Domain Naming

[jmk909er]

Isn't it possible to use one carefully chosen domain name for many web sites?

For instance:
joe.com/dogtraining
joe.com/housepainting
joe.com/seo

Or am I incorrect and should you have a separate domain for every site?

 

[djbaxter]

It really depends on what you are trying to do.

I am a fan of subdomains, i.e., http://subdomain.maindomain.com.

That makes a lot of sense from the standpoint of branding (and authority eventually) as long as the sites are all around the same theme. So I have a primary site, a forum, a blog, and a directory all built around one domain name.

But I also have a couple of sites with a very different theme and purpose. For that, I have separate domain names.

 

[jmk909er]

Does it have any effect on Google's ranking or do they frown upon this? I am making a new site and I guess I should just get a standalone domain.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I'm with minstrel. Totally different topics should have diff domains IF you care about search traffic. If you have related topics they could maybe share a domain. For instance health.com with diff subdir for diff conditions.

There are sites like online malls that sell all diff unrelated products in all diff niches but they also have to pay big bucks for SEO and advertising.

 

[FitGal]

As far as Google goes, they do like to understand what a site is all about. If they go to a site and find it is all over the place with content, then what will they rank the site for?
Now G is changing it's algo anyway. They have a big change rolling out soon that will impact affiliates a lot. So I advise affiliates to use different traffic generation methods than just depending on G.

But regardless, look at it from a consumers perspective. If you went to a site to read reviews on dog training and they were also selling hemorrhoid treatment would you get a fuzzy warm feeling of trust?

Try to keep your domain niche focused without being to narrow.

 

[ZahraBrown]

But regardless, look at it from a consumers perspective. If you went to a site to read reviews on dog training and they were also selling hemorrhoid treatment would you get a fuzzy warm feeling of trust?

Plus if I forgot the website and looked it up, it'd be confusing to see something completely different from last time. It'd be fine if they were somehow linked, but the topics are just too different.

Doesn't a subdomain still cost money? If so, I'd just pay for separate domains. It'll be easier to find and remember. This is an investment into a business, so it's worth the cost and extra effort.

 

[jmk909er]

A good example is 'no1reviews.com' they have about 100 sites using 1 domain name

 

[djbaxter]

Doesn't a subdomain still cost money?

No. One domain name. The subdomains are add-ons to that domain.

A good example is 'no1reviews.com' they have about 100 sites using 1 domain name

Yes but I assume they are all some sort of category of reviews, no?

 

[jmk909er]

Yes but I assume they are all some sort of category of reviews, no?

Yes but they are all totally different niches, they save a bundle by doing it this way, right?

 

[djbaxter]

But that's my point: It's all one niche (reviews) with numerous subniches as subdomains. That's totally appropriate. Lots of large sites do that (about.com is an example, or PCWorld, ZDNet, etc.).

 

[DeniseTaylor]

My first thought was relevance. It's easier to get a site to rank when it's relevant. So however you go about doing that . . .

Then, so many things I agree with on this thread -

I'm with minstrel. Totally different topics should have diff domains IF you care about search traffic.

and

So I advise affiliates to use different traffic generation methods than just depending on G.

and many other comments.

Who knows what will change, but I do think relevance will remain as a factor. It just makes sense.