Complimentary sub-brand; subdomain, subfolder, something else?

[carlod]

Hello forum!

I have a question about subdomains vs. subfolders for a new sub-brand for a company.

The company is looking at creating a sub-brand delivering a different service to the parent company. It is complimentary in a sense, but it would need a very different marketing strategy. It is not trying to 'hide' its parent brand at all, but instead would leverage the parent brand as added social proof.

I've read that creating a subdomain essentially means starting from scratch in terms of SEO, and that a subfolder would better leverage the domain authority the TLD has accrued. However, creating a subfolder does not really gel with me, as it would not in my opinion provide a good experience for visitors.

I.e. it's like running a website that sells electronics and having a subfolder marketing IT support services.

Yes, there is some synergy-- but it can also lead to visitor confusion.

I'd love your opinions on this!

Carlo

[stevecounsell]

Would it be more confusing to have:

http://itsupportservice.myelectronics.com rather than http://myelectronic.com/itsupportservice/

At least you get the leverage all the SEO work on the main domain!

It may depend on the brand and sub-brand though. What's the main main brand and sub-brand?

For what it's worth, my opinion is that you should go for a /folder/ off the main domain...

Regards

Steve

[vmialik]

Hi Carlo Del Fabbro,

You mentioned that you prefer not to use sub-directories but prefer sub-domains. To my understanding and according to Matt Cutts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MswMYk05tk subdomains and subfolders work the same way.  There are some downsides with subdomains, but I do not believe they are with SEO, so it should not steer you away from using a subdomain.  I am not sure why Rubix mentioned that in the post maybe ask him to clarify or get others to chime in

Hope this Helps!

[carlod]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for commenting. The company provides Managed IT Support to businesses, and is looking to move into digital marketing and web design. So my original thoughts were:

• brand new domain
• subdomain
• subfolder and UI integration <-- (but this thought made me nauseous)

What do you think?

Regards,
Carlo

[carlod]

Hi Vadim,

Thanks for sharing that video! Seems to conflict with what I've been reading. But I suppose it is coming straight from the horse's mouth.

P.S. Would love your feedback based on my response to Steve!

Cheers,
Carlo

[stevecounsell]

Hey Carlo

I would go for a separate domain but try buying an aged domain that's clean with some existing back links. Failing that a new domain with keywords in the domain. Yea it still works!

Hope that helps

steve