International SEO issues for multiple sites
-
We currently have 3 websites:
We also own Oursite.com, and that URL currently redirects to Oursite.fr.
We are considering a complete site redesign and a possible merge of the 3 sites.
Assumptions:
** the 3 sites currently receive organic search traffic to varying degrees
** Oursite.ch is almost identical to Oursite.fr in terms of the site content
** Our target market is NOT the USA for English-language searches. It is the UK.With a re-design, we see our options as follows:
- Merge the 3 sites and make Oursite.com the "main site" and then have subfolders as follows:
- /uk
- /fr
- /ch
- Keep the 3 sites as they are.
We see Option 1 as the best in terms of saving time when updating the site, and saving money paid to the site developers (1 site vs 3 sites).
We see Option 2 as the best in terms of ability of the site to rank, as well as confidence of searchers when seeing our site in the search results (in other words, a person searching in France would be more likely to buy and/or submit a form on our site if they saw Oursite.fr vs Oursite.com/fr).
I guess we're looking for some suggestions/guidance here. Are we missing any big issues? Does anyone have experience with an issue such as this?
Thank you in advance...
-Shawn - Merge the 3 sites and make Oursite.com the "main site" and then have subfolders as follows:
-
My 10 pence ...
I recently advised a client on a similar issue - they're going international and were trying to work out the benefits of ccTLDS vs subdomains vs subfolders (e.g. yoursite.fr vs fr.yoursite.com vs yoursite.com/fr).
They were particularly concerned about which approach would lead to higher rankings (rather than which would cost more / take longer etc).
After some fairly thorough research on the subject, I summarised the issue into two main points:
1. There is no right or wrong way. Amazon / Apple / Wikipedia (for example) all do it differently and it works out fine for them. Right / wrong case studies are very difficult to find, and there's a lot of fence sitting by almost everyone.
2. There is however a tradeoff between geo-targeted relevancy and amount of work needed to promote the sites:
- A well optimised, country specific ccTLD will out perform a subdomain / subfolder in a straight fight, but there's no cross-over in your campaigns. You need to work each campaign from scratch. More work, but greater reward if you can pull it off.
- On the other end of the scale, sub-folder campaigns will all help each other as all links are pointing to the same domain (so perhaps less work needed). However, their potential is not quite as great as the ccTLD approach.
- The sub-domain approach sits between them, but towards the subfolder end of the scale (some crossover, but slightly less potential).
I'm sure the above is old news to you, but it helped my client to visualise that trade-off. Either way, I based my personal recommendation to them (and now to you) on budget / resource.
- If you have the budget / resources to run separate campaigns competitively, play the long game and go for separate domains.
- If you want a slightly more cautious approach, perhaps have a smaller budget than you'd like, go for the sub-folders.
Finally, I must admit, I am an armchair commentator here, having never gone through one of these properly before. This really is my interpretation of the consensus of SEO opinion.
Do let me know which way you decide to go.
Rob
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
-
Can I safely asume that links between subsites on a subdirectories based multisite will be treated as internal links within a single site by Google?
I am building a multisite network based in subdirectories (of the mainsite.com/site1 kind) where the main site is like a company site, and subsites are focused on brands or projects of that company. There will be links back and forth from the main site and the subsites, as if subsites were just categories or pages within the main site (they are hosted in subfolders of the main domain, after all). Now, Google's John Mueller has said: <<as far="" as="" their="" url="" structure="" is concerned,="" subdirectories="" are="" no="" different="" from="" pages="" and="" subpages="" on="" your="" main="" site.="" google="" will="" do="" its="" best="" to="" identify="" where="" sites="" separate="" using="" but="" the="" is="" same="" for="" a="" single="" site,="" you="" should="" assume="" that="" seo="" purposes,="" network="" be="" treated="" one="">></as> This sounds fine to me, except for the part "Google will do its best to identify where sites are separate", because then, if Google establishes that my multisite structure is actually a collection of different sites, links between subsites and mainsite would be considered backlinks between my own sites, which could be therefore considered a link wheel, that is, a kind of linking structure Google doesn't like. How can I make sure that Google understand my multisite as a unique site? P.S. - The reason I chose this multisite structure, instead of hosting brands in categories of the main site, is that if I use the subdirectories based multisite feature I will be able to map a TLD domain to any of my brands (subsites) whenever I'd choose to give that brand a more distinct profile, as if it really was a different website.
Web Design | | PabloCulebras0 -
HELP! IE secure page display issue on new live site
For some reason IE 7, 8, & 9 do not display the following page: https://www.jwsuretybonds.com/protools.htm All they show is the Norton seal. It shows properly in all other browsers without issue (including IE 10+), but the earlier versions flash the page for a split second, then hides everything. Can someone shed some light on this? This is a new live site we just launched minutes ago and these browsers account for 12% of our overall traffic. UGH I hate you microsoft!!! Thanks all 🙂
Web Design | | TheDude0 -
Creating Multiple Sub-Directories in Wordpress
Hi fellow Mozzers, I'm currently in the process of planning/building a website for e-commerce and have stumbled on a bit of a hurdle with sub-directories. I want to use a piece of software called SellerDeck to generate my e-commerce store and also my homepage (index.html). This element of the build is fine as the e-commerce store will sit in a sub-directory of .co.uk/store/. What I'm struggling with is the rest of the site architecture. I want to use Wordpress to manage content for the rest of the site. I want to have sub-directories .co.uk/help/ and .co.uk/blog/, all managed from one Wordpress installation. Is this possible? If not, does having two separate installations of Wordpress create any speed issues? Additional question for bonus points from me; lets say I wanted to do away with sub-directories for the /help/ and /blog/ elements (but keep the /store/), could I have a Wordpress installation that doesn't generate a homepage (index.php) so I can utilise the e-commerce software version instead. Essentially I'd be installing Wordpress at the root folder, but wouldn't have an index.php made by Wordpress. Many thanks in advance
Web Design | | BlueTree_Sean0 -
What are some of the best Word Press themes for SEO?
Does anyone have any suggestions on the best wordpress themes to use? Here is one that has been recommended to me before: http://www.smallbiztheme.com/
Web Design | | webestate0 -
How can the Web site designer and the SEO strategist work together peacefully?
The organization I work for has decided to re-design or re-develop the existing company Web site. My part in this project is to come up with new features to add to the site, as well as making the site SEO-friendly (copywriting, link-building, keyword research, etc.). I don’t know a thing about Web site design, coding, format, etc., and I guess I will have to work with a designer on this project. How would I go about finding a Web site designer? Should they have some SEO knowledge? How much designer, coding and site structure knowledge should I have? And how do we not infringe on one another as we work together? (Sorry so many questions.)
Web Design | | Obie0 -
Drop Down Menus & SEO?
Do these typically have a negative impact on SEO? I know this is kind of a vague question, does it make it harder to spider? Are there SEO friendly ways of coding these? There are so many sites out there that have these, so I've got to assume it's different on a case by case basis.
Web Design | | MichaelWeisbaum0 -
What is value in site aggregation?
If one was to own 5 sites that were in a similar vertical and at some point decide that managing 5 sites was more of a pain than managing 1,2, or 3, is it possible to combine sites via 301 redirects and increase the overall DA, and for urls that are similar, PA? So, we have site Hairbrush.com, comb.info, trimmer.com, hairmud.org, and barber.net: Assuming that they have a DA of Hairbrush.com = 32 Comb.info = 36 Trimmer.com = 27 Hairmud.org = 21 Barber.net = 44 Is there any testing that has shown combining the first 4 would increase the Comb.info from DA of 36 to DA of 51, etc? Is there any testing regarding the same, but with Page Authority? Thanks PS Assume other variables are equal. I also realize this could look as if they were all ECommerce, but what if they were service or bricks and mortar?
Web Design | | RobertFisher0 -
Optimzing a new ecommerce site, Need help with URL
Hi We are putting up a new ecommerce website and for product description, our tech team indicates that they must have the skun numbers in the URL. Which one of the following URL structure do you find the most SEO freindly? 1. http://www.Site.com/SKUNumber/ProductDescription/ or 2. http://www.Site.com/ProductDescription/SKUNumber/ My personal opinion is that most relevant content should be on load page so I like option 1. Thanks
Web Design | | CookingCom0