Seduced by Subdomains - The Architecture Debate Rages On

Posted January 15th, 2008 by Webster
in

I was arguing..er..talking to a several co-workers about the value of subdomains vs subdirectories. The debate was fueled by the recent post by Matt Cutts about Google turning down the juice and hindering multiple subdomains from ranking for a given keyword. Companies like eBay used to be able to take multiple positions for a single keyword by using sub domains cleverly.

The Experts Take

Matt Cutts seems to think that it's a wash and that maintaining subdomains is more difficult. On the other hand, Aaron Wall seems to hint at some lingering benefits. Both individuals agree that they can be used effectively when content is being created that is different from the rest of the content on the site.

The Seduction

Don't let those silky curves and luscious lips blind you. Substance trumps style when it comes to the future of your web site. Your lust for subdomains may dump you into CNAME hell someday and you'll wish you'd used those frumpy subdirectories. Take a step back and ask yourself if you really need them. 90% of the time it MAKES NO DIFFERENCE, but sometimes subdomains can be very effective.

When They Work

For instance, lets say you sell flowers over the internet. Then lets say you open a gardening school. If you want to carry your brand equity over to the gardening schools, a subdomain is a great solution. Another good use is if you just have one or two. Say a subdomain for your videos or tools. This one subdomain can still take up a second spot for your brand name. Even with the recent Google actions.

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Good post on a hot topic,

On January 16th, 2008 Matt Kluemper says:

Good post on a hot topic, Webster. As you noted, there are times for subdomains and there are times for subdirectories. I would like to see some background statistics on the effectiveness of marketing a site on a subdomain versus marketing one subdirectory of a big web site (location.website.com vs. website.com/location.html). For example, if you are going to employ a different marketing strategy for each geotargeted location. For sites such as Craigslist (phoenix.craigslist.org, kansascity.craigslist.org), geotargeting cities as subdomains is very effective. However, it could just be that it is a huge brand name, and it is hard to compare Craigslist to sites using subdirectories when trying to decide which is best for the business/brand.
I must admit - I have, at times, been lured by "silky curves and luscious lips" ...... of subdomains... :)
In the end, I'm also thinking that it won't matter because Google is advanced enough to determine how your site, at times even your marketing strategy, is structured.

Click through on subdomain vs directory

On January 16th, 2008 Webster says:

Would be nice to see some research. Maybe Marketing Sherpa will do a study on this. Maybe they already have, but I couldn't find anything. Someone could do a test. Half subdomdains, half directories. Maybe Adam could do it on his site.