Subdomain cannibalization
-
Hi,
I am doing the SEO for a webshop, which has a lot of linking and related websites on the same root domain. So the structure is for example:
Root domain: example.com
Shop: shop.example.com
Linking websites to shop: courses.example.com, software.example.com,...Do I have to check which keywords these linking websites are already ranking for and choose other keywords for my category and product pages on the webshop? The problem with this could be that the main keywords for the category pages on the webshop are mainly the same as for the other subdomains.
The intention is that some people immediately come to the webshop instead of going first to the linking websites and then to the webshop.
Thanks.
-
Hello Mat,
I don't think I'm seeing the same SERPs as you. Is there any way you could give me an example of one of these subdomains?
And yes, you're absolutely right that the same problem of keyword cannibalization would apply to subdirectories as well.
If it's the woltersk....lu domain I am getting non-secure warnings from Firefox when I try to access it.
How many different subdomains are there / will there be? Is it just shop.domain.lu and www.domain.lu or are there others? I didn't see any for "courses." or "software." in the SERP example you provided with the link. If it's just one, I think that's manageable. For example, maybe www. could focus on informational queries (e.g. JavaScript course) and shop. could focus on transactional ones (e.g. Buy Acme JavaScript course). Maybe one could focus on reviews and comparisons, or long-tail queries while the other focuses on short-tail queries. Without knowing more about the domains and your business, it is difficult for me to say. If you have three or four subdomains all going after the same keywords, that's definitely a problem and I don't think you can avoid cannibalization. At that point, it would be best to choose the strongest domain/subdomain and focus your efforts on ranking one of them instead of watering down your efforts over several.
-
Thanks for your answer Everett.
The structure was indeed created some years ago, when ranking with different subdomains wasn't really a problem. It is quite normal that there is an overlap between the webshop subdomain and other subdomains. The subdomains dive deeper into a specific part of the business (tax, legal, formations,...) but on the webshop all of these different products from the subdomains are sold.
However, for some search terms, some of the subdomains all rank on the first page. For example: https://www.google.com/search?q=successierekenaar&oq=successierekenaar&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0.3257j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
As you can see, the root domain as well as two subdomains and a link to an app, take the first four positions in the SERP.Key question is: if there is a possible search term to rank for, but one of the subdomains already ranks for this term, can it still be used? Otherwise, it won't be easy to find a unique search term with a high enough search volume for each product, since it is a market with very specific products.
On the other hand, if subdirectories were used, it basically comes down to the same: never try to rank two pages for the same search term. -
Also, don't forget to use Google Search Console's "Property Set" feature. However, I think they're about to start auto-created property sets by aggregating subdomains soon anyway: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-domain-property-26645.html
-
The short answer to your question is: Yes, you should know what keywords each of your subdomains rank for and should adjust strategy accordingly.
The long answer is that I want to see this website because it doesn't sound like something I'd recommend doing in the first place. It used to be that subdomains were treated completely differently from the parent domain and you could, theoretically, take up the entire first page of results with your subdomains. Content mills like About.com took this to the extreme and Google responded so you don't tend to see that happen much anymore. As I understand it, Google also attempts to make a determination as to whether this is the same "site" or multiple, unrelated sites, such as site.blogspot.com subdomains and treats them accordingly.
These days, the general consensus is that you should be using subdirectories/folders instead of subdomains for a variety of reasons, unless the subdomain is for a different site, or something you don't really need to have indexed, like a closed app.
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
-
Domains vs Subdomains for similar brands.
Hi all! I work for a company who have 6 different brands in the same industry targeted at different demographics. Some of them have a lot of history and are well known and respected, others are newer targeted at different price points/ types of people. I've been asked to input on there ongoing web strategy; should they use sub domains or individual branded domains. Previously that had separate brand domains but a new MD wanted to bring everything together into one website. The branded domains were redirected to the new site and it has been going along fine, albeit having lost 1/3rd or so organic traffic. Now a new management team has been brought in and they want to re-structure the website again to put more focus on the brands. Any new website will be on a brand new domain anyway as they are also re branding their main website. What will work better, separate branded domains or sub domains of one website? From what I understand, SEO won't be much different between the two options, but it feels like the bigger historical brands should have individual websites purely from a branding perspective. Thanks for any input!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RemarkableAgency0 -
Blog On Subdomain - Do backlinks to the blog posts on Subdomain count as links for main site?
I want to put blog on my site. The IT department is asking that I use a subdomain (myblog.mysite.com) instead of a subfolder (mysite.com/myblog). I am worried b/c it was my understanding that any links I get to my blog posts (if on subdomain) will not count toward the main site (search engines would view almost as other website). The main purpose of this blog is to attract backlinks. That is why I prefer the subfolder location for the Blog. Can anyone tell me if I am thinking about this right? Another solution I am being offered is to use a reverse proxy. Thoughts? Thank you for your time.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ecerbone0 -
Correct Internal Linking Flow / Keyword Cannibalization
Hi, Would like some advice re our internal linking structure and possible keyword self cannibalization on our ecommerce site.. Will try and give you an overview. Imagine this page structure: Site
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | bjs2010
Brand 1
Brand 2
Brand 2 Shoes
Products
Brand 2 Sweaters Then say in Brand 2 Shoes page we have the shoes, e.g., the products labeled as Brand 2 Shoes "Name of Model"
Brand 2 Shoes "Name of Model" Now, what I'm worried about is that if I do a search for "Brand 2 Shoes" it should bring up my landing page right? But it doesn't, it brings up some of the products instead... I'm worried that we may be self cannibalizing some of the keywords - and thinking of changing the product page to be "Brand Name of Model Shoes" or "Name of Model Shoes by Brand" Any ideas or comments appreciated! Thanks all0 -
Subdomains and Forwarding Domains
Will someone who has experience chime in on these two issues below: Do sub-domain links which link back to the main site count as a new link from a new site; or would they be considered more of an internal link? Basically, would a sub-domain link to the main site be like a link from a unique website, or treated like any other internal link on the main site? I am speaking in terms of link juice. Should we 301 sub-domains to the main site internally? Thank you, we really appreciate any input you have!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DJ1230 -
How to properly 404 pages from a subdomain
SO I am working on a site that had a subdomain that attracted a lot of spammy links. I researched the backlinks to this subdomain, and there were no beneficial links at all. I am thinking the best thing is to 404 this subdomain. What is the best way to do this? Should I just edit the DNS settings so that this subdomain does not point to the root domain? Or is there something that should be done in webmaster tools? Thanks in advance!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | evan890 -
Subdomain blog vs. subfolder blog in 2013
So I've read the posts here: http://moz.com/community/q/subdomain-blog-vs-subfolder-blog-in-2013 and many others, Matt Cutts video, etc. Does anyone have direct experience that its still best practice to use the sub folder? (hopefully a moz employee can chime in?) I have a client looking to use hubspot. They are preaching with the Matt Cutts video. I'm in charge of SEO / marketing and am at odds with them now. I'd like to present the client with more info than "in my experience in the past I've seen subdirectories work." Any help? Articles? etc?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | no6thgear0 -
PDFs and images in Sub folder or subdomain?
What would you recommend as best practice? Our ecommerce site has a lot of PDFs supporting the product page. Currently they are kept in a sub domain and so are all images. Would it be better to keep them all in a subfolder? I've read about blogs being hosted on a subfolder to be better than subdomain but what about pdfs and images? thoughts?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Bio-RadAbs0 -
Subdomain canonicalisation
Hi Moz fans, I had a telephone conversation with an SEO company last week and they mentioned that the following "versions" of my domain were causing a canonicalisation issue; http://www.example.com www.example.com example.com I've already fixed the /index.html issue but do the above 3 also need to be fixed? Is the best solution to use a 301 redirect? As a side note, the SEOmoz web app doesn't identify these as being duplicate content... Regards, Ash
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AshSEO20110