Should a company's online tool be hosted on their own domain?
-
Our company is developing a web-based tool that will provide good value for its users and generate leads for us. The tool is large enough in scope and different enough than the main service that we provide that we're considering putting it on its own domain.
I have two questions:
1. Does it behoove a company to put their online tool on a separate domain if the tool is large enough in scope and different enough from their website's core function / business's core service? (Examples of this would be Hubspot's Marketing Grader or Open Site Explorer before Moz rolled it back into its domain.)
2. If yes, should the domain name a) describe the function of the tool or b) build a brand for the tool itself?
Thanks for your help!
-
I guess I would have to see the site and the tool to understand your point as it does not make sense if you would make a tool that is unrelated to your core business as that would take away from your core business structure.
I would do some testing with some of your users / audience to see what they think. It may or may not be jarring to them and could help you with your answer in what direction on where to go.
-
Thanks, CleverPhD. Very well thought out response.
Our concern is that having a tool that is unrelated to our business's core service and our website's core function will be confusing for people who land on the tool, and therefore make them less likely to use it than if it were on its own domain. From a user experience standpoint, we are concerned that some visitors wouldn't want to use a tool that does X on a website that revolves around Y. It's possible that some of the visitors who find this difference jarring will be unlikely to remember our brand/domain name and visit our website again in the future. Anecdotally, I've bounced off tools on sites I gauged to be unrelated to the topic I was researching.
But, as you pointed out, the SEO, branding, PR and cognitive load benefits of keeping the tool on our domain are quite strong. It seems you could easily argue these benefits would outweigh the negative impact of the possible user confusion I described in the above paragraph.
Again, thanks for your help.
-
CleverPhD, you nailed it in detail.
-
This is similar to the question, blog on a different subdomain vs a folder. Most SEOs would agree that putting a blog in a folder is better as any links to the blog builds the domain authority of the entire domain. Rising tides raises all ships.
Likewise, I think it is telling that Moz rolled OSE under the main moz.com domain. Why? I would guess (Disclaimer: this is just my guess as I do not speak for Moz) for the same reason of consolidating domain authority, but also I think it makes sense from a branding perspective. Why would you want to spend all this time creating a tool and getting people to remember another domain name when you could be piggybacking off the fact that they already know your domain name to start with and so with any press around the new tool your main domain name is being talked about (let alone linked to).
I think in most cases a separate domain or subdomain is at the suggestion of developers to make it easier to develop on a separate server etc. That is technical hurdle that should not drive the answer of what is best for your users and for branding.
One domain name is hard enough to remember, why make people remember another one? Keep it simple. Reduce cognitive load. Plus, if the new tool goes viral and is on your main domain, your main domain is going viral as well.
Unless you are trying to build a separate company with a separate brand, then you might go the separate domain route.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Linking new domain to existing domain or....
We have a client's domain that has been live for 8 years. truthbook.com. With the new changes to Google, no matter what we do, we cannot get the words Urantia Book to connect with the website and lift it's search engine returns to the first page where it was for the past 4 years.. It is clear, that no matter what Google may say, the most important factor is having the actual words urantiabook in the domain is imperative. We know it was that way before Google changes (they were always on the first page) but now the client cannot get back on the front page. The mission and theme of the site is Jesus in The Urantia Book. So it is not a stretch to acquire urantiabookandjesus.com and forward it to truthbook.com The question is, "will they get any bang for the change? If they considered changing the actual main domain to urantiabookandjesus.com or .org and forward truthbook.com to it, will they be hurt by that strategy? " Thanks, Jim
Branding | | jimmyzig0 -
What should we consider in Online reputation management - negative URL or Negative Keywords?
Hello All I have a serious confusion in terms of the Negative Keywords & Positive Keywords vs Negative URLS and Positive URLS for ORM (Online Reputation Management). Can any one please advise and explain why and what should I consider?
Branding | | barnesdorf
When we talk about ORM what exactly is more important? Negative Keywords or Negative URLS? Among these two which is more important ?? Negative URLs or Negative Keywords.? Do we need to classify keywords as negative or positive? in the report? Do we need to classify URLs as negative or positive? in the report? According to me and my fellow members either of them is actually most important but we all are stuck upon at one question "which one?" Any help would be appreciated....0 -
Branding Association for SEO, and Google's understanding of a "brand Name"
Hey guys. so I currently run my own business here in Queens NY, for Web Design and online marketing, specifically SEO, SMM, SEM, and some inbound marketing that ties to SMM and SEO. When starting I was in a different business, and had kept my old business name. I plan on re-branding myself January 1st with a brand new name, the name i'm seriously considering is "Media Marketing USA". I was able to purchase MediaMarketingUSA.com. I feel this name is good and bad at the same time, and here are some of the reasons. The pro: Easy to remember, sounds big, and describes my business well. The con: Sounds generic, and I worry it will be hard to brand. I used the mentioning tool provided by Moz and see that nearly everyday 500-1,000 people are naturally mentioning Media Marketing USA, one of my biggest questions is will this give me a competitive advantage in SEO, or will it hurt me in SEO as Google may not see this or understand its a brand name? Do you personally think this is a good name to re-brand myself and use as my main website? The Website itself will be used as a corporate website, a method of inbound and outbound marketing through content creation, Social Media, and of course SEO, targeting specific locations, and specialty services and industries in the NYC area. Please share your thoughts with me, THANKS!!!
Branding | | tonyr71 -
What is the weight of .pro domains? Will they rank?
.pro Domains have ben out there for a while but seem to as late started to be adopted. Thoughts and opinions welcome.
Branding | | bozzie3110 -
Which Domain Name to Choose
A non-profit I run owns two domains - ChristianSimplicity.com and SimpleLivingWithGod.com. I have just started producing content under ChristianSimplicity. These are long-term projects and we have resources to commit to them. They do not need an economic return and that is not going to be sought. Ultimately I want the sites to rank high on the key words like - Simple Living Living a Simple Life Living Well The Good Life Christian Lifestyle Christian Simple Living I have a two part question. . . I'll ask the first part now. The second may be irrelevant depending on the first answer. **Which domain name of the two is best to start out the site? ** We already have some content on the first site, but are early enough in the process that it isn't a big deal for us to switch and I don't think we will lose too much with respect to rankings. Will the second domain name partial match on key word phrase help significantly more in ranking for the harder term Simple Living? I already rank 14 for Christian Simple Living - and I'm willing for that to drop to have the longer term goal of ranking higher on Simple Living. Thanks.
Branding | | WithGodInc0 -
I am changing the name of my company and would like to know best practices for SEOmoz
YES you made a good point my main problem is I have been signed up under a different domain name then what my company will have so the domain name will be new I am changing my brand, name, logo, site with SEOmoz been kind enough to have given me credit for the link and other links what's the best way to go about trying to keep some of my previous rank (301?) I would appreciate any and all information. I am I apologize English is not my first language I am sorry about any miscommunication
Branding | | BlueprintMarketing0 -
Branding/Domain Challenge
A year and a half ago, SEO was all new to me and I may have made a mistake that looks to be a problem now. In a misguided quest to rank higher and faster, I used a domain for it's keywords and quick ranking potential rather than using my business' name URL. I've built the links and authority to where I'm now ranking well for many of my local search terms which is important for my local business success. The situation is that now I want to expand my business nationally as a franchise which will require my company's name in the domain(?), and the addition of entirely new pages and terms. My company's name' URL> www.ImpactMMAfitness.com is pointed to my site www.austinfitnessgyms.com and GA shows a significant # of visitors type our name in to find us. I also think it would be odd for someone outside my town looking for franchise info to be pointed to a different domain with Austin in it. I was wondering what option would be best: Keep as is Change domains - ouch!? Make a new second site ? I have 'ImpactFranchise.com I could use for a new site just for franchising but I would be starting at the bottom for any rankings. Is there a solution, or did I dig myself into a hole?
Branding | | OhYeahSteve0 -
.us domain extension for US locales
I have a large US travel site and am looking to make targeted pages for specific locations, attractions etc around the United States. With many of the TLD's already purchased for these niches, I thought about using the .us extension as it seemed relevant to the topics. Does this hurt seo possibilities or does the .us extension come across as spammy?
Branding | | Millibit2