Landing pages vs internal pages.

[kbloemendaal]

I actually prefer subdirectories over subdomains.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites

There is a good resource on the topic... there were a couple of good instances to use a subdomain, but it also said you wouldn't necessarily get the authority of the root (which you will with a subdirectory).

[EGOL]

You say that you are a beginner at SEO.  That's honest.

However, you are jumping in with keyword research, registering domains, building landing pages, giving sites a diverse appearance.

I don't agree with a lot of your strategy.

In my opinion, it would be a good idea to put on the brakes.

Before you sink more of your time into things that are probably not going to work well it would be a good idea to increase your knowledge or hire someone who can get you moving with a solid plan.  Your team  might also need a referee.

[bsofttech]

This post is deleted!

[nyanainc]

I read the post of Rand. Is totally out of my point of view. This kind of subdoamins I know that they don't pass anything to your site. http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors#predictions. Read this post and you see what I mean. I mean to build subdomains of your site which include the keywords in and my main domain to be with your brand. Like this you avoid the devaluated old trick from the exact match domain, you build your brand and you have also the keyword inside the domain and not in a subdirectories as a subdomain is much powerful like a subdirectory. Me like this I am working and is going pretty well. Also the content on the subdomain must be related to the main site and to be connected between them. I think Egol can tell us if me or you is correct. Maybe we are both wrong but me I don't think so .... Anyway cheers and be happy. From where are you? Me I am from a small island called Cyprus, in Mediterranean sea, down from turkey.

[nyanainc]

If you redirect it to another site with 301 the domain will disappear from google. If you like to keep it then use a 302 redirect. I hope that this helps.

[kbloemendaal]

If you are already on the first page of Google with your new domain, whats the problem? Sounds like you were already headed in the right direction....

[jeffreytrull1]

In my opinion, neither of these strategies is very good.

Redirecting domains like the marketer suggests will offer no benefit, SEO or otherwise.

Building content on an exact-match domain could work, but why not just try to rank for those exact match terms on the main site? Getting the new domains to rank may still take a good amount of work. If searchers do click through to those sites, they're still going to have to click again to get to the main site. This could be simplified by just doing a good job to bring searchers to the main site directly.

[EGOL]

I agree.. The marketer's methods are ineffective... and the OP's methods are ineffective.  And, they are at odds with one another.

However, he says that he prefers the school of hard knocks.

In my opinion they are wasting client money until they come to an agreement and develop a genuine plan for marketing and SEO..

[katemorris]

Put simply, the marketer sounds right. But the purchase of exact match domains is not a total loss.

What should have been done:

1. Keyword research done, but not for the keywords that just have the most traffic, but rather those that are relevant and have the most traffic. The relevance is key there.

2. Identified the content on the site that should rank for those terms.

3. If no content exists, creating it on the site so that the content answers the query of the searcher and gives a call to action.

4. Worked with the marketer to influence the links to the pages for each keyword.

What can be done now:

1. 301 redirect the domains to the pages that make sense.

2. Only use those domains for sites if there is a reason for another site to be made on the topic. If your site can do it, leave it to one site, it's less work and less link building.

3. Work with the marketer to get GOOD, relevant links to the page on the clients current site. It's not about him being better than you, it's about you guys working together.

[kbloemendaal]

I am in the US (North Carolina), my name is Dutch though...

Always good discussion, and I don't think either one is right or wrong here.