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Franchise sites on subdomains

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  • Webrevolve
    Webrevolve last edited by Mar 5, 2012, 1:07 PM

    I've been asked by a client to optimise a a webpage for a location i.e. London.

    Turns out that the location is actually a franchise of the main company. When the company launch a new franchise, so far they have simply added a new page to the main site, for example:

    mysite.co.uk/sub-folder/london

    They have so far done this for 10 or so franchises and task someone with optimising that page for their main keyword + location.

    I think I know the answer to this, but would like to get a back up / additional info on it in terms of ranking / seo benefits.

    I am going to suggest the idea of using a subdomain for each location, example:

    london.mysite.co.uk

    Would this be the correct approach. If you think yes, why?

    Many thanks,

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • Vizergy
      Vizergy @Webrevolve last edited by Mar 5, 2012, 3:11 PM Mar 5, 2012, 3:11 PM

      I completely agree.  I have had very similar projects.  Good luck!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • Webrevolve
        Webrevolve last edited by Mar 5, 2012, 2:37 PM Mar 5, 2012, 2:37 PM

        Hi Vizergy,

        Great answer.

        The root domain is strong, so I’d imagine the sub folders will get some benefit from this.

        Yes, it is one page-per franchise deal so I think the approach I’ll be taking is making sure each of these pages has its own unique content (and checking for duplicate site wide), targeted towards the locations target KW/Phrases.

        With a few decent links pointing to each location page, and indeed the domain, I think will both benefit.

        Vizergy 1 Reply Last reply Mar 5, 2012, 3:11 PM Reply Quote 0
        • Vizergy
          Vizergy last edited by Mar 5, 2012, 2:30 PM Mar 5, 2012, 2:13 PM

          Hi Michael,

          From my experience a sub-domain isn’t going to benefit much from the main site’s authority therefore needing a major link building campaign of its own.  I would say, if this is going to be a one page per franchise project rather than multiple pages of content, you might be better off with the sub-folder. That would allow the page to benefit more from the authority the main site has already gained.

          I am not saying you won’t need to build links but I believe the necessary work would be less.

          My two cents 🙂  Cheers

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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