Creating a subdomain or subdirectory for each major city for our main website...

[michaelfisk]

If our website is abc.com I am wanting to create a subdomain or subdirectory for each major city for SEO targeting purposes. But I want each domain to go to our see the same content from the main website abc.com.

What's the best way to accomplish this? Duplicating our main page over and over sounds terrible , especially when trying to make changes down the road.

Should we create an alias for each location? example.. abc.com/new-york, abc.com-chicago, etc...?

If we go that route how does google acknowledge that? Would that mess up our SEO or help?

Thanks!

[paulscreationids]

@michaelfisk said in Creating a subdomain or subdirectory for each major city for our main website...:

If our website is abc.com I am wanting to create a subdomain or subdirectory for each major city for SEO targeting purposes. But I want each domain to go to our see the same content from the main website abc.com.
What's the best way to accomplish this? Duplicating our main page over and over sounds terrible , especially when trying to make changes down the road.
Should we create an alias for each location? example.. abc.com/new-york, abc.com-chicago, etc...?
If we go that route how does google acknowledge that? Would that mess up our SEO or help?
Creating subdirectories for each major city on your website (e.g., abc.com/new-york, abc.com/chicago) is a common and effective strategy for local SEO targeting. This approach allows you to serve the same content while also having the flexibility to customize and optimize each page for specific local keywords, which can significantly improve your SEO.

Here's how to do it:

Create Subdirectories: Set up subdirectories for each city on your website. This way, you can manage content updates more efficiently without duplicating the main page.

Canonical Tags: Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues. This tells search engines that certain pages are the authoritative version, avoiding penalties for duplicate content.

Localized Content: Customize each subdirectory with localized content, such as city-specific keywords, meta tags, and relevant local information. This enhances local search visibility and user experience.

Internal Linking: Ensure proper internal linking between the subdirectories and your main website. This helps distribute link equity and enhances user navigation.

Google My Business: Optimize your Google My Business listings for each location, linking back to the corresponding subdirectory on your website.

Google acknowledges subdirectories well, and when done correctly, it can significantly boost your local SEO. Avoid using subdomains (e.g., new-york.abc.com) as Google treats subdomains as separate entities, which might dilute your SEO efforts.

By creating city-specific subdirectories and optimizing them appropriately, you enhance your website's relevance and authority for local searches, improving your overall SEO performance.

[jamal567]

@Kateparish said in Creating a subdomain or subdirectory for each major city for our main website...:

If you want to create subdomains or subdirectories for each major city on your website (e.g., newyork.abc.com or abc.com/new-york) but have the same content as the main website (abc.com), there are a few approaches you can consider:
Subdomains: Creating subdomains for each city can be a good option if you want to have a separate presence for each city. However, it requires additional setup and maintenance. Each subdomain would need its own DNS configuration and potentially separate hosting. From an SEO perspective, search engines generally treat subdomains as separate entities, so you would need to optimize and promote each subdomain individually.
Subdirectories: Using subdirectories (also known as folders or paths) is another approach. With subdirectories, you can create URLs like abc.com/new-york or abc.com/chicago. This approach keeps all the content under the main domain and allows you to target specific locations without duplicating content. It is generally easier to manage and maintain since changes made to the main website will automatically reflect in the subdirectories. From an SEO standpoint, subdirectories can help consolidate authority and link equity to your main domain, which may benefit your overall website ranking.

I disagree with your suggestion to use subdomains or subdirectories for each major city on your website. Instead, you should focus on creating unique, localized content for each city within your main site structure. Simply mirroring the main website's content across different subdomains or subdirectories can lead to duplicate content issues, which can negatively impact your SEO performance. Search engines may penalize your site for having repetitive content, making it harder to rank well for local searches.

Additionally, maintaining separate subdomains can become cumbersome and resource-intensive, as each would require individual SEO efforts and optimization. Even though subdirectories consolidate authority and link equity, they won't add much value if the content isn't genuinely localized and relevant to the specific city.

For example, take a look at EOBI Pension's website. Instead of using subdomains or subdirectories to replicate the same content, they should focus on providing tailored information that addresses the unique needs and concerns of users in different cities. This approach not only improves user experience but also enhances local SEO efforts by delivering more targeted and valuable content.

[Javedalyani]

My website EOBI Login was not showing but now I have fixed it Thanks

[Kateparish]

If you want to create subdomains or subdirectories for each major city on your website (e.g., newyork.abc.com or abc.com/new-york) but have the same content as the main website (abc.com), there are a few approaches you can consider:

Subdomains: Creating subdomains for each city can be a good option if you want to have a separate presence for each city. However, it requires additional setup and maintenance. Each subdomain would need its own DNS configuration and potentially separate hosting. From an SEO perspective, search engines generally treat subdomains as separate entities, so you would need to optimize and promote each subdomain individually.

Subdirectories: Using subdirectories (also known as folders or paths) is another approach. With subdirectories, you can create URLs like abc.com/new-york or abc.com/chicago. This approach keeps all the content under the main domain and allows you to target specific locations without duplicating content. It is generally easier to manage and maintain since changes made to the main website will automatically reflect in the subdirectories. From an SEO standpoint, subdirectories can help consolidate authority and link equity to your main domain, which may benefit your overall website ranking.

[anabia1987]

My website EOBI had the same issue, but resolved now. Thank you so much.

[areebtahir1]

I'm also facing the same problem in my website ranking. Can you give me a solution?

[PickPaints]

I have used the same technique for my website and it worked out for me. Check it on my Website https://pickpaint.co.uk/

[HeinHaji]

I think this is the best idea. I have done the same with my Dawat group domain.

[HeinHaji]

I also want to create the subdomains of my website. My circular saw website has a single domain in the hosting manager.

[GFD_Chris]

If you're seeing localized content rank for different city/state variants, then you can definitely create location pages! However, you'll want to ensure that these pages are unique from your home page and contain content localized to that specific area.

For example, here is page that's targeted to "los angeles car insurance": https://www.esurance.com/insurance/car/states/california/los-angeles

Instead of duplicate content on the home page, this page talks about:

• Required coverages for LA
• Driving in LA
• Auto repair locations

If you want to create dedicated local pages, this is definitely the best strategy!

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Can't agree more, don't even start this process if you don't think you can provide a more unique experience for every city. If you can't, you're likely exposing yourself more to risk than any potential benefits over time.

[EGOL]

This problem has been around for over 20 years and thousands of companies who have used shortcuts lost a domain to penalties and algorithms.  They call this the doorway page problem, the jump page problem, the cookie cutter page problem, the portal page problem, and a dozen other names.

If you want all of these pages you will need to put a team of people onto the task of writing substantive content for each city.  If this company is truly large enough to deserve thousands of doorway pages then they should have the resources to author substantive and unique content for each one.