Should I use subdomains?
-
I'm thinking of a little project website, but wonder whether I should use subdomains, or just simply categorize the site.
For example, (I haven't chosen my domain yet) If I had www.flowers.com, and wanted to produce pages for each type of flower, should i use
rose.flower.com
or
flower.com/roseFor SEO purposes, or usability, does it matter?
Thanks in advance.
-
No problem Gordon. This is just me providing an example which can be modelled next to any project, however big or small.
-
Thanks Gary. That's quite an extensive sitemap!
I'm not sure how much I had thought a sitemap through, but I certainly had a vague structure in mind, but you know how these "little projects" - they grow and grow into monsters!
-
Hi Gordon
Simon is certainly right.
Something else to consider...
If you considering building a site, I would certainly "first" get to work on designing a "site map" to help you clarify your site's purpose and goals. This is essential for both SEO and usability.
We did some content marketing recently for Red Funnel IoW Ferries and Red Funnel Holidays. You'll see we've split all of their content into a well organised site map. http://www.redfunnel.co.uk/information/sitemap/
You may already know this Gordon, but I wanted to point this out because so many new businesses build a site which does not cover their "customer needs". A site map will give you a clear picture to expand your content for your targeted audience, as well as the SEO benefits.
-
I have been watching how google treats subdomains for a long time.
My conclusion is that Google can not make up their mind how to treat them. Sometimes their power is united with the site. Sometimes they are isolated. When they are isolated all of the assets that you have placed on them have little value towards the success of your website.
So, if you want your web assets to consistently receive favorable treatment and pull in concert for your domain then they should all be placed in folders on the primary domain.
It is easy to be fooled by observing "how subdomains are being treated today" because google will likely change their mind tomorrow.
-
Thanks Simon. That was generally my opinion, mostly based on the fact that the majority of websites do it the way you say, but I thought I'd ask the question before I embark on the project.
-
Hi Gordon
Sub-domains in my experience are not the best way to dissect your content or your site with topics as varied as you are suggesting. The best method might be internal directories.
For Example: www.flower.com/roses/red.html and not - roses.flower.com/red-roses.html
I tried using sub domains when I first started out, for my own business and duplicate content issues together with so much additional updating when major changes were required made it a hassle that was not rewarded in ranking benefits.
I recently spent a month eliminating my sub-domains from search and found much more time available to focus on my main site. My rankings in local search flew to the top within a couple of weeks and organic rankings also benefited.
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
-
What is the feeliing of "Here's where our site can help" text links used for conversions?
If you have an ecommerce site that is using editorial content on topics related to the site's business model to build organic traffic and draw visitors who might be interested in using the site's services eventually, what is the SEO (page ranking) impact -- as well as the impact on the visitors' perceptions about the reliability of the information on the site -- of using phrases like "Here is where [our site] can help you." in nearly every article. Note: the "our site" text would be linked in each case as a conversion point to one of the site's services pages to get visitors to move from content pages on a site to the sales pages on the site. Will this have an impact on page rankings? Does it dilute the page's relevance to search engines? Will the content look less authoritative because of the prevalence of these types of links? What about the same conversion links without the "we can help" text - i.e., more natural-sounding links that stem from the flow of the article but can lead interested visitors deeper into the ecommerce section of the site?
Algorithm Updates | | Will-McDermott0 -
Is there any way to prevent Google from using structured data on specific pages?
I've noticed that Google is now serving what looks like host-specific video cards on mobile for our site. Is there any way to control which videos are included in these lists without removing the structured data on those clip pages or user pages? We don't want to noindex those pages but we don't want content from those pages to appear as video cards. 1kzPW
Algorithm Updates | | Garrett570 -
Google AMP (accelerated mobile pages), can it be used for non-Google news and Ecommerce Websites?
Mozzers, I've been doing a lot of research on Google's new Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) https://moz.com/blog/accelerated-mobile-pages-whiteboard-friday. From what I'm seeing, these AMP version websites are only for Google News-worthy websites such as New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and the BuzzFeeds of the world. But what about Ecommerce websites like Ebay or Amazon? Will AMP versions of "scotch tape" via OfficeDepot work in the SERP's on non-Google News cards?
Algorithm Updates | | Shawn1240 -
Anyone have experience with using HTTPS compared to HTTP and how it could affect rankings?
Are there any negative or positive effects of using https over http when it comes to rankings?
Algorithm Updates | | classifiedtech0 -
New site or subdomain
what are pros and cons of launching a new product site as opposed to placing it under a subdomain of the company site? will the new site be placed in the google sandbox? the main goal is to provide credibility for the product, and by placing it under the company site that has been live for over 10 years. It is not a consumer product - more dealers. So people would be pushed to the site or find it through the brochure.
Algorithm Updates | | bakergraphix_yahoo.com0 -
Using a sites custom code for multiple websites: good or bad?
Is it bad to utilize a custom codebase for multiple websites? Does that play a factor within Google? Also, what about hosting sites with the same custom codebase on the same dedicated server?
Algorithm Updates | | WebServiceConsulting.com0 -
AS we using the keyword related to our link but we are not listed in first page of Google search
AS we using the keyword related to our link but we are not listed in first page of Google search, but our competitors using the same keyword , they are listing in first page. how we can short this problem and get into first page on search
Algorithm Updates | | krisanantha0 -
Using Brand Name in Page titles
Is it a good practice to append our brand name at the end of every page title? We have a very strong brand name but it is also long. Right now what we are doing is saying: Product Name | Long brand name here Product Category | Long brand name here Is this the right way to do it or should we just be going with ONLY the product and category names in our page titles? Right now we often exceed the 70 character recommendation limit.
Algorithm Updates | | mlentner1