SEO for sub domains

[Gavo]

I've recently started to work on a website that has been previously targeting sub domain pages on its site for its SEO and has some ok rankings.

To better explain, let me give an example...A site is called domainname.com. And has subdomains that they are targeted for seo (i.e. pageone.domainname.com, pagetwo.domainname.com, pagethree.domianname.com). The site is going through a site re-development and can reorganise its pages to another URL.

What would be best way to approach this situation for SEO? Ideally, I'm tempted to recommend that new targeted pages be created - domainname.com/pageone, domainname.com/pagetwo, domainname.com/pagethree, etc - and to perform a 301 redirect from the old pages.

Does a subdomain page structure (e.g. pageone.domainname.com) have any negative effects on SEO? Also, is there a good way to track rankings? I find that a lot of rank checkers don't pick up subdomains.

Any tips on the best approach to take here would be appreciated. Hope I've made sense!

[JaneCopland]

Hi there,

When developing a new site, if there is no need for subdomains, we generally recommend staying away from them and using subfolders. However as Andy says, there's no reason why subdomains can't be used to create successful rankings and well-performing websites if they're used correctly.

I would suggest changing this structure if it appears the site is performing poorly... but if you can see a lot of other things you could fix to improve performance that have nothing to do with the subdomain issue, I would look at doing those first. The exception to this is link building - if you think that link building is what is needed to improve performance, make the decision about whether to keep the subdomains or use pages / subfolders first. You don't really want to do a lot of link building to URLs that you will then 301 redirect - redirection transfers a good amount of authority from one URL to another, but probably not 100%. Focus link building efforts on URLs that probably won't change any time soon.

My former agency took over SEO for an aged, successful business a few years ago that was using subdomains to target different regions. We didn't like the set up from a purely SEO point of view, but would never have changed it due to the rankings the site already had. We didn't want to put them in jeopardy (it was a very competitive industry). We worked well with what we had. The decision has to be based upon cost / benefit of changing and risking what rankings the site has currently, and how well you believe the site could do if it were structured differently.

Cheers,

Jane

[Andy.Drinkwater]

First of all, a subdomain structure has no negative effect on the SEO or that page, or a complete site, but it has to be done right. However, there are many factors that could come into play here, such as "what would Google think if they did a manual review of the site and subdomains?"

If your feeling is that they look like very obvious attempts at SEO, then yes, do something about it, but using subdomains is sometimes necessary. I use about 8 subdomains for my site, but that is because I use a single page design so I am limited in my options.

That said, I have some great rankings for these, with many 1st page and top 3-4. This is because I can create a site (subdomain) that is very highly targeted.

Not many will take this route for SEO though - there generally isn't the need. You can normally do just as good a job with a normal site structure.

-Andy

[CleverPhD]

Drop the subdomans and 301 redirect them to related pages under the folders as you suggest.  I would spend some time thinking about your folder structure and how it relates to you keywords to make sure you get the keyword names of those folders correct and the hierarchy to be correct and logical as well.

Subdomains divide the authority between all the subdomains.  Use of the folder system consolidates all of that authority under that central URL.  I use this on all my sites and it works very well.  I think use of the subdomain is an old technique that really is not relevant or useful for SEO purposes today.

Cheers!