For A Corporation With 3 Distinct Business Divisions, Is It Better To Go With 1 Domain & 3 Sub-Domains, 1 Domain & 3 Folders, or 3 Domains for SEO Purposes?
-
Hi, I am working on a project right now for an existing client, we have one domain up and running well, they want to create an 'umbrella' site to cover three current business divisions and roll everything up under that main site, including the existing site on a totally different domain (would migrate over and 301 redirect from current domain). From what I've researched, I am inclined towards one main domain with three sub-domains due to the amount of content for each business division being significantly different enough that it seems to deserve separation from each other.
However, in terms of SEO and maintaining consistent domain authority, would anyone recommend it be better to structure this as just folders/categories falling under the main domain instead of separate sub-domains for each division, and focus keyword targeting on pages tailored to that end within the main domain structure rather than spreading out link-juice to different sub-domains? Thanks!
-
Marcus -
Hi, thanks for the helpful considerations, I certainly agree it seems to be much simpler to keep it all as one and ensure a clean hierarchy with breadcrumbs for nav and so on. Perhaps that may yet be the best way to go, I will definitely keep your points in consideration as I discuss with the client!
- Dan
-
Hey Daniel
I am not sure there is ever a single right or wrong answer in these situations as there are just so many moving parts.
I tend to lean towards a single site as, well, it's a single site so just one site to maintain and focus on. But, we have to consider the differences in the business areas and if one area is airplanes and the other is icecream then... maybe the differences are just too pronounced.
I think a helpful way to decide is to consider the likely users and audience for the site(s).
- Who is the site for? What do our typical users look like?
- Do people understand that A is the parent company of X, Y & Z
- Is it going to work for users best as one site or three or does it not really matter
- Who is going to maintain the site and add content?
- Are there any business reasons to have separate sites?
From a pure SEO perspective, three sites would likely give you more scope with each site being truly focused on it's core area, but that comes with the burden of much more work.
With a single site everything is simplified and as long as we ensure we have a very sensible structure and a good clean hierarchy then we should be able to make it easy for a user to navigate and understand where they are within the site and for Google to understand the three different and distinct areas.
I am thinking bread crumbs, URLs, consistent page titles etc.
URL: www.example.com/airplanes/
Breadcrumb: Home > Airplanes
Page Title: Airplanes - Example.comURL: www.example.com/icecream/
Breadcrumb: Home > Icecream
Page Title: Ice Cream - Example.comURL: www.example.com/underpants/
Breadcrumb: Home > Underpants
Page Title: Underpants - Example.comIt's all too easy to overcomplicate things and certainly three or even four sites is way more complicated than one. Just remember your users, consider how they may arrive at the site and make sure the structure, breadcrumbs, page names, page titles and everything else all create a consistent experience.
Likewise, ensure that the homepage makes it very easy for people to get to where they need to be (think signposts).
Who knows as well, there may be opportunity to cross sell in having the three businesses on one site and certainly additional marketing like email marketing, analytics, PPC etc all creates extra work to manage effectively on several sites compared to a single site.
If this was me I would be gunning for a single site but with a serious consideration of the pros, cons and any problems or opportunities that may make one or three a better choice.
So, not an answer as such, but maybe something to get you thinking along the right lines.
Hope it helps!
Marcus
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
-
How does adding ecommerce to a site affect SEO? What are the negative and what are the positives?
We are thinking of adding ecommerce to our website as a service to our customers. We generate most of our leads through online quote requests but heard that it may be beneficial to our SEO if we add ecommerce for a few products. Is this true? Does anyone have tips on best and worst SEO ecommerce practices?
Web Design | | TeguarMarketing0 -
How to redirect special pages to new domain?
Hello. I have 2 websites in diffrent category and i want to move some of my visitor that arrived in specific page of doamin1 (url like this: http://example.com/pages/.........)to root of domain 2.
Web Design | | vahidafshari450 -
How does a Responsive Site kill SEO?
How does a Responsive Site poentially kill SEO? I've seen a few feeds on twitter how a website took a rankings dive after implementing a Responsive theme; yet, it's not clear to me what is actually going on within a Responsive site that would cause the SEO rank to tank? I can only speculate that it introduces a bunch of 404 errors, or that it changes all of the URLs into gibberish, so you loose all of the links coming into your website if not 301'ed? Can someone clarify, what are the actual mechanical issues on a Responsive website that becomes a concern to SEO? Thanks.
Web Design | | ExploreConsulting1 -
Self hosted or YouTube Hosted Videos for SEO?
I am trying to plug holes in my site and the one thing that is lacking is unique videos. I was wondering what is the best way to go about videos for seo purposes? Should I just post onto a youtube channel and then embed into my site or should I look to just place videos on my site with software or should I use any of the other venders out there like Vimeo? Not sure which is the best route. Any tips?
Web Design | | bronxpad0 -
Websites with only one "html file" and page href # is good for SEO?
I bought one website from templatemonster that contains only one HTML and the pages are generated by links (PROGRAMACAO) My website: www.nextformaturas.com.br This is good in term of SEO? or it is better an website with deveral pages with diferent contents? What are the pros and cons? I really lost on this.
Web Design | | Naghirniac0 -
Can including advertising slots have a negative effect on SEO?
Can including advertising slots at the top and side of pages have a negative effect on SEO? Can Google detect these advertising slots? Can they work our advertising pixels to page content pixels ratio? Any ideas, suggestions, comments and opinions are greatly appreciated!
Web Design | | Peter2640 -
Looking for an open source or wordpress designer that knows seo best practices
I have almost lost my patience in trying to find a web developer for our project. I have searched high and low from freelancers to us based firms. All I can find; freelancers that can't get the job done, but promise they can and us based firms that are currently getting away with murder charging through the nose on work that is not acceptable to say the least. US based Firms 1. Seem to give you as little work as possible to increase their margin. I get it we all need to make money. 2. Everyone knows how to do everything until you start telling them that you have a little education in the industry and will be testing their work. All of the sudden they no longer talk to you. 3. Got a few recommendations and they are all subpar performers. After asking them why their builds load so slow or have so many errors they have excuses that point to the customer Freelancers over seas. 1. I am not sure where to start with this. I have searched high and low in freelancer for someone that I can trust to build a site. Of course there is a ton of junk to look through. After countless hours of narrowing down the individuals I am thinking of giving a shot I find that they are not capable of the job. All I want is a new website from a firm that is honest and knows what they are doing. That is educated in seo best practices. That can build a quality website and actually has references of sites they built that are still up and running and test out alright. It is pretty bad when web development companies miss simple items like h tags. Really? Does anyone know of someone that knows what they are doing? That can work with someone that knows how to run a dvd player. Just disappointing to see all these web companies and freelancers that get away with murder. Who earns their keep in this industry?!?!?!?
Web Design | | forecastedinvestments0 -
Best Home Page design examples - from a SEO perspective. Could You give me a few?
I am int he process of redesigning a home page and wanted to know from our community if anyone had examples on some great Homepage Designs from an SEO perspective. Things I am looking for : 1. Homepage URL/Design 2. Navitagion 3. Call to action Thank you, much appreciated. The home page I am redesigning is www.gunshotdigital.com Vijay
Web Design | | vijayvasu0