undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
  4. Complimentary sub-brand; subdomain, subfolder, something else?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Complimentary sub-brand; subdomain, subfolder, something else?

Intermediate & Advanced SEO
3
6
1.2k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • carlod
    carlod last edited by Sep 20, 2013, 1:19 AM

    Hello forum!

    I have a question about subdomains vs. subfolders for a new sub-brand for a company.

    The company is looking at creating a sub-brand delivering a different service to the parent company. It is complimentary in a sense, but it would need a very different marketing strategy. It is not trying to 'hide' its parent brand at all, but instead would leverage the parent brand as added social proof.

    I've read that creating a subdomain essentially means starting from scratch in terms of SEO, and that a subfolder would better leverage the domain authority the TLD has accrued. However, creating a subfolder does not really gel with me, as it would not in my opinion provide a good experience for visitors.

    I.e. it's like running a website that sells electronics and having a subfolder marketing IT support services.

    Yes, there is some synergy-- but it can also lead to visitor confusion.

    I'd love your opinions on this!

    Carlo

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • stevecounsell
      stevecounsell @carlod last edited by Sep 20, 2013, 9:38 AM Sep 20, 2013, 9:38 AM

      Hey Carlo

      I would go for a separate domain but try buying an aged domain that's clean with some existing back links. Failing that a new domain with keywords in the domain. Yea it still works!

      Hope that helps

      steve

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • carlod
        carlod @vmialik last edited by Sep 20, 2013, 4:32 AM Sep 20, 2013, 4:32 AM

        Hi Vadim,

        Thanks for sharing that video! Seems to conflict with what I've been reading. But I suppose it is coming straight from the horse's mouth.

        P.S. Would love your feedback based on my response to Steve!

        Cheers,
        Carlo

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • carlod
          carlod @stevecounsell last edited by Sep 20, 2013, 4:30 AM Sep 20, 2013, 4:30 AM

          Hi Steve,

          Thanks for commenting. The company provides Managed IT Support to businesses, and is looking to move into digital marketing and web design. So my original thoughts were:

          • brand new domain
          • subdomain
          • subfolder and UI integration <-- (but this thought made me nauseous)

          What do you think?

          Regards,
          Carlo

          stevecounsell 1 Reply Last reply Sep 20, 2013, 9:38 AM Reply Quote 0
          • vmialik
            vmialik last edited by Sep 20, 2013, 4:20 AM Sep 20, 2013, 3:33 AM

            Hi Carlo Del Fabbro,

            You mentioned that you prefer not to use sub-directories but prefer sub-domains. To my understanding and according to Matt Cutts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MswMYk05tk subdomains and subfolders work the same way.  There are some downsides with subdomains, but I do not believe they are with SEO, so it should not steer you away from using a subdomain.  I am not sure why Rubix mentioned that in the post maybe ask him to clarify or get others to chime in

            Hope this Helps!

            carlod 1 Reply Last reply Sep 20, 2013, 4:32 AM Reply Quote 1
            • stevecounsell
              stevecounsell last edited by Sep 20, 2013, 3:22 AM Sep 20, 2013, 3:22 AM

              Would it be more confusing to have:

              http://itsupportservice.myelectronics.com rather than http://myelectronic.com/itsupportservice/

              At least you get the leverage all the SEO work on the main domain!

              It may depend on the brand and sub-brand though. What's the main main brand and sub-brand?

              For what it's worth, my opinion is that you should go for a /folder/ off the main domain...

              Regards

              Steve

              carlod 1 Reply Last reply Sep 20, 2013, 4:30 AM Reply Quote 0
              • 1 / 1
              1 out of 6
              • First post
                1/6
                Last post

              Got a burning SEO question?

              Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


              Start my free trial


              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.

              • See all categories

              Related Questions

              • Alces

                Ecommerce store on subdomain - danger of keyword cannibalization?

                Hi all, Scenario: Ecommerce website selling a food product has their store on a subdomain (store.website.com). A GOOD chunk of the URLs - primarily parameters - are blocked in Robots.txt. When I search for the products, the main domain ranks almost exclusively, while the store only ranks on deeper SERPs (several pages deep). In the end, only one variation of the product is listed on the main domain (ex: Original Flavor 1oz 24 count), while the store itself obviously has all of them (most of which are blocked by Robots.txt). Can anyone shed a little bit of insight into best practices here? The platform for the store is Shopify if that helps. My suggestion at this point is to recommend they all crawling in the subdomain Robots.txt and canonicalize the parameter pages. As for keywords, my main concern is cannibalization, or rather forcing visitors to take extra steps to get to the store on the subdomain because hardly any of the subdomain pages rank. In a perfect world, they'd have everything on their main domain and no silly subdomain. Thanks!

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jun 13, 2019, 10:45 AM | Alces
                0
              • kayl87

                Favourite tool for unlinked brand mentions?

                Hey Guys, There seems to be multiple tools on the market for unlinked brand mentions for link building e.g. Ahrefs, Moz, etc. Which one is your favourite? Cheers.

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 22, 2018, 4:12 AM | kayl87
                0
              • ims2016

                Should I run my Shopify store on a subdomain or buy a new domain for it?

                I'm planning to set up a subdomain for my Shopify store but I'm not sure if this is the right approach. Should I purchase a separate domain for it? I'm running Wordpress on my website and want to keep it that way. I want to use Shopify for the ecommerce side. I want to link the store from the top nav and of course I'll use CTA's in a variety of ways to point to merchandise and other things on the store side.   Thanks for any help you can offer.

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 28, 2017, 3:50 PM | ims2016
                0
              • vtmoz

                What are best page titles for sub-folders or sub-directories? Same as website?

                Hi all, We always mention "brand & keyword" in every page title along with topic in the website, like "Topic | vertigo tiles". Let's say there is a sub-directory with hundreds of pages...what will be the best page title practice in mentioning "brand & keyword" across all pages of sub-directory to benefit in-terms if SEO? Can we add "vertigo tiles" to all pages of sub-directory? Or we must not give same phrase? Thanks,

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 1, 2017, 11:58 AM | vtmoz
                0
              • jyoung222

                How to resolve duplicate content issues when using Geo-targeted Subfolders to seperate US and CAN

                A client of mine is about to launch into the USA market (currently only operating in Canada) and they are trying to find the best way to geo-target.  We recommended they go with the geo-targeted subfolder approach (___.com and ___.com/ca). I'm looking for any ways to assist in not getting these pages flagged for duplicate content. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jan 9, 2014, 3:01 PM | jyoung222
                0
              • SEI

                Merging two different domains - subdomain or subfolder?

                My company has two sites on different domains. We are considering merging the sites into one and keeping only the dominant domain. The dominate site is already a sub-domain of a larger organization so the new sub-domain would be two levels deep.  I realize this is a little abstract so below is an example Dominant company site:       company.root-domain.com Secondary company site:     other-root-domain.com When they merge, everything will be on company.root-domain.com. Should it be other.company.root-domain.com   or company.root-domain.com/other Note: The other site has several hundred pages. Both sites have strong authority and link profiles. I want to maintain as much of the value on the other site as possible with the merge.

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Dec 13, 2013, 11:40 AM | SEI
                0
              • SamCUK

                How to add subdomains to webmaster tools?

                Can anyone help with how I add a sub domain to webmaster tools? Also do I need to create a seperate sitemap for each sub domain? Any help appreciated!

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Aug 3, 2013, 10:24 PM | SamCUK
                1
              • CMTM

                Subdomains for niche related keywords

                I wanted to know how efficient using a subdomain is, taking in consideration all the updates Google has made lately. I am looking to use a subdomain for a well branded website for a niche specific part of their website. The subdomain will end-up having more than 100 pages. I'd like to see in what cases do you guys recommend using a subdomain? How to get the same benefit out of a subdomain as i am getting from the actual main domain?

                Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 31, 2011, 3:29 PM | CMTM
                0

              Get started with Moz Pro!

              Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

              Start my free trial
              Products
              • Moz Pro
              • Moz Local
              • Moz API
              • Moz Data
              • STAT
              • Product Updates
              Moz Solutions
              • SMB Solutions
              • Agency Solutions
              • Enterprise Solutions
              Free SEO Tools
              • Domain Authority Checker
              • Link Explorer
              • Keyword Explorer
              • Competitive Research
              • Brand Authority Checker
              • Local Citation Checker
              • MozBar Extension
              • MozCast
              Resources
              • Blog
              • SEO Learning Center
              • Help Hub
              • Beginner's Guide to SEO
              • How-to Guides
              • Moz Academy
              • API Docs
              About Moz
              • About
              • Team
              • Careers
              • Contact
              Why Moz
              • Case Studies
              • Testimonials
              Get Involved
              • Become an Affiliate
              • MozCon
              • Webinars
              • Practical Marketer Series
              • MozPod
              Connect with us

              Contact the Help team

              Join our newsletter
              Moz logo
              © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
              • Accessibility
              • Terms of Use
              • Privacy

              Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.