How to spin off a site

Taking a subtopic to a new level

[ardent]

I have a successful site that I started around topic A. I built up the site by moving through sub-topics A1, A2, ... A15, and jumped a bit to include topic B. Now topic B is getting as much traffic as A, and it should really have its own website to allow it to grow properly in its own space.

What are some strategies for transition B from a subtopic in one site to a full-fledged site of its own? The goal, of course, is not to lose the traffic or serp position.

Suggestions?

[blue_eagle]

I started with topic A as well and now in the same site I have E1-E2 etc. :) Which means I added more topics and subtopics by time and I had the same question you had. If you are not going into very detail about the other topics I would say do not open a new site. Your first site is established anyways and your brand is known.

[pageoneresults]

Your first site is established anyways and your brand is known.

Good advice. There are two ways to approach this, actually three. I would assume that you've addressed one of them and that has to do with the structure of the site. In most environments where there are multiple topics, a common site structure might look like this...

www.example.com/topic1/sub/
www.example.com/topic2/sub/
www.example.com/topic3/sub/

The second option would be to take a sub-domain approach and do something like this...

topic1.example.com/sub/
topic2.example.com/sub/
topic3.example.com/sub/

The third approach would be to establish a new brand under a new domain. There are a few drawbacks to this in today's space. For one, it is very difficult to get a new site seated in the SERPs these days. It takes time, perseverance and lots of patience. If you do choose the third option, be sure to implement 301s from the current site topic to the new site.

P.S. I've seen sub-domains outrank their root domains in certain situations. ;)

[ardent]

In this particular case I think it makes sense to spin off into a different domain for the following reasons:

1. The current domain name is good for topic A, not so good for topic B.

2. It would be easier to pitch topic B to advertisers if it had its own domain.

3. Having topic B on the original site detracts from the cohesiveness of the site, which is really geared to topic A.

With the 301 redirect, what exactly do the search engines keep (eg. inbounds, pagerank, etc.) and what do they toss? Setting up a new domain seems risky, and I'm trying to get an idea if it is worth taking the risk.

[blue_eagle]

I think it all depends on the person. The more web sites and the more work you have to do may be equal to less chance to succeed. If you have 5 topics and open new site for each one that means different domains. x5 link building, x5 seo work and x5 more work.