New site or subdomain

[bakergraphix_yahoo.com]

what are pros and cons of launching a new product site as opposed to placing it under a subdomain of the company site?

will the new site be placed in the google sandbox?

the main goal is to provide credibility for the product, and by placing it under the company site that has been live for over 10 years. It is not a consumer product - more dealers. So people would be pushed to the site or find it through the brochure.

[Kurt_Steinbrueck]

Hi Michael,

By making the product part of the parent site, I'd say you are conveying the quality and reputation of the main brand.  I know people say that Google treats subdomains as seperate sites, but personally, I think they connect it more than a completely different site.  But my question would be why not make it a subdirectory of the main site instead of a subdomain?  Then it's definitely part of the main site for both the search engines and users.

As for the sandbox, you can rank even with a new site.  The thing is that new sites usually don't have any links, shares or reputation whatsoever, so they don't rank well for much, if anything.  On the other hand, if you put the new product in a subdirectory, it's part of the main site and you definitely won't have any risk of the sandbox.

Is there a reason you want to separate out the product from the company?

Kurt Steinbrueck
OurChurch.Com

[brad.s.knutson]

I think it comes down to the branding requirements of the new product.  Is this a major product launch, or just another product amongst an existing product line the company has had for ages?

The advantages of having the new product under the current domain (as a subdomain, or a subdirectory as Kurt pointed out above) would be that you could piggy back off the existing brand and online presence, and it would be easy for new customers to find the product, even if they weren't looking for it.

If the product is new, your company is investing a lot in it, and it deserves it's own branded presence, than a new domain might be the way to go.  Search Engines and Marketers have been moving towards "branding" for a while now, and if this product warrants it's own name, personality, or community - this would probably be the way to go.

[Cyrus-Shepard]

I'm not sure there's a one-size-fits-all answer. From an SEO point of view, if the subdomain has a similar design and structure to the main domain, then the new product 'may' benefit from the domain authority of the root domain.

On a new domain, the site starts from scratch, although I wouldn't worry too much about a sandbox effect.