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Which is better..using subdomains or having a stand alone domain

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#2
BrentDurham said:
I was browsing through a couple different auto group sites and noticed that some had sub-domains and some had stand alone domain. My question which is better to have? Are there benefits of having one over the other?
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There's no official definitive answer for this question but here's my best:

The rule of thumb for SEO and specifically Google SEO is to build your site with structure that is most usable, logical, and friendly for the user.

Subdomain vs Subdirectory are just two different methods of organizing your content. The primary difference between the two is how they are managed. You can manage subdomains separately from your main domain using DNS or a CNAME. This means you can create usedcars.yourdomain.com today and at anytime break that out into www.used-car-website.com using DNS should you choose to.

The other benefit I can think of is using subdomains to control Page 1 of your brands search results. Unless you have extremely high authority, Google will only display 1 - 2 results in searches from each hostname/subdomain. By having substantial content which differs from your main site broken out into subdomains you gain the benefit of potential increased Page One SERPs. If the content is distinct and unrelated to the subject matter of your MD, Google may give you love for making life easier on the user. Google uses subdomains for their distinct functions; videos.google.com, news.google.com, etc.

Checkered Flag is a good example of GPOM using sub domains.

Something else to consider is that if you use subdomains but don't interlink the SD site to your MD site they will be considered two separate sites by Google.

I know this isn't clear cut but you'll find in the world of SEO answers rarely are.
Hope this helps. :)
 
#3
One year I hear sub-domains are the way to go and another year people say domains. We've always been on sub-domains and that has worked well for us at Checkered Flag. I don't think there is really a difference in which is more effective. As long as you setup your sites with the right keywords, tags, and titles Google will reward you either way you go.

Matt - thanks :)
 
#5
Technically they are the same from a sub-folder layout but as Matt correctly pointed out, sub-domains can be hosted is a different place than your main site. For example, if you had a Cobalt site that was not rockin for SEO, you could have a sub-domain created and place optimized web pages or inventory pages in the sub-domain.

The sub-domain will inherit some of the PR credit from the main site so they index much faster than creating a brand new domain name.

From recent testing, I can say that longer sub-domain chains may actually work much faster than generic, one-word sub-domain names. So a sub domain like nissan-altima.baltimore.md.prestonissan.com may rank faster than you would link for the search phrase "Nissan Altima Baltimore" if this sub-domian had a listing of all your Altima's in stock.
 
#7
brianpasch said:
From recent testing, I can say that longer sub-domain chains may actually work much faster than generic, one-word sub-domain names. So a sub domain like nissan-altima.baltimore.md.prestonissan.com may rank faster than you would link for the search phrase "Nissan Altima Baltimore" if this sub-domian had a listing of all your Altima's in stock.
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Brian,

Do you worry about click-thru's for these listings when they are served by Google? I'm sure a well written Title/Description would help a great deal but the sub-domain above is so complex it becomes hard to discern what the actual parent domain is. (prestonissan.com in this case) This seems counter-intuitive to what Google preaches.
 
#8
BrentDurham said:
I was browsing through a couple different auto group sites and noticed that some had sub-domains and some had stand alone domain. My question which is better to have? Are there benefits of having one over the other?
Click to expand...

Hi Brent

My first post (how very exciting) I'm based in the UK and was very taken with this site and content when I first stumbled across it from one of my Google Alerts.

Anyway, on with show.

Most clients register additional domain and sub domain names because they don't want anyone else to have them. These can then point to their main address until they are ready to use them (if ever)

You can also have a situation where you want a particular department to have their own domain (rental or parts for instance)
example:
happyhonda.com
happyhondarental.com
www.happyhondaparts.com

These can also be used for eMail addresses that offer a little more of a personal touch and can tie in with a campaign, or can be flagged for very accurate response rates to flyer or press campaigns.
example:
rightpartrightnow@happyhondaparts.com

Another benefit to additional and sub domain names is that people do type in the weirdest combinations when seeking an address they might have seen in the press or on a billboard (hope that's what you guys call them) but more frequently radio campaigns.

In the UK we have a TV ad campaign for a comparison web site:
Car Insurance | Compare Cheap Car Insurance - Compare the Market

The analyctics showed that people were keying (probably while they've got the baby, a cat and a remote control in one hand and stabbing at the keyboard of their laptop balanced on a knee with the other, all sorts of weird Google requests, one of which was:
Compare the Meerkat

Well, there's now't smarter than folk trying to sell us insurance, so they built A TV ad campaign around this, and registered the domain of course :)


Hope this is of help
Kind regards
Roger G
 
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#9
Hello,

This is also my first post! I'm new to SEO and have been researching it for a few months now and was curious on how important you guys thought the keyword enriched domain names are at affecting positive SEO.

Example:

You are located in Seattle and are a Ford dealer and you own the following domain names: www.seattleford.com, www.seattleforddealers.com, www.seattlefordparts.com, www.seattlefordservice.com, www.seattleautobodyshops.com

Do these keywords in your domain name have a minor or major implication on your search rank? Assuming they have the content on them which is relevant and have been optimized for SEO.
 
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