Changing a subdomain to a full domain to rank for a keyword

[Instabill]

We have been attempting to get our blogsite to rank for our business name(Instabill). We are now considering changing the url from blog.instabill.com to something like instabillblog.com. I have following concerns about the change;

1. Will changing the domain really be that helpful (i.e. will the change get our blog on page one for the term instabill)

2. We have over 350 pages of content on our blog. Will changing the domain have possible negative effects ( I was thinking of using url updater in webmaster tools and creating a permanent 301 redirect from the older url to the new)

3. Having never changed a url for a site with this much content and seo value for my company I would like to know the following from someone who has made mistakes here before;

4. what not to do

5. what steps you would take to make the transition easier

Any help here will be greatly appreciated.

cheers,

Instabill

[RobertFisher]

Instabill,

Broadshout gives you the best answer in my opinion - use a subdirectory format. Note: If your site is large and has a lot of sub directories it could be problematic. If your blog is broken into categories and you then have blog/category/post/ you do not want them to have to go any deeper. So, make sure the to get to Blog, it is at most a one step process from the home page.

You said: "

1. Will changing the domain really be that helpful (i.e. will the change get our blog on page one for the term instabill)...

Well the answer is...  It is likely, but will depend on all the other factors as well. It will improve your ability to rank for that term better than what you have, all other things being equal.

Good luck.

Robert

[broadshout]

Have you considered changing to instabill.com/blog ? This would then concentrate the link value to the main domain name (blog.instabill.com is a sub-domain and therefore considered almost like a separate domain).

Whichever you choose you need to make sure that every single page on the current blog is 301'd to the new page on the new domain.

If you do choose to set up a new domain-name then in addition to the 301's you can also register a change of site name in webmaster central.

I would personally advise considering the instabill.com/blog route. What blogging platform are you using ?