Subdomains vs. Subfolders Wordpress Multisite

[LoganYard]

I am in the process redesigning my organization's website using wordpress multisite. I am currently planning on creating subdomains for each of the locations, as I thought that having a keyword saturated domain name would provide the best rankings.

So the Omaha office would look like this: omaha.example.com

Would it be better to go with example.com/omaha?

Things to consider:

• Google adwords is currently a huge source of our traffic. Despite having very good organic rankings, we receive most of our traffic from pay-per-click sources. The "display URL" has dramatic effect on our CTR, so I want to avoid subfolders if possible. (example OmahaEmergencyDental.com receives far more click thru's than EmergencyDental.com)
• Each location currently has it's own domain and website (omahaemergencydental.com) these sites/pages have been in place for several years

Thanks in advance!

[allancurtis301]

The advantage of having a subdomain is - if it gets hit by a penalty, it doesn't take the entire root down, however if you're using subdirectories and its gets a penalty, it propogates the root....

[LoganYard]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I was definitely on the fence before this last post.

I still have this gut feeling that people like sub-domains. It makes them feel comfortable that they're dealing with a larger brand, and makes us look professional and trustworthy. My background is primarily in branding, so it's really difficult for me to let go of the implied trust and clout that subdomains provide.

One of our biggest goals with the new website is to reduce the bounce rate, and improve our conversion of visitors to patients. That said, if we won't see much gain in rankings (and therefore traffic) from changing to subdomains, we are loosing more potential visitors, and would require a much higher conversion ratio to justify subdomains. I think you have all convinced me to move back to a sub-folder structure.

Thanks again,
Logan

[Cyrus-Shepard]

Hi Logan,

I've read through this entire thread, and both Alan and Jeremy have some good points, but after reading your last comment I'd strongly opt for directories instead of subdomains.

As far as the display URL goes, Google will allow up to 35 characters, so you could possibly use
EmergencyDental.com/Omaha

I think what you propose...

Take:

• omahaemergencydental.com
• desmoinesemergencydental.com
• seattleemergencydental.com
• etc...

And make it:

• omaha.emergencydental.com
• desmoines.emergencydental.com
• seattle.emergencydental.com
• etc..

...is diluting your domain authority amoung too many subdomains. As Alan said, you want to be careful about inter-linking all of these subdomain. Whereas if they are all on the same subdomain (but in different folders) than interlinking is less of a problem.

Aside from preserving Domain Authority, I think you have the opportunity to create a stronger brand voice using "Emergency Dental" than all the subdomains which emphasize the city first.

Ultimately, there are few instances where subdomains make sense, and I could be wrong based on the information presented, but the circumstances would have to be pretty convincing for me to create a subdomain structure like you propose.

Hope this helps! Best of luck with your SEO.

[AlanBleiweiss]

While it's true that in the overwhelming majority of situations, sub folders are the best solution, I'm going to say that purely from the very limited information shared so far, having sub-domains is far better than having full-blown individual domains, and though not necessarily as good as sub-folders, its still better than the current domain model you have.

It needs to be executed REALLY WELL - with extremely careful thought and consideration given to navigation and cross-domain linking.  However, simply by having subdomains, you instantly let every prospective visitor understand they're all part of the same root domain. That alone boosts your trustworthiness in a BIG way.  And Google does a fair job now at understanding (and in turn providing SOME ranking value) to the root domain from subdomains.

Just don't link to every other subdomain from every other one.  Because that will instantly KILL your SEO.

[jgower]

Please take it for what it is, advice from a wannabe SEO.  I'm basically a newbie at it, but here's what I think:

Use directories, not sub-domains.  Sub-domains basically tell google to separate everything.  They work well for people that have user generated content, like wordpress.com because if one user posts horrible dupe content with pages of links it doesn't hurt the whole site.  On the other side of things, that subdomain does not get favoritism from google because it's on wordpress.com...

So, for your site, I'd recommend against sub-domains.  It's pretty, but it doesn't bode well SEO-wise.

Also, dont forget to 301 those domains to the appropriate URL when you change things up

[LoganYard]

Jeremy,

Right now we have several different websites, with different designs, and I would like to combine them into one, well-organized, cohesive, corporate website.

Part of our strategy is to make our organization look large, well-established, and trusted. IMO a single corporate website with sub-directory websites for individual offices is like the business suit of website architecture. Currently, with more than seven separate sites, different domains, and different branding on each, I'm afraid it doesn't carry the professional message we're looking for.

My idea was:

Take:

• omahaemergencydental.com
• desmoinesemergencydental.com
• seattleemergencydental.com
• etc...

And make it:

• omaha.emergencydental.com
• desmoines.emergencydental.com
• seattle.emergencydental.com
• etc..

We currently have more than a dozen offices, and there is a good chance we will be adding more offices soon. I really don't like these long domain names, and I find they are very hard to read. I really like the consistent nomenclature and logical format of subdomains.

Another consideration is if we open an office in NYC, and that domain has already been taken it ruins our consistent nomenclature. Subdomains relieve that issue, but at what cost?

Thanks again for your input!

[jgower]

Subdomain will receive less authority because example.com/omaha will receive some benefit from being in the parent domain.  Are you saying you want to get rid of the domains that have been in place for several years?  What are you wanting to accomplish by switching these sites?