Deleting Subdomain - 301 to Homepage Best Option?
-
We have a subdomain with lots of content that we think Google may consider thin, so we're thinking of removing it to improve our SEO. Is the best way to do this to simply remove the directory and then 301 everything to our homepage?
Basically the subdomain consists of product images with links to retailers where they can be purchased. We've basically used it to refer our Facebook fans to when they like a product they've seen on our Facebook page, so the subdomain was not meant to rank for SEO purposes. However, it is integrated with our main webpage, and it is possible that it is hurting our SEO efforts.
The subdomain is photos.yournextshoes.com and the main domain www.yournextshoes.com
-
Well, just took a look at your subdomain links and there's nothing bad there. You can go ahead and remove the subdomain placing a 301 to your homepage.
-
Basically it takes a lot of time to update the subdomain, so we'd rather just remove it and instead post more content on Facebook.
-
What don't you just block Google and other search engines from crawling/indexing the subdomain?
That will keep the content there while not affect your SEO at all (and prevent from having bad backlinks from subdomain now pointing to domain (if any) by using a 301).
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
-
Redirecting homepage to subdirectory
Any issues with 301 redirecting a site's homepage to the English version subdirectory? Example: Original homepage: www.mysite.com New homepage: www.mysite.com/en/ The site is very old and very authoritative and trusted with lots of traffic.
Technical SEO | | SoulSurfer80 -
Should I blow up our subdomain?
Hey folks, Several years ago we created a couple subdomains (ie, NEWS.URL.COM) and the posts that we put on this subdomain were very full of keyword anchor text links. Each post sometimes had 4-5. We haven't posted any new content on this subdomain for 3 years. After getting hit with manual "linking" penalty, we disavowed tons of links. But left the links on the subdomains alone. They really aren't providing any traffic and the content is poor, and not written by me. Do you think having these links is hindering our ranking efforts? I think I should just blow up this subdomain and get rid of it and all the keyword anchor links. Thoughts? Thanks ron Thoughts?
Technical SEO | | yatesandcojewelers0 -
Am I using 301 correctly?
Hello, I have a 'Free download' type site for free graphics for designers. To prevent hot linking we authenticate the downloads and use a 301 redirect. So for example: The download URL looks like this if someone is clicking on the download button: http://www.website.com**/resources/243-name-of-the-file/download/dc37** and then we 301 that URL back to: http://www.website.com**/category-name/243-name-of-the-file** Is a 301 the correct way to do that?
Technical SEO | | shawn810 -
To 301 redirect or not to 301 redirect? duplicate content problem www.domain.com and www.domain.com/en/
Hello, If your website is getting flagged for duplicate content from your main domain www.domain.com and your multilingual english domain www.domain.com/en/ is it wise to 301 redirect the english multilingual website to the main site? Please advise. We've recently installed the joomish component to one of our joomla websites in an effort to streamline a spanish translation of the website. The translation was a success and the new spanish webpages were indexed but unfortunately one of the web developers enabled the english part of the component and some english webpages were also indexed under the multilingual english domain www.domain.com/en/ and that flagged us for duplicate content. I added a 301 redirect to redirect all visitors from the www.domain/en/ webpages to the main www.domain.com/ webpages. But is that the proper way of handling this problem? Please advise.
Technical SEO | | Chris-CA0 -
What's best hosting option for web design company targeting UK market?
Hi, What would be the best hosting company to go with if I want to promote my site in the UK? Right now it's hostgator and I know I'll have to change it. Should I get something located in the UK (logic would suggest it) and rather dedicated server (very expensive, especially if you're using wordpress) or shared hosting will do? Thanks in advance, JJ
Technical SEO | | jjtech0 -
Best way to use affiliate links
What is the best practice to use amazon affliate links in blog posts? I have read different opinions on this, and want to be sure I'm using best practices. I sometimes link to amazon with an affiliate link on some of my posts, and am working on a top ten Christmas gift ideas for Children born with Down syndrome with lots of affiliate links on it. I'm want to be sure I'm using best practices when adding links like this. Tanks!
Technical SEO | | NoahsDad0 -
What is the best website structure for SEO?
I've been on SEOmoz for about 1 month now and everyone says that depending on the type of business you should build up your website structure for SEO as 1st step. I have a new client click here ( www version doesn't work)... some bugs we are fixing it now. We are almost finished with the design & layout. 2nd question have been running though my head. 1. What would the best url category for the shop be /products/ - current url cat ex: /products/door-handles.html 2. What would you use for the main menu as section for getting the most out of SEO. Personally i am thinking of making 2-3 main categories on the left a section where i can add content to it (3-4 paragraphs... images maybe a video).So the main page focuses on the domain name more and the rest of the sections would focus on specific keywords, this why I avoid cannibalization. Main keyword target is "door handles" Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Technical SEO | | mosaicpro0 -
What is the best way of generating links with our exchanging them
I have read that google do not look kindly at sites that exchange links so i am trying to find a way of generating links to a new site. I am building a new site and need to start to get google to index it and build important links to generate traffic. I have looked at link exchange sites but have read that this is not great with google and it is better if you have sites where there is just one way linking. I do not want to buy links and would like to find a way of generating free links which can help build up traffic and the status of my new site. Any help would be great
Technical SEO | | ClaireH-1848860