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
-
Running 2 different domains
Hi guys, Something i'd like appreciate any opinion on... We own a local domain www.goodycard.co.nz but we're expanding overseas. I've purchased www.goodyhq.com as we'd like to drop the 'card' from URL. We can't get www.goodycard.com. The local site has a decent ranking, but obviously, the newly created HQ site doesn't. What's the best way to tie these in (or even ditch the .co.nz) but retain rank? And what's the best way for users to discover the HQ site? Any insight would help, as both sites are kind of different. One has a local member base and the other just sells software so it really depends on the region of search. Cheers!
Technical SEO | | r.moss0 -
Different Domains on Same IP
Hello I'm just wondering how much of a difference it makes having links to a site from 2 separate domains that are on the same IP, compared to if the domains were on separate IPs? Thank you! Sam
Technical SEO | | wearehappymedia0 -
Is it better for our Blog to be blog.domain.tld or domain.tld/blog ?
I'd dread the answer being the latter rather than the former as we've spent two years building it blog.domain... However I noticed SEOmoz are domian.tld/blog and it got me thinking.... Cheers. R.
Technical SEO | | RobertChapman0 -
301'ing domain to an addon domain
My googlefu failed me in finding this... How to 301 a domain to an addon domain? Domain structure is as follows: http://addondomain.maindomain.com/ http://www.maindomain.com/addondomain/ http://www.addondomain.com/ <--(addon domain has its own domain as well) I want main domain to all point to the addon domain like so: http://www.maindomain.com/ --> http://www.addondomain.com/
Technical SEO | | JasonJackson0 -
How to start more deep seo.
Okay, lets say that I already fixed all my technical seo stuff. All my crawl errors and warnings are gone. Now I really want to start seo so I have a few questions. 1. I know I should work based on a page and not on a domain, so it means I should choose which keyword to optimize each page for? only one keyword per page? or it might be more? 2. Some keywords are very competitive for me, example for my site www.theprinterdepo.com, the best keyword to rank would be printers, but it would take years a beginner to do that, what should I do? 3. If highly competitive keywords are not an option, which keywords shuold I use? the ones that have more global monthly searches? Thanks
Technical SEO | | levalencia10 -
Campaigns Domain and Subdomain... ?
I made two separate campaigns before I understood the meaning of "subdomain". I make one campaign for my www.com and another for my .com. I now realize I should have made the .com the domain and the www. the subdomain in the same campaign. Is there a way to edit this? Thanks!
Technical SEO | | musicforkids0 -
Domain Relocation
My client is running a online news website, which is running for 4 years. He's now looking to change the site into a new domain. I would like to know what are the factors to look out for when changing the site into new domain (In SEO point of view)
Technical SEO | | augmoz110