Subdomains and INK

[agerhart]

I know that we have discussed this before and that everyone has their own opinion. The issue of subdomains and search engine ranking. I think that alot of people will agree that INK has a problem with sub-domains and labels them as spam in most cases. I believed this as well.

To test it out I submitted a sub-domain and sub-directory of a site. The pages were optimized the same and were targeting the same types of keywords with regards to competitveness and market.

When I checked today I noticed that the sub-directory has alot more click-throughs and ranks for more keywords. But, the sub-domain also ranks in the top 5 for a number of keywords and keyword phrases.

So, what is the deal? Does INK not have a problem with sub-domains? Does INK only rank sub-domains when the keywords are medium and below competitiveness? I am still wary of using them, but I thought this was interesting.

[Rumbas]

Good question.
In my opinion they rank equally well.
I have both subdomains and -directories in Ink and both are generating traffic. However I don't know if the subdomains actually get penalized to some extent. Some produce significant results though.

We talked about it before. Brett posted here [webmasterworld.com] in feb.: 3rd level domains are almost garanteed a ban from inktomi.

I can't say that I totally agree, cuz I have a few subdomains ranking fine - but otoh they're all on domains that probably are in white db.
I also have subdirectories on domains not in the white db generating good results. Hmm, I'd like a clarification on this as well.

[agerhart]

I have a feeling that we are not going to get any conclusive evidence or solid information that will result in a policy that we can stick with.

If anyone's got info, let's have it!

[paynt]

Are you taunting me out of the shadows agerhart ;)

I’ve been doing such a great job of staying under the radar and not making any canonical waves, for months now.

I will give you this. All of the canonicals I work with are doing great in Inktomi and in Google, probably the best in Google but certainly not bad in Inktomi.

Let’s just keep that between us though, ok. I’d hate for this to get around and then even more people would start using them. Suddenly I’ve been enjoying the benefit of canonicals and realize converting others to their use may not be the best business move, if you know what I mean;)

[paynt]

Someone recently had a problem though with Inktomi and the way the canonicals were set up on the server side. I'll see if I can get him to post. I've been watching but haven't seen his post yet about it. It could be the reason some people are having problems.

[Rumbas]

Thanks paynt, for investigating this.

Added: REMOVED DUE TO POOR EYESIGHT ;)

[keywordbuys]

My subpages have always ranked better than my homepage. I think xxxxxx.com/keyword/keyword.html works well with INK.

[egomaniac]

I have 4 subdomains off of my site, one of which I have fleshed out with a lot of content. I am not noticing anything that leads me to believe that there is any penalty to using a subdomain. I think using subdomains gives me some site branding advantage which I like. And I am using all of them to implement a theme pyramid for my content.

Of the 4 subdomains, 3 of them get top 4 positioning on moderately competitive keywords (in Inktomi Pure Search). One of the three that rank well, one has 40 pages, one has 3 pages, and one has only 1 page. The 4th subdomain, which as 3 pages, is in a very competitive category and is ranking somewhere around position 25.

I plan to increase the number of pages in all of these over time. I am personally quite pleased with the results.

Oh, and here's the problem that Paynt mentioned in her second post above:

[webmasterworld.com...]

[nell]

Using them with a legitimate site seems to work ok but I had a doorway site with over a hundred pages that were ranking fine until I put some additional pages up with a subdomain. The ENTIRE domain was quickly banned - and still is.
It would seem that subdomains raise a flag for INK's spam patrol. A person from INK may then actually go to the site and see if the site is, in fact, spam or not.
In my case the site got the "BOOT".

[paynt]

That’s very good information nell. Thanks for sharing it with us. That could be why all my sites using canonicals do so well. Although ‘spam’ is a relative word in the search engine world, on the surface my canonical sites are I figure well-optimized (i.e. spam in some corners – therefore yes, in that case I DO spam) yet not obvious doorway types because every page ties into the site with unique content and individualized linking. I suppose it pays to continue with the effort spent on building high content sites in this manner. It sure takes a lot more thinking and time though then the good old Inktomi or even Infoseek days when doorways were king.

[sanity]

I have a client with a main site at www.domain.com.au and a second (totally different) site at wigets.domain.com.au. We originally created 2 separate websites years ago as their business is geared towards 2 distinct markets. We've never had a problem with Ink or any of their partners and have numerous top 5 possies for both sites. As I said though the sites and their content are mostly different.

[agerhart]

Paynt,

I knew that this thread would get to you!

This thread has confirmed my suspicions that it is a mixed bag. There are reports of people doing well with sub-domains and reports of people being slammed that use them.

As with most other topics and strategies, it is probably on in the way the sub-domains are used.