Creating a Wordpress Multi-site - Should I have separate Domains or use Subdirectories?
-
Hello,
I have a company building out a website and wanted to get the community opinion on how we should set-up the domain network (separate domains or subdirectories).
Our company has several locations across the country and really act as their own entity in those locations (Austin, Norman, College Station, etc.). Currently, we have all the locations under 1 domain like so... maindomain.com/our-locations/norman. This clearly isn't they way it should be set-up and it was done a long time ago, so we are changing to either:
- Separate Domains already purchased
- Subdirectories such as maindomain.com/norman
I would like to know what would be the best strategy for our communities in regards to SEO?
Thanks!
-
Hi Tyler
You would simply direct the traffic to each of the folders/cities so the cost of Adwords could easily be assigned to each separate office.
There is nothing else to worry about
Regards
Nigel
-
Hi Tyler,
Can you be more specific? What types of issues?
-
Thank you! That makes sense to me on the SEO side.
Any domain issues when it comes to AdWords tracking?
Thanks!
-
Hi Tyler,
I second Nigel's vote for the single domain approach. In a nutshell, it's nearly always better to build your brand on a single website than to try to spread your efforts across multiple websites. Local SEO best practice is to stick with a single domain on which you build out the necessary pages to reflect your various branches, linking to them from a high level menu or a combination of a store locator widget + an accessible html menu somewhere on the site so that you can be sure these pages get indexed.
-
Hi Tyler
You should go with the second option. It is by far the best for SEO. Have the main company information on the main site and then have the different locations as a first sub-directory as you have written it:
Make sure that the new city pages are rich with local information - drop in a photo of the city centre with an alt tag 'Norman' - talk about the main attractions of the town and flesh out the pages with contextually rich local information. Don't simply copy content from the main site as the duplicated content will drag the page down SERPS. If you do this correctly you will have a very good chance of ranking No.1 for your service + City in search.
Don't even think about setting up domains for each city - in fact, go and sell/delete them now!
I hope that helps - oh and don't forget to use Google my business to set up Googe local for all locales! and get plenty of local citations for each city. It should really rock if you do that!
Regards Nigel
Carousel Projects
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
-
Why is my site stuck on page 2 even though it has higher DA?
Hi, I'm just trying to figure out why we're still not on first page for 'criminal lawyer sydney' (stuck on result #15) - I checked out SEO Moz and I can see the Domain Authority for our site 'criminal-lawyer.com.au' - is at 23 which is higher than other sites that rank on first page of this search. I've done a bunch of technical stuff on the site too - so if anyone can give any insight on why this could be happening it would be much appreicated. Thanks!
Local Listings | | SEOByTheMinute0 -
When I search my business, how can I make all my locations to a multi-location business appear in the map pack?
I have a question about local SEO. I do the marketing for a multi-location medical facility. When I search the facility on Google, the website appears on the left and the Google My Business information for the nearest facility to me appears on the right. However, I would like to see a map-pack of all facilities appear under the website information as well. How can I make all locations appear in the map-pack form below my basic website information?
Local Listings | | FlynnZaiger0 -
Ranking for a service website that offers to a large geographic region. Micro sites, one site, google ads, etc?
Hi there I currently have a client that has a service that offers to a wide metropolitan geographic region. Currently we offer location detection when they hit the site. I'm curious what the best method going forward would be. This client is coming from a PPC initially but I've sold them on a longer term goal with organic SEO (local) . So my question is what is the best method for ground up web creation when offering a service that services multiple areas within the same metropolitan region? Bonus questions anyone using Flat CMS's?
Local Listings | | swagseo1 -
Should I use a vanity address when creating local citations?
My client is opening a new location of their business in the Dallas area and has listed the location on their website under Dallas, but their technical address is Farmers Branch. They have not started any citation building efforts, so I will be creating all citations from scratch. Should I create citations using the vanity address containing Dallas or list Farmers Branch as the city?
Local Listings | | CaddisInteractive0 -
How to create a 2nd Google listing for the same brand
Hi All, We have an office in Berkeley CA which has a Google listing. Now we have launched a new office in Hayward CA and we're thinking of how exactly we should create the new Google listing for the office: Create a new google account and submit the page URL in it? Create a new Google account under our Berkeley google account. i.e. to have both under the same account in Google Thanks, Tomer
Local Listings | | OrendaLtd0 -
Do Citation Count As Backlinks / Referring Domains
I listed clients listed on about 200+ local citation sites and was NAP complaint. However, when I run a backlink checker using MOZ, SEMRUSH, etc it only show 8 -12 and none of them are the citations. Anyone have any pointers?
Local Listings | | InfinityTechnologySolutions0 -
Multi-Location Listing Best Practices for Home Office, In-the-Field Positions, and Business Centers
Hi fellow Mozzers! Our marketing agency (based near SF) has partnered with 3 individuals in NYC, LA, and Seattle. I would like reflect our expansion on our site and local listings, but want to make sure we're on the up and up, since it's not a traditional brick-and-mortar expansion. Many people have used similar tactics in a black-hat way, so just want to make sure we don't get grouped in there. Is pursuing local listings in advisable in this case? In the Field/Home Offices - What is the best practice for listing a location in the field with home office - but no official B&M office? Business Centers - How does Google treat business centers where we have a part-time presence? (We legitimately use, can receive mail/phone calls, have an office share allocation, and host meetings in their boardroom.) Local Numbers and Addresses - Will a local phone number forwarding to our main HQ work? We'd prefer to filter all of our calls through our HQ since we have the infrastructure there. Other Considerations - Other than setting up our address and phone numbers on our site and major listings, is there anything else that should be top priority or concern? Thanks for your help here! Andrew
Local Listings | | Alaniz0 -
Does anyone use Moz Local + Yext? How valuable is this for local businesses?
For brands that have a budget to pay $600 / year for valuable backlink directories, would you recommend Moz Local + Yext? I would like to hear some feedback on marketers that use Yext. Thanks,
Local Listings | | ColeLusby
Cole0