Forum Moderators: phranque
-- real quick ---
Thanks Brett and all mods/people involved with putting on the WebmasterWorld conference in New Orleans... it was my first one!
I'm very glad I attended!
Thanks
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Anyway, back to my question:
I have a website, some what of a portal for "Computer Technology" with the main feature a large, active message board.
I'm about to extend the portal in that I will make another message board area, very similar to the existing site HOWEVER... this new one is for "experts"
or rather serious discussions only.
ALL the other junk, spam, flamming, people talking smack, etc. etc. will NOT be coming into the new "advanced" forum.
I've had many requests to make such an addition or new forum AND it was my intention to do so anyway.
SO, in terms of SEO - search engines - marketing - traffic (etc)....
Should I create a new domain name or just add a subdictory for the new forum?
Obviuosly, the existing site will link to the new site no matter if new domain or sub directory.
I can think of both pros/cons for doing it both ways... such as:
pro for new domain:
- another website to have (generally more websites is better)
- have new start, no bad stuff coming from old site
- I can have two sites generally money instead of one
- diversify portfolio
con for new domain:
- takes time to generate organic traffic
- extra cost to create new site
-? loose so of the existing brand name?
- main cons is the SEO reasons
pro for sub directory
- SEO... organic traffic will come easy!
- no extra cost
- I will have one BIG, LARGE site
con for sub directory
-? can't think of any?
anyway... I was hoping someone has been in my shoes before... care to share what you did?
What are the "real" benefits of creating a new domain vs. just adding onto my existing site?
THANKS
Larry
If you decided to go with two domains you'd be better off with a host that supports addon domains. One host for two domains which share space and bandwidth but the subfolder for the second site would not show up like a subdomain on the first, it would always show as it's own completely independent domain in the address bar while a visitor browses your site.
If you have two seperate sites then if someone from the lower levels may have to find their way to the advanced place (and I'd assume you have links of course). While that can be avoided with a single domain you will probally (like any other place) deal with the occasional obnoxious person who may wander in to forums you're prefer them not to be.
With SEO and one site you are trying to get people to term link to your one page. Double those efforts with two sites though various content between them could gain more interest in one then the other (depending on many factors).
If you are/were/will be smart enough to do all your styling in CSS you could skip making a whole new site and copy files and mod your stylesheet a bit to get started.
This is not something I've seriously pondered before though I hope this gives you more ground to think about I suppose and best of luck with your endeavors!
should I make 2 domains
abc.com
xyz.com
or just have
abc.com/new_forum
currently I have abc.com is the existing forum, so
abc.com/new_forum would be the location of the new forum
PS. Thanks... I did not think of the extra work to promote 2 sites :)
Just another thought.
