
Ask HN: Unique domain or subdomain? - maguay
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?
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solost
Why 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
Well, 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
From 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
What I ended up doing is creating <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!

~~~
solost
Taking a quick look, I think the experience is okay. While things are
different they are not so radically different as to make me feel uncomfortable
as a user.

I am not sure if this is the approach I would take, I very much like the
homepage theme, however I am certain you have reason why you are doing what
you are.

Good luck and keep us up to date.

~~~
maguay
Hmm ... so you would think it would be better to just keep adding more diverse
topics to the main home page? Or you like the main theme and would use it on
the sub-site?

What I'm thinking is that by having niche sites, I can feature a nice-designed
app per day in a small post in a small post without swamping my main content.
Similar to Greatwebapps.com ... and I hope to do a network of sorts of sites
like that eventually. But, I'm not certain it's a good approach.

And, by the way, the content on techinch.com/apps is just filler test stuff,
and is in no way the stuff I plan to use once it's publicly live.

Thanks for your suggestions ... I really appreciate them.

------
emmett
If 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/> for more details on the exact
topic you're looking into - he has successfully built microsites and written
on the topic.

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Multiplayer
If 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
Sounds 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!

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maguay
After 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!

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michaelhart
I 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
Very 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!

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js4all
Subdomains are ok seo wise. However Google Webmaster allows some operations
only for top level domains. The change domain feature comes specifically to my
mind.

------
maguay
Quick 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!

~~~
sraquo
I 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
Thanks 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!

