Multiple domain SEO strategy
-
Hi Mozzers
I'm an AM at a web dev. We're building a new site for a client who sells paint to different markets:
Paint for boats
Paint for construction industry
Paint for, well you get the idea!
Would we be better off setting up separate domains - boatpaintxxx.com, housepaintxxx.com, etc - and treat each as a searate microsites for standalone SEO activity or have them as individual pages/sub doms from a single domain - paints4all.com or something?
From what i've read today, including the excellent Beginners Guide - I'm guessing there's no definitive answer!
Feedback appreciated!
Thanks.
-
I would place them in folders rather than subdomains. This is because subdomains are not treated as well in the SERPs as folders.
-
I have a similar query from a client and I am wondering if the way ahead is to use the domain names as sub domains and give a different look to the niche sections (using Wordpress btw) and list all on the sitemap. That is possible? Advisable?
-
Thanks for your feedback everyone, much appreciated. May even print out this page and take to the next client meeting to validate our suggestion!!!
-
Do you already own an EMD? It's worth considering how good the EMD is and if the site owner is going to use PPC advertising. I can say with absolute certainty that people can talk about Google's crack down on EMD's all day to dissuade you; however, I own a lot of EMD's in the real estate industry. My click through rate is great with them.
If you aren't working for one of the big names in paint (sherwin williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr) then you are not going to get the "recognition" in the paid per click area. You can get recognition for an EMD though.
Just my two cents- It's good to consider all things. I personally operate a site that encompasses all of north west florida, but I do have domains that target neighborhoods that don't rank over my main domain. I simply have better returns on adwords with those domains.
-
People who buy one type of paint likely buy other types of paint - and need brushes and dropcloths too.
If you have all of the products on one domain there can be lots of cross selling.
And if you have one big site instead of ten hotdog stands you will have greater credibility, a stronger brand and become the "GO-TO Place" for paints of all kinds as well as painting supplies.
This is a nobrainer.
-
I recommend using only one domain. You'll have much less setup, maintenance, ongoing SEO work with 1 site compared to 3.
I would just use different sections for the different kinds of paints/markets.
-
yup, agree with Edward and SEO5. EMD cannot be relied upon. Add the content and pages as sub-pages. SEO those pages and link througout the site to these pages. No need for separate domains.
-
i agree with Edward as well. With Google cracking down on exact match domains , you would be better off focusing your efforts on building all the keyword related content on one portal related to that industry. You can have a resources section on the site and write good content on the different topics and over time establish your site as a credible repository of information.
-
The only benefit here would be a keyword-related domain name for each industry; however, as Google has made clear in recent history, this matters less and less.
The major downside would be having four or five sites to build up and promote to rank versus only having one.
While others may disagree, I feel your efforts will be better served concentrating on one site.
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
-
How to redirect old domain to new domain.
We just recently signed up to Moz with hopes of fixing our Moz Ranking. We have an old domain - http://at-net.net and a new domain - https://www.expertip.net We have set up 301 (Permanent) redirects from all pages on the old site to the new, but aren't getting the ranking or aren't getting recognized from external links to the old sites. I've read the moz article on 'Link Juice' and followed those practices, but it doesn't seem to help. Does anyone have advice on doing this? Thanks in advance,
Technical SEO | | greg.lanier
Greg0 -
Using a single sitemap for multiple domains
We have a possible duplicate content issue based on the fact that we have a number of websites run from the same code base across .com / .co.uk / .nl / .fr / .de and so on. We want to update our sitemaps alongside using the href lang tags to ensure Google knows we've got different versions of essentially the same page to serve different markets. Google has written an article on tackling this:https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/75712?hl=en but my question remains whether having a single sitemap accessible from all the international domains is the best approach here or whether we should have individual sitemaps for each domain.
Technical SEO | | jon_marine0 -
Is pointing multiple domains to a single website beneficial for SEO or not?
A client has purchased many domains with keywords in each. They want to have us point each domain to their site for better SEO. Is this a good or bad thing to do?
Technical SEO | | thinkcreativegroup0 -
What is the advantage of using sub domains instead of pages on the root domain?
Have a look at this example http://bannerad.designcrowd.com/ For each category of design, they have a landing page on the sub domain. Wouldn't it be better to have them as part of the same domain? What is the strategy behind using sub domains?
Technical SEO | | designquotes0 -
301 for old domain to new domain - Joomla plugin or cpanel?
A client changed domains and both are being indexed. There are thousands of content pages. I can install a 301 redirect Joomla plugin and configure it so that each page redirects to the new domain. I have a feeling I will need to manual set every page. OR I can create a domain level redirect setting in cpanel using wildcards. I think this will automatically pass every old URL to the new URL. Which is the better approach? The cpanel option sounds like less work.
Technical SEO | | designquotes0 -
SEO mark-up language
Hi there, i have been looking into schema and noticed some articles on it recently too. Who here has used schema/mark-up language in their code? I heard Google will be looking for at this soon to interpret data better. Is it schema .org where i can get the code information from? Any help much appreciated.
Technical SEO | | pauledwards0 -
I Need advice in redirecting domains
I have tow domains (destination/town - travel websites), www.gansbaai.com, and www.danger-point-peninsula.co.za. The one, gansbaai.com is an old domain I bought under which I will be launching a new website in a couple of months. danger-point-peninsula.co.za, is another domain I acquired also about gansbaai, the area. I will we using the domain gansbaai.cm, but want to get the best link juice out of danger-point-peninsula. How do I merge the domains?
Technical SEO | | DROIDSTERS0 -
A client will be translating their entire site into French in addition to English. For SEO purposes, should I host it on the same domain or create its own dedicated domain?
The current site is a long-standing site with good authority and a good number of links. Thanks....
Technical SEO | | JamesBSEO0