Do subdomains affect SEO?

16 replies
  • SEO
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Hi everyone, if I want to create 10 different sites around 10 different niches, do you recommend that I use 10 separate domains?

Or can I use subdomains for each niche? If I have one domain with 10 different subdomains, does that confuse Google?

My goal is to create a authority site with 100 pages on each subdomain centered around a particular subject.

Thanks
#affect #seo #subdomains
  • Profile picture of the author DABK
    No, it will not confuse Google.


    However, all subdomains are on one domain. If something happens to that domain (gets hacked/you forget to renew), you lose 11 domains.


    They affect SEO if you interlink.


    Originally Posted by BluesPlayer View Post

    Hi everyone, if I want to create 10 different sites around 10 different niches, do you recommend that I use 10 separate domains?

    Or can I use subdomains for each niche? If I have one domain with 10 different subdomains, does that confuse Google?

    My goal is to create a authority site with 100 pages on each subdomain centered around a particular subject.

    Thanks
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  • of course they do, because they under a one primary domain, so if something affects or confuse google in ranking behind all subpages will get affect.
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  • Profile picture of the author xtrapunch
    A separated website demands a separate address. If a domain is a large store, sub-domains are departments within the store. Keeping all websites with independent identities is good in various ways, including branding and management. If something happens to any of your sites, the rest get affected if they use the same domain. Not the kind of risk you want. You should use sub-domains if you want them to stay connected.
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  • Profile picture of the author lata chaudhary
    Yes, subdomains can affect SEO. Subdomains are considered separate entities from the main domain, and search engines treat them as different websites. Any SEO efforts made on the main domain may not necessarily carry over to the subdomain.
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  • Profile picture of the author garybehl
    Subdomains can actually be beneficial to your SEO efforts. Here are some points given below:
    • Subdomains can insert keywords into URL
    • Subdomains can improve user experience
    • Subdomains can grow niche authority
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  • Profile picture of the author expmrb
    Originally Posted by BluesPlayer View Post

    Hi everyone, if I want to create 10 different sites around 10 different niches, do you recommend that I use 10 separate domains?

    Or can I use subdomains for each niche? If I have one domain with 10 different subdomains, does that confuse Google?

    My goal is to create a authority site with 100 pages on each subdomain centered around a particular subject.

    Thanks

    It solely depends on what you are trying to do. For example, a news site can have multiple categories under it or you can say under it's sub-domains such as as sports, weather, politics, finance etc.


    However, putting all of your efforts in one domain will not benefit you SEO wise. Because each sub-domains will be considered as separate domains by search engines.
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  • Profile picture of the author timhill
    Its much easier to build authority for 1 domain than 10 seperate domains. But it does depend on your long term goals and if its beneficial for them to all be seperate, like if you want to sell one of them but keep the other 9 for example.
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  • Profile picture of the author Subho D
    Yes, subdomains can affect SEO as they are treated as separate entities by search engines. Subdomains are essentially treated as different websites, and they can dilute the authority and relevance of the main domain. You can use WordPress, Blogger to create your subdomain.

    If a subdomain has high-quality content and is optimized for SEO, it can potentially rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs). However, it's important to ensure that the subdomain content is unique, relevant, and valuable to users. I will suggest not to use subdomains.
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      Why do you suggest they do not use subdomains?


      Originally Posted by Subho D View Post

      Yes, subdomains can affect SEO as they are treated as separate entities by search engines. Subdomains are essentially treated as different websites, and they can dilute the authority and relevance of the main domain. You can use WordPress, Blogger to create your subdomain.

      If a subdomain has high-quality content and is optimized for SEO, it can potentially rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs). However, it's important to ensure that the subdomain content is unique, relevant, and valuable to users. I will suggest not to use subdomains.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    I wondered the same - using subdomains can be helpful as you can use site names you could not get in a new domain name.



    It's cost effective - the S/D's are treated as separate sites. If you work in multiple niches - it's a good way to organize multiple sites in one niche.


    Only downside I see is that if you are utilizing multiple subdomains and promoting them as separate sites...you need to ensure your hosting acct is sufficient to handle the traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      The other negative? If you wanted to sell them separately,


      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

      I wondered the same - using subdomains can be helpful as you can use site names you could not get in a new domain name.



      It's cost effective - the S/D's are treated as separate sites. If you work in multiple niches - it's a good way to organize multiple sites in one niche.


      Only downside I see is that if you are utilizing multiple subdomains and promoting them as separate sites...you need to ensure your hosting acct is sufficient to handle the traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author dave_hermansen
    The only real positive to use subdomains is that there is no monthly hosting cost (they are set up as free add-ons to the main domain's hosting account). The most important negative is, as DABK stated, it's extremely difficult if not impossible to sell a site on a subdomain.

    To me, the free monthly hosting isn't worth it because frankly, if you can't afford the very minimal cost of hosting a website, you probably shouldn't be wasting your time on it in the first place.

    I do have a question, though. Are these eCommerce sites where you are selling products or are they informational/affiliate websites? If you are selling products (i.e. taking payment and either dropshipping or shipping items, yourself), I believe Shift4Shop still lets you set up websites for free. They host it and it comes with far more bells and whistles than any other shipping cart I know of. It even includes a free sitewide SSL. If you're selling products, it seems like a better solution would be to purchase 10 domains and host each one for free on Shift4Shop.

    NOTE: You have to use Shift4Shop's payment processor which is at the industry standard 2.99%. Also, if you never sell anything, I think they eventually remove your site (not sure how long they give you until it gets to that point).
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    • Profile picture of the author BluesPlayer
      Originally Posted by dave_hermansen View Post


      I do have a question, though. Are these eCommerce sites where you are selling products or are they informational/affiliate websites? .
      Thanks for the reply. These are informational sites that I plan to monetize with adsense.
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  • Profile picture of the author MagicMarket
    They are treated as seperate sites. Though they can give backlinks to the main domain too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adam Bruce
    [DELETED]
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  • Profile picture of the author thomasjorge
    Sub Domains not you're SEO reports or performance but if main domain is hacked or got some crawling issues it will effect you're all subdomains
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  • Profile picture of the author Yujiaxin1998
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      What does "it" stand for? What would not be?

      Originally Posted by Yujiaxin1998 View Post

      I think it wouldn't be.
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