up on because I believe I've walked myself down this road before....

      Appreciate the clarification. Maybe it will stick this time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Erica,

    I am using Bluehost, and you are correct. I register other domains at a different registrar and just point them to Bluehost.

    They are in Bluehose as add-on domains. I spoke with the folks at Bluehost, and Google does not see these as part of the top domain. Yes I can sell them if I wish because they are not part of the top domain.

    If you register a domain called erica.com and and set up hosting at Bluehost or Hostgater, or else where, and you make a site (webpage) as an internal page to erica.com like erica.com/erica-stuff.html, that would go with a sale of the site and its pages.

    If you have hosting for erica.com and register another domain name like ericatoday.com, you can put ericatoday.com in the same hosting account as erica.com as an add-on and goggle will see it just fine as ericatoday.com. You can even sell ericatoday.com if you wish. It is NOT part of erica.com. You would need to put ericatoday.com into its own hosting account before selling erica.com

    I have sites set up like this at Bluehost, Network Solutions, and Godaddy. They all work the same way.

    :-Don
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    • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
      Originally Posted by Don Schenk View Post

      Erica,

      I am using Bluehost, and you are correct. I register other domains at a different registrar and just point them to Bluehost.

      They are in Bluehose as add-on domains. I spoke with the folks at Bluehost, and Google does not see these as part of the top domain. Yes I can sell them if I wish because they are not part of the top domain.
      :-Don
      Thanks, Don! We must have been writing at the same time.

      I continue to mix up subdomains and addons in my head! (I do the same with "left" and "right" - one should never follow my driving instructions. Really, my brain works pretty well on other things but sometimes there's these hiccups!!)
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Sorry Vinod, we just seemed to take the thread away from you. :-)

    You can do this too, even if you have alread registered the names at Godaddy. You purchase hosting at Hostgator or Bluehost, or anywhere, then in Godady you would "point" your domain name towards that hosting site.

    Each domain name will have 2 domain name servers (DNS) associated with it. To point your domain name to some other hosting company, find out the name of the DNS at the hosting company. Just call tech support and ask. Then at Godaddy you would change the DSN numbers that go with your domain name.

    So at Godaddy you might see the name servers of your domain is listed as...

    NS23.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
    NS24.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

    And the DNS name for Bluehost or Hostgator migh be
    NS5.BLUEHOST.COM
    NS6.BLUEHOST.COM

    At Godaddy, you would put in the name servers of the new place where you would host.
    You just type in the new server addresses.

    :-Don
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    Studies prove happier people have massively more success. It has worked for me. Use this one trick too... Click Here

    Total Competition Stomper - Simply the most powerful tactic your IM or Offline business will ever use... See it here!
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  • Profile picture of the author jonbeebe
    Subdomains CAN rank, but honestly I wouldn't worry about your search engine rankings right now.

    Instead, I'd set up a squeeze page on a sub-domain giving away a free report and start building your list (I know, if you can't afford GoDaddy you can't afford Aweber... but you CAN afford MailChimp's free-for-your-first-500-subscribers option).

    Then, focus on driving traffic to your squeeze page using forums, article marketing, and if you have a blog set up, from commenting and guest posting.

    From there just focus on building and maintaining a positive relationship with your list, and you'll be in profit well before you reach your 500 subscriber limit in MailChimp... the next step up is $15/month and if you've earned the trust of your list, $15 per month is extremely easy to make.

    Hope that helps!

    Jonathan Beebe

    P.S. For a step-by-step detailed instruction on the exact thing I just described above, read an article on my blog that explains how to make money in that same manner, with NO budget or website required:

    Make Money Online in 5 Easy Steps | MMO Work
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    • Profile picture of the author Vinod Kumar Jadge
      Originally Posted by jonbeebe View Post

      Subdomains CAN rank, but honestly I wouldn't worry about your search engine rankings right now.

      Instead, I'd set up a squeeze page on a sub-domain giving away a free report and start building your list (I know, if you can't afford GoDaddy you can't afford Aweber... but you CAN afford MailChimp's free-for-your-first-500-subscribers option).

      Then, focus on driving traffic to your squeeze page using forums, article marketing, and if you have a blog set up, from commenting and guest posting.

      From there just focus on building and maintaining a positive relationship with your list, and you'll be in profit well before you reach your 500 subscriber limit in MailChimp... the next step up is $15/month and if you've earned the trust of your list, $15 per month is extremely easy to make.

      Hope that helps!

      Jonathan Beebe

      P.S. For a step-by-step detailed instruction on the exact thing I just described above, read an article on my blog that explains how to make money in that same manner, with NO budget or website required:

      Make Money Online in 5 Easy Steps | MMO Work
      Hey jonbeebe,

      Did you read my mind that I want an autoresponder but can't afford aweber. I am using Free Autobot but not very comfortable with it. Does Mailchimp offers multiple autoresponder mail setups in different niches (to offer different bonuses) for squeeze pages, I suppose you know what I mean. I'll use some of the domain names for this purpose.

      Thanks gr8 advice on MailChimp.
      Appreciate that.

      @Don I've no problems with setting up DNS at the Godaddy's end. But was concerned about not spending too much on buying domain names in my initial stage of IM business.

      Thanks warriors for explaining about subdomains. I'll definitely use some good keywords to make subdomains until I start earning some good amount of money from IM.
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      • Profile picture of the author Gary Smith
        This probably isn't what you want to hear but...

        If you can't afford $10 domains at GoDaddy with the income from the site(s) you already have then you are putting your effort into the wrong areas. In my opinion, anybody who wants to earn money online should learn how to make money from one site first - then replicate.

        It seems to be such a common ailment that new (and some not so new) online marketers suffer from - where you put a site up and you are sure it is going to make money. When it doesn't, instead of having a close look at why it isn't making money, and instead of looking for learning resources that will show you how to make money, the first thought is to put another site up, and another, and another... all the time making the same mistakes as were made on the first one and ending up with a lot of frustration, hair pulling and self doubt.

        Building an online business requires discipline, skills and hard work. Now I'm not saying you don't already have some or all of those things - but you really need to ask yourself whether you want to keep putting more sites up on a budget of zero dollars or whether you want to work your butt off on that first site and fix it, tweak it and change it until it provides you with a budget to work with.
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        • Profile picture of the author Edie47
          Originally Posted by Gary Smith View Post

          This probably isn't what you want to hear but...

          If you can't afford $10 domains at GoDaddy with the income from the site(s) you already have then you are putting your effort into the wrong areas. In my opinion, anybody who wants to earn money online should learn how to make money from one site first - then replicate.

          It seems to be such a common ailment that new (and some not so new) online marketers suffer from - where you put a site up and you are sure it is going to make money. When it doesn't, instead of having a close look at why it isn't making money, and instead of looking for learning resources that will show you how to make money, the first thought is to put another site up, and another, and another... all the time making the same mistakes as were made on the first one and ending up with a lot of frustration, hair pulling and self doubt.

          Building an online business requires discipline, skills and hard work. Now I'm not saying you don't already have some or all of those things - but you really need to ask yourself whether you want to keep putting more sites up on a budget of zero dollars or whether you want to work your butt off on that first site and fix it, tweak it and change it until it provides you with a budget to work with.
          Gary, that is very sage advice and one I am just coming to realize. Thank you for bringing some of us back to reality.
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        • Profile picture of the author Vinod Kumar Jadge
          Gary, I wholeheartedly take that advice and for sure gonna absorb it. As discipline and hard work has always been the key factors of my daily activities, I'm sure I'll try to learn some new skills from others and implement them.

          LISTEN, LEARN, IMPLEMENT... LISTEN, LEARN, IMPLEMENT...

          Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Vinod Kumar Jadge
    Originally Posted by Richard Odell View Post

    Did you see this one by Matt?

    Subdomains and subdirectories
    Yes, Richard that's the one...
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  • Profile picture of the author SledgeHammer
    The Matt's link is more than enough even for a newbie.
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  • Profile picture of the author justcrowd2010
    I would certainly agree with SledgeHammer. I think this is made also for pros
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  • Profile picture of the author gili_007
    Originally Posted by Vinod Kumar Jadge View Post

    Hi Warriors,

    I need a bit of help and valuable suggestions here. I was not aware of how to use subdomains and how google treat them on SEO basis. So, bought some domains from Godaddy and while searching on Internet I found some tips shared on blogs "how they made money using subdomains".

    I want to make lot of blogs on autopilot (WP Robot 3) and wondering if I could use the subdomains (Keyword researched) as hostgator provide unlimited subdomains. Is it a good idea and worth using this kind of strategy.

    1. How google is going to treat these subdomains, regarding PR, indexing and SERPs.

    2. Is it a good idea if I monetize them with adsense and other adsense alternatives, after autoposting some content and waiting for atleast 1 month.

    I'm bit confused and really don't know whether my questions are making sense. I've gone through about the SEO and Subdomains but I thought this is the best place to clear my doubts.

    Thanks in advance.

    Hi there

    I am also trying to achieve the same goal: i am using wpmage (not wprobot) and i want to buy only one domain and to automate create many websites/niches by using subdomains as keywords.
    Any idea ? can it be done ? how ?

    Thanks!
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