One large portal site or separate URLs ?

[gtate]

I'm doing the SEO for a PR6 city portal site with 600 pages, and they seem keen when adding more sections (travel, jobs, property etc.) to set each one up under a separate URL with links from the main site.

My feeling is that they would be better off with one large site with each section as a sub-folder - www.example.com/travel - but I'd be interested in any comments on whether there is a recommended SEO practice on this ?

[edited by: phranque at 9:28 am (utc) on May 20, 2008]
[edit reason] examplified url [/edit]

[phranque]

set each one up under a separate URL

did you mean "separate subdomain"?
(as in travel.example.com)

[gtate]

no, they want to set it up with a completely separate URL, but it's interesting you mention travel.domain.co.uk as this introduces another way of doing it. Are there advantages of having the URL as travel.domain.co.uk rather than domain.co.uk/travel ?

[gtate]

To sum up, it seems I have 3 choices:

a) subdomain - cheaptravel.mysite.com, which seems logical as it gives each category its own identity, and we can incorporate the key phrase in the subdomain name

b) separate URL cheaptravel.co.uk, which has the advantage of having the key phrase in the domain name. However in order to promote the site we'd need to link heavily from the main portal site, and could run into problems with site wide links

c) a sub folder, which would have the advantage of contributing to one large high PR site, but wouldn't have it's own identity (not that I think that this matters from a marketing point of view), and wouldn't have the key phrase in the URL

This must be a question that is routinely dealt with by web masters - your advice appreciated...

[Beagle]

...and wouldn't have the key phrase in the URL

It wouldn't be at the beginning of the URL, but if you use it for the name of the folder it will be included - I don't know what the effect is of having the keyword/phrase in different parts of the URL. Of course, using subdomains would eliminate that possible problem.

One thing that would make me nervous about using this company's method is that it makes for an awful lot of cross-linking. Occasional links between specifically related pages might be okay, but wholesale linking among sites with the same owner can look a lot like link-spam.

[himalayaswater]

I will go with a sub folder option. You can easily link within content w/o worrying about search engine penalty and it will be easy to manage.

[gtate]

Thanks for that Beagle. You say "I don't know what the effect is of having the keyword/phrase in different parts of the URL. "

Anyone out there able to shed any light on this ?

[wolfadeus]

I've counselled several clients on this issue (mostly tourism industry) and the answer for a site with a mere 600 pages content is clear: From the SEO point of view, go for the subfolders.

[gtate]

That's what I like Wolfadeus, a nice clear answer !

[wolfadeus]

And here is why: Subdomains are seen like separate sites/domains by most Search Engines; therefore, you spread the "power" of your 600 pages and break it into several microsites. Sub-domains make sense for projects like wikipedia with ten thousands of pages under every single sub-domain; for "ordinary" websites, focussing on a single domain and using sub-folders concentrates your resources.

[gtate]

Strange, when I googled site:http://www.mydomain.com/ last week it was showing 600 pages, but this week it is showing 37,400! Apart from the fact that I'm confused why this should be so, can I take it from your answer above that this isn't sufficient a difference, and your advice remains the same ?

[pageoneresults]

Strange, when I googled site:http://www.mydomain.com/ last week it was showing 600 pages, but this week it is showing 37,400!

One of two things happening; there is a Google Bug in this instance or, Google is indexing multiple instances of your pages under different URIs. For example...

http://example.com/
http://www.example.com/
http://example.com/sub/
http://www.example.com/sub/

And/or, there are multiple entry points for each page, each entry point a different URI. You could easily take 600 single entry points and turn that into an indexing nightmare.

Are there advantages of having the URL as travel.domain.co.uk rather than domain.co.uk/travel?

Okay, I'm going to make things a little more confusing. I'd prefer the "Hostname" "over a sub-directory" in this instance. Why? Well, if you read the guidelines for the use of Hostnames, the OP has a prime environment for their use.

Whenever you have a site that covers a large topic breadth, I'd tend lean more towards Hostnames. As stated above...

Subdomains are seen like separate sites/domains by most Search Engines; therefore, you spread the "power" of your 600 pages and break it into several microsites.

Exactly. And, this is the reason why you should make the determination now for moving forward. You're a City Portal. Your page count is not going to be that of a Wiki but your website definitely qualifies for a Hostname environment. Six hundred pages is respectable. You may be able to populate under six Hostnames, 100 pages per host. Don't go overboard. I like single words and very succinct. If you have to ask yourself if it qualifies, then it probably doesn't. ;)

I've counselled several clients on this issue (mostly tourism industry) and the answer for a site with a mere 600 pages content is clear: From the SEO point of view, go for the subfolders.

I'd take that advice too which is where the confusion comes in. I don't mess with that industry, the travel industry that is, and I'm sure the whole Hostname scenario has been played out many times. But, you're in an extremely competitive space and you'll need to do "everything" in your power to get to where you want to be. Hostnames may be one of the factors that helps in getting you there.

Subdomains are seen like separate sites/domains by most Search Engines; therefore, you spread the "power" of your 600 pages and break it into several microsites. Sub-domains make sense for projects like wikipedia with ten thousands of pages under every single sub-domain; for "ordinary" websites, focussing on a single domain and using sub-folders concentrates your resources.

Six (06) Hostnames, 100 pages per host. Local City Portal. That's an interesting challenge. Comments from wolfadeus make me think twice about my advice.

[edited by: pageoneresults at 9:47 am (utc) on May 27, 2008]

[gtate]

Just when I thought I was beginning to see the wood for the trees ! Would it be possible to give you the actual URL (I'm not sure of the ethics here and don't want to break forum rules).

[bill]

Would it be possible to give you the actual URL

No. We don't link to our own sites or example sites here. Our Terms of Service [webmasterworld.com] #13 covers that.

[4thePegeh]

If they are thinking about eventually selling off the respective parts individually, then would separate domains let them do so easier than sub-domains.

[edited by: 4thePegeh at 10:35 pm (utc) on May 31, 2008]