Should We Switch from Several Exact Match URLs to Subdomains Instead?
-
We are a company with one product customized for different vertical markets. Our sites are each setup on their own unique domains:
contactatonce.com (Brand)
autodealerchat.com (Auto Vertical)
apartmentchat.com (Apartment Vertical)
chatforrealestate.com (Real Estate Vertical)We currently rank well on the respective keyword niches including:
- auto dealer chat (exact match), automotive chat, dealer chat
- apartment chat (exact match), property chat, multifamilly chat
- chat for real estate (exact match), real estate chatTo simplify the user experience we are considering moving to a single domain and subdomain structure:
contactatonce.com
auto.contactatonce.com
apartment.contactatonce.com
realestate.contactatonce.comQUESTIONS:
1. Considering current Google ranking strategies, do we stand to lose keyword related traffic by making this switch?
2. Are there specific examples you can point to where an individual domain and subdomains each ranked high on Google across a variety of different niches? (I'm not talking about Wikipedia, Blogger, Blogspot, Wordpress, Yahoo Answers, etc. which are in their own class, but a small to mid size brand).Thank you,
Aaron -
I have to disagree with Bryan, I'm afraid - I think you carry substantial risk here, and this is a tricky decision. While EMD influence is declining, it still can carry a lot of weight (and quite a bit more than sub-domain keywords). If most of your traffic is coming from those "head" terms, you may see a serious loss by moving from EMDs to sub-domains.
Sub-domains have other issues, too, like fragmentation. Since the verticals are very different, Google could treat each sub-domain more like a separate domain. Then, your link equity won't consolidate AND you'll lose the EMD advantage. So, there's actually a risk of a worst-of-both-worlds scenario.
Now, to be fair - consolidation can have benefits, like unifying your link profiles, simplifying your other marketing efforts (one site to promote on social media), etc. Also, since your niches are really just different marketing perspectives on the same product, it's possible that your current sites might look a little thin to Google. In that case, consolidation could help, but "consolidation" would mean thinning out the separate pages, not just moving to one domain with a bunch of sub-domains.
Whether it's better for users really depends on your customer base. Do they tend to look for chat products as a general product, and then decide how it fits their industry, or do they look for products targeted to their industry? If the latter, then the separate domains might actually be more user-friendly.
Sorry, I know this is clear as mud, but I just want you to be aware of the complexity and possible issues. I would not make this decision lightly. Please note, too, that I'm generally in favor of consolidation and am not a big fan of an EMD-based strategy. We have to be realistic about what works now, though, vs. what may work in a couple of years, and I'm just concerend about the short-term impact for you.
My gut reaction, long-term, is that you could build a more product-focused site that has solid landing pages for each vertical, and that each vertical may not need a sub-site. This could create a stronger single site over time. It really depends how much unique content you've got within each vertical, and how your visitors find you. Even if that's a good long-term strategy, it could still have short-term negative impact, so you have to be aware of that and able to weather it.
-
In the video, he directly clarifies 301 redirects dissipate PR.
However, I understand the site move tool is supposed to mitigate this faster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU3xyhCXP9Q
I haven't found much credible evidence one way or the other however as it's probably very difficult to test.
To be a paranoid conservative, I'd guess it doesn't transfer 100% PR and any domain migrations must have very strong justifications as there will be an SEO cost.
-
I don't believe so. A google search engine spider reads a 301 and automatically transfers the juice/credibility/authority/social-credit...
See here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Filv4pP-1nw
-
You would have to employ the GWMT's Change of Address feature to not have link equity dissipate through the 301s, no?
-
Hi Aaron,
As long as you 301 all the pages to correct locations (autodealerchat.com 301 to auto.contactatonce.com) you will not lose any link juice, and you will keep your rank on the new pages...
Google wants you to simplify everything for their users. In this case you will lose page age, so I am curious to hear what others have to say...
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
-
301 redirect to URL plus anchor tag???
Hi - my company has just had a site redesign completed, and our "old" site we have landing pages for a full product line. The new design has taken the content from those landing pages and placed them into one long scrolling page. We currently rank well on the "old" landing pages but now all that content is contained in a single page with anchor tags throughout attached to the headings. Can you set up 301's to anchor tags? Example: old site www.mysite.com/products/automotive/auto-parts.html new site: www.mysite.com/products/automotive#auto-parts
Algorithm Updates | | Jenny10 -
New Domain, Subdomain or Subfolder
Hi All, I am working with a bank that would like to rank as many parts of the company site as possible for the company name. This includes the home page, a page on careers and a page on company reviews. The question is, it is better to structure the careers and reviews content on a subfolder, subdomain or new domain. Using subfolders to retain equity of the root domain site.americanbank.comamernicanbank.com/careersamericanbank.com/reviews or (use subdomains - you lose some of the main domain equity and it is counter to the Moz research) americanbank.comcareers.americanbank.comreviews.americanbank.com or set up new domains to overcome Google bias not to rank the same root domain in the top 7 to 10 results multiple times when displaying results for a company name. americanbank.comhttp://americanbankcareers.comhttp://americanbankreviews.com Thanks for your perspective.
Algorithm Updates | | BetterAnalytics0 -
Shortened URLs ??
Anyone have any insight into how shortened URLs affect SEO? I use Bitly occasionally for shortened links and was curious if this matters for any reason at all?? I basically use it so I can fit the links in places where long URLs look absurd...mostly social media platforms. I know there's some debate over whether the domain name affects ranking or not. Frankly, that all just goes over my head. Any thoughts welcomed!
Algorithm Updates | | adamxj20 -
Should I use subdomains?
I'm thinking of a little project website, but wonder whether I should use subdomains, or just simply categorize the site. For example, (I haven't chosen my domain yet) If I had www.flowers.com, and wanted to produce pages for each type of flower, should i use rose.flower.com
Algorithm Updates | | Gordon_Hall
or
flower.com/rose For SEO purposes, or usability, does it matter? Thanks in advance.0 -
What is the best url format ?
hello, I have the multiple site with file format url like contact-us.php, search.php, index.html But now i am going to update my site using any framework such as yii, cakephp, now i need the best suggestion, i wanted to create the seo friendly site, so what is the best format for ulr, 1. file format such as contact-us.php, index.html, about-us.html [or] 2. path based url such as contact-us/ , about-my-company/ [or] 3. path based without slash like contact-us, about-my-company Please provide me the best solution for above Thanks Alex
Algorithm Updates | | massimobrogi0 -
Regarding site url structure
OK so there are already some answers to questions similar to this but mine might be a little more specific. OK website is www.bestlifeint.com Most of our product pages are as such: http://www.bestlifeint.com/products-soy.html for instance. However I was trying to help the SEO for certain pages (namely two) with the URL's and had some success with another page our Soy Meal Replacement I changed the site URL of this page from www.bestlifeint.com/products-meal to www.bestlifeint.com/Soy-Amazing-Meal-Replacement-with-Omega-3s.html (notice I dropped the /product part of url and made it more seo friendly. The old page for this page was something like www.bestlifeint.com/products-meal The issue is that recently this new page and another page I have changed http://www.bestlifeint.com/Whey-Milk-Alternative.html I have dropped the "/product" on the URL even though they are both products. The new Meal Replacement page used to be ranked like 6th on google at the begining of the month and now is like 48th or something. The new "whey milk" page (http://www.bestlifeint.com/Whey-Milk-Alternative.html) is ranked like 45th or something for "Whey Milk" when the old page...."products/wheyrice.html" was ranked around 18th or so at the begining of the month. Have I hurt these two pages by not following www.bestlifeint.com/product.... site structure? And focusing more on the URL SEO? I have both NEW pages receiving all link juice inside web site so they are the new pages (can not go to old page) and recently seeing that google has pretty much dropped the old pages in search rankings I have deleted these two pages. Do i just need to just wait and see? According to my research we should rank much higher for "Whey Milk" we should be on the first page according to googles own statements of searchers finding good relevant material. Any advice moving forward? Thanks, Brian
Algorithm Updates | | SammisBest0 -
Is it OK to 301 redirect the index page to a search engine friendly url
Is it OK to 301 redirect the index page to a search engine friendly url.
Algorithm Updates | | WinningInch0 -
Another Domain ranking instead of my Domain
Hi My Domain name is Replicahause.net, 2 weeks ago my server had an outage for 3 days and my rankings dissappeared in google entirely, however i also noticed that when i typed in my domain name "replicahause" or "replicahause.net" , i would see abhishekyadav.com appearing on #1 in google which does a 301 into Replicahause.net I was able to convince the owner of Abhishekyadav to remove the 301 but my site Replicahause.net's Rankings still does not appear to have come back to google, is there something i'm missing here ? We were ranked #1 to #10 for at least 40 keywords, they've just seemed to dissappeard after the server downtime we had and the 301 from AbhishekYadav.com Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | jansimon0