Subdomains & SEO

[martyc]

Many thanks for both responses.  My thoughts about 301'ing subdomains were the same until I recently came across a site listing their subdomain (301 to homepage) in backlinks which completed the search phrase by joining both subdomain and domain together.  They rank #1 for the search term in Google.  However, I have also seen them using the same anchor text linking to their homepage so this could be a legacy strategy.

Do you think submain + domain = search phrase carries any advantage?

[kchandler]

For every 301 redirect you do, you lose a little link juice.

Also, from my experiences with direct match domains... in google it barely helps. However yahoo and bing still place a lot of value in it. I would focus on building relevant links and on page optimizations for your site rather than trying to get keyword matches in your domain.

[martyc]

V.interesting, thanks.  My only hesistation about using subdomains would be splitting the authority between the two.

But wondering in my reply to Simon about whether there are any benefit of submain + domain = search phrase?

[martyc]

Thanks Kyle.  So direct match subdomains don't come close to exact match domains?

[AlanMosley]

I am not sure how sub + domain ranks in comparison to purly having the keywords in thedomain name itself, but it certainly would help.

I noted that my grammar and spelling was not that good in my explaining above, so
may recap. If you 301 the subdomain, then it will not appear in searh engines
at all, it will show the final url, and there would be no benefit.

As for splitting authority, I don’t think that is true. Looking a site links for
domainname.com shows links for sub.domainname.com, I thing this shows that
search engines can tell it is the same site.

[kchandler]

Sorry i may have worded that oddly in my reply. They would certainly count as a direct match if they are in subdomains. What i was trying to stress is that Google doesn't value direct match domains as much as they use too. However, Bing and Yahoo still do.

So my suggestion was to direct your focus to other important aspects of SEO. Go with a keyword match in your URL off your base domain, focus on those back links with great anchor text, and spend plenty of time on your on-page aspects.

With all of that you will out rank any exact match domain.

[SimonCullum]

I agree with Kyle's comments. Better off concentrating on building good quality links, plus don't forget about the all important content of course, keep it unique, relevant and interesting

[martyc]

Thanks guys.  Just one other thing to throw into the equation, if the domain was unused and only contained half the phrase but a sub domain would be an exact match would it be worth using the subdomain?

The reason I am so interested in exact match is that I have an exact domain which outranks sites which should ordinarily be above mine.

[AlanMosley]

Yes it would.

Exact match domain is best

then i would say exact match sub-domain

then split sub + doamin

even if its in the path its all good.

why not have carrentals.rentals.co.uk to avoid the risk.

[martyc]

Wouldn't rentals.co.uk/car-rentals be better than carrentals.rentals.co.uk if adding the whole phrase?

[AlanMosley]

I dont think so, domian and subdomain out rank path.

i would make that choice on the amount of content i had, if i only had one page i would not go for a subdomain.

[SimonCullum]

A good answer.

[martyc]

Yes, good point about domain outranking path.

I am looking at a new site that should have a fair amount of content so definitely considering the exact match.

One concern is that I can't remember seeing an exact match subdomain rank at the top of search engine results.

[SimonCullum]

That seems like a pretty good indication that it's better to go with the exact match domain rather than completing it with a sub domain.

A sensible URL structure and optimized Titles and Descriptions will also help.

[AlanMosley]

i certianly have, i am woking on a job right now, where we have done just what you are contemplating, and they are ranking 2 on bing and 5 on google for chosen keyword phrase, that is only partial match to subdomain. it definatly has an affect.

[martyc]

Great to hear first hand Alan.  Likewise, I can say that exact match domains hold a significant advantage.

I think I'm going to give the matching subdomain a shot since I don't have the exact match domain.

[AlanMosley]

let us know how you go

[martyc]

Definitely