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Ask HN: Unique domain or subdomain?
I'm wanting to launch some micro-sites that cover niche topics, and am trying to decide if I should get a unique domain for each or just run them as subdomains off my main site. The only difference would be the URL, as the sites will all be running on WordPress 3.0 multisite. What are your thoughts on this? Any difference for my main site and the new sub-sites with SEO on subdomains versus unique domains?
- michaelhart 16y agoI think most, if not all, of the answers you get will be opinions. While clearly a unique domain would be ideal for identity, I think the SEO benefits are very little if any. Look at the number of successful services that give you just a simple subdomain, including Google services like Blogger.
- maguay 16y agoVery true. And, building the main site's brand is what I'd really like to see overall. So I'm thinking of doing short subdomains (apps.techinch.com), and it should make sense, be easy enough to look up and remember, and get the Techinch name out there more. Thanks for the input!
- Multiplayer 16y agoIf the viewers and/or pageviews or what not are going to be aggregated for the purpose of ad sales, or traffic projections for selling the sites to an acquirer, I would go with a single domain with subdomains. It is a much simpler, easier story for everyone to understand and builds the main brand so much better. Been there done that on separate domains. Won't do it again.
- maguay 16y agoSounds good, and in general was what I was thinking, but wanted some input. I would prefer to build my main site's brand, so very good points. Thanks for the input!
- solost 16y agoWhy use subs over directories? If you really want to build a site and brand as well as have your hard work pay off I recommend directories over either option. From an SEO and link popularit standpoint you will only have to worry about a single domain and all of the link building you do will benefit the site over all. With subs you need to treat each sub as a unique URL from a link popularity standpoint making your SEO efforts that much more work. From a marketing perspective again directories feel like the better way to go. If you are building a single brand and not differentiating the products greatly other than by subject matter then directories again feel like a better way to go. Generally I recommend subs for areas of a site that you don't want to have indexed and don't want to worry about natural search for. As far as unique domains unless you want to operate a network of sites you would just be creating a lot more work for yourself than is probably worth it in the begining.
- maguay 16y agoWell, I was thinking of having the sites feel more unique. E.g. different themes, content style. Sortof like how the Envato network of sites are all similar but unique. So, in your opinion, would it seem too odd to visitors if Techinch.com looks entirely different than Techinch.com/apps? Would apps.techinch.com feel better if the site style is totally different? That said, I plan to get a more homogeneous overall theme by spring...
- illdave 16y agoFrom an SEO point of view, I completely agree with solost - using subfolders like techinch.com/apps is much stronger than subdirectories or individual sites - especially if the topics are all relatively connected. I'm not entirely sure how easy it is to do and it would take a bit of hacking with your Wordpress template, but as a compromise you could look at having each category page (so /apps, /widgets, /whatever) have it's own background image - although I imagine completely different themes or very different styles could be a bit of a nightmare.
- maguay 16y agoWhat I ended up doing is creating http://techinch.com/apps http://techinch.com/apps with a full new WordPress install. Currently the main site and the new /apps site are running fully different themes, but I plan to bring them together with a customized WooThemes Canvas next year. We'll see how it goes!
- maguay 16y agoQuick poll: Which one sounds better as an iOS app gallery/review site/subsite? - apps.techinch.com - ios.techinch.com - mobile.techinch.com - something else? - the techinch.com/whatever version of the above? And thanks all for the input!
- Raphael 16y agoIf it's iOS only, "ios" would certainly make sense. However, I would suspect more iOS users are searching for "apps" or "iPhone apps". So I'd go with "apps"; plus in the future you can add categories for more platforms as the need arises.
- maguay 16y agoGood point. It'll be iPhone/iPod Touch apps for now, but definitely want to expand if it grows at all.
- sraquo 16y agoI have some domains which I wanted to use for a similar purpose but I don't need them after all: iosgame.com, ios-game.com, iosgame.net, iosgamer.com, iosgamers.com, ios-games.com, iosgames.net. I can give you them.
- maguay 16y agoThanks for the offer ... very generous of you. I'm actually not planning on covering games much, as I'm not much of a gamer. I'm aiming at covering well-designed productivity and design apps, perhaps some games and fun apps as well but that won't be the focus. Thanks anyhow!
- js4all 16y agoSubdomains are ok seo wise. However Google Webmaster allows some operations only for top level domains. The change domain feature comes specifically to my mind.
- emmett 16y agoIf you're optimizing for SEO, you want unique domains for each one. Google gives a special bonus for searches on .com/.net/.org domains. So if you get bananapeelcompost.com for your new site on that topic, you'll pick up a big SEO boost for people looking for "banana peel compost" on Google. The downside compared to subdomains is of course the cost of the domains (shouldn't be too high if you're not a spammer), and the extra administrative cost. Read http://www.kalzumeus.com/category/seo/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/category/seo/ for more details on the exact topic you're looking into - he has successfully built microsites and written on the topic.
- maguay 16y agoAfter all the thought and consideration, I honestly think I'm going to go with a unique domain and do separate sections off this. I'm trying to do something totally different than my main site, eventually hoping for some synergy between the two, but for now, I think this will be better. Somehow it just doesn't seem right doing mysite.com/somethingelse when the second section is totally different. So, plan from here: get a new domain, something that I can use with multiple sites. I'm thinking something about "one a day" or "something per day" ... any ideas? Then, I'll have apps.newsite.com, whatever_niche.newsite.com, etc. Thoughts? And by the way, I'll still be taking the advice on sub-sites ... just those will be with more similar content. At least that's what I'm thinking now. Thank you so much everyone for your help ... HN is awesome!