Sub Domain vs New Domain

[stephenfishman]

I have an existing blog separate from my main e-commerce site. (mainsite.com).

Is there any advantage at all in moving the blog to a sub domain like blog.mainsite?

I know putting it in a sub_folder_ is best. I don't want to do that because of security concerns.

Handcrafter

[NakulGoyal]

Sure, have a look at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/what-is-a-reverse-proxy-and-how-can-it-help-my-seo

Using reverse proxy, there are no technical/security concerns.

[stephenfishman]

I am using a miva merchant shopping cart. On the corporate blog, they advise against using wordpress on the domain because credit cards demand very high security.

And thank you for the link to http://www.michielgaasterland.com (marketing in plain language - wooo!)

[CMC-SD]

Can you say more about this? Our web guy also wants the blogs on subdomains for security reasons.

[Resultify]

Hi Handcrafter

I often get this questions from my clients when they want to start a blog. As I see it there are 3 alternatives.

New domain

We typically recommend this option when the blog might loose credibility by being on the main company domain. You also might want to have a different style and tone on the blog. Say a bank wants to start a personal finance blog for teens. The language and tone used here might not reflect the values and tonality used on the main bank website. There could also be a value in this due to the possibility of linking in a smart way between the two domains.

Good: Freedom in the way you communicate, links between the two domains
Bad: Takes long time to get pagerank and domainrank, confusing message to the user

Subfolder

Using a subfolder is the direct opposite to using a separate domain. Its integrated with the site and will be perceived by the users as part of the site. In my opinion style and language should, at least partly, match that of the main website. Search engines will most likely also see the blog as part of the site. Dependent on the domainrank of the main site it might be easier to get a good pagerank for the blog in a short amount of time.

Good: Integrated to the site, one channel, easier to rank on
Bad: har to use different tonality. Can be tricky to use different CMS or publishing tool.

Subdomain

Using a subdomain can be seen as a mix of the both above. It allows for a different technical setup and a somewhat different style and tone. If you have a strong main domain you will have an easier time to rank compared to a completely new domain.

Good: can use different technical setup, somewhat easier to rank on
Bad: Not as integrated as a subfolder, not as free as a new domain

Normally we advise our client to use a subfolder due to the SEO benefits. But only when:

1. Their technical environment can handle it
2. The blog does not use credibility by living inside the main site
3. Style and tonality is somewhat the same
4. The main domain has an already established domainrank

You mention security concerns as your main reason against using a subfolder.

Maybe you can elaborate on this a bit?

Have a great day

Fredrik

PS you can find a bit further info here:

http://www.michielgaasterland.com/blogging/integrating-your-blog-with-your-main-website-choose-subdomain-or-subdirectory/

[Serpstone]

From the point of view of a user it's going to be less confusing to have it as a subdomain.  In that way it at least looks like part of the same site.  From search engines perspective they will be separate sites although they will be on the same server.

If you are using the blog purely for SEO (by that I really mean creating links from another site) then a separate domain on a separate server (c block) is the way to go imho.

If it was me I'd just put it in a subdomain.

Ian.

[NakulGoyal]

Consider looking into the possibility of doing a reverse proxy, where technologically the blog could be hosted externally anywhere and still be a sub-folder and yes you are right subfolder is the best.