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We're about to finally launch a corporate blog to market our product and services.
We already have a highly succesful eCommerce website with a great page rank, very well indexed in google.
We're debating with our IT group the best strategy to host our Wordpress powered corporate blog.
I think the best solution, SEO-wise, is to have it reside under http://www.example.com/blog
But for technical reason, they would rather have it reside at [blog.example.com...]
I've heard this is the second best option.
Can you shed some lights as to why having a subdomain is less beneficial from an SEO stand point than going the directory route.
Also, if we go with a subdomain, to what extent is it sub-optimal than the ideal sub directory solution?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Lothaire
[edited by: engine at 2:22 pm (utc) on June 10, 2009]
[edit reason] Please use example.com [/edit]
In a brand new site case, would you prefer to get the link diversity of the new site higher by using a blog subdirectory or does it still not really matter?
1. end user/customer interaction shown on the product page help boost conversion rate.
2. customer to business interaction help solving quite a few more issues and make problem surface.
3. blogs with correct keywords also boost the PR in SEO, should potential customers uses the particular keyword.
The above feature basically is a product or services related blog, with full/partial contents showing on the product page & allowing users to comment.
If you upload your product to ebay etc, then add the blog as well.
Therefore, the question of hosting it as a subdirectory or as a subdomain is not as crucial as I tended to think initially...?
It could be. Hostnames (aka sub-domains) if set up properly can have just as much if not more power than the root domain. I've seen it happen. And, I'm looking at a search result now that also shows that protocol is still being followed in this instance. I remember seeing a hostname that had higher PR than the root domain. It can and does happen. It is all based on internal linking structure and external links, especially in a hostname environment.
Google has since fixed this flaw and only in very rare cases do you see 4 listings like this.
In many instances they have not. It really isn't a flaw either. If you read the protocol on hostnames, they are typically an entity in themselves. You can compartmentalize a website using hostnames (http://blog.example.com/) more effectively than using sub-directories (http://www.example.com/blog), Or at least that is how the spec describes it.
The thing with hostnames is that you don't just arbitrarily use them because they may present an SEO value. And from what I've discovered, they appear to be treated as separate entities above or inline with the root domain. I say above because you can influence those hostnames differently than a sub-directory, yes you can. I won't explain any further because I surely don't want to be profiled by Google. :)
^ DO NOT start setting up hostnames because of the above. Many would do it incorrectly and probably cause more harm than good. Don't make the mistake of following advice (from one person) that is best served under a very strict protocol.
Leaving aside the PageRank™ discussion, where it seems that sub-directory vs. sub-domain is pretty much neutral, what about...
Again, I've seen instances where PR flows upward to the hostname and a few where it was higher than the root domain. Take some time and read the RFCs for domain names, hostnames, etc. I know, you'd rather watch paint dry. Well, there are references throughout multiple RFCs and other specifications that have convinced me that hostnames are equal to if not greater than the root. Sub-directories are not. They are usually equal to if not lesser than the root. And in many instances, lesser than. That's not the case with hostnames. I feel the PR flows differently at the hostname level. That's just me. I've only tested <100 across various domains in different industries. ;)
think you domain.com and blog.domain.com are seen as almost the exact same entity by Google. I say this becuase my blog.domain.com is showing up now in my WMT account for domain.com as "Your page with the highest PageRank"
That would mean every free blog on the wordpress domain benefits from being on wordpress.com - there's no way that's true.
And if that were true then none of us would create blogs on our sites, we'd leach off wordpress and blogger domain names.
[edited by: BradleyT at 3:04 pm (utc) on June 16, 2009]
Why would i make that up?
I have in WMT 2 accounts:
domain.com
blog.domain.com
In domian.com it shows my blog.domain.com as my "Your page with the highest PageRank"
If you send me a sticky with you email, i will email you a image.
I am inclined to be sceptical about what conclusions
In domian.com it shows my blog.domain.com as my "Your page with the highest PageRank"
All that means is there's a possible bug in WMT.
In many instances they have not. It really isn't a flaw either. If you read the protocol on hostnames, they are typically an entity in themselves.
I meant it was a flaw in a sense that spammers could take advantage of owning the top 4 orgainc listings. It still does happen, but in most cases it is for good reason, not spam.
