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Ask HN: Why is the support website traditionally hosted on a subdomain?
I thought that using a subdomain hurts SEO and couldn’t find an answer that justified this pattern:
support.google.com
support.microsoft.com
support.apple.com
EDIT: I should clarify that none of my examples use a ticket system. Instead, they have support articles and search. The content is very SEO-able.
https://support.apple.com/billing
https://support.google.com/a/answer/1224185?hl=en
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-store-and-billing
- WA 4y agoBecause you can point your subdomain to whatever support system provider you want on the DNS level and be done with it. No need for rules in the web server config. - Not all companies care about SEO for their support pages. - Having thousands of support pages can have negative SEO effects if you want only one single marketing page to be the top result. - Subdomains are probably not as hurtful as you think in some cases, but I’m no expert on subdomain SEO.
- bradwood 4y agoBecause when the _main_ domains goes down, you should (hopefully) be able engage with the support function.
- jaskyle 4y agoSometimes it comes down to having a third party service handle support or provide the framework, so adding it as a subdomain makes it easier to integrate into your site. And Google often treats subdomains as their own site so you can have a well structured support driven layout, rather than a site trying to showcase featured content while battling with support content.
- ev1 4y agoSEO doesn't matter for a ticket system.
- zkirill 4y agoI should clarify that all of my examples lack a ticket system. Instead, they have support articles and search. The content is very SEO-able. https://support.apple.com/billing https://support.apple.com/billing https://support.google.com/a/answer/1224185?hl=en https://support.google.com/a/answer/1224185?hl=en https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-store-and-billing https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-store-and-bill...
- altdataseller 4y agoAnother reason, is user-experience related: It's much easier for users to remember.