When we start the process of building a web site the URL nomenclature always seems to come up. Sometimes we research and buy a new domain name, other times we create a new directory under an existing domain name and then there are times when we use a subdomain.
Clearly, your site’s URL strategy will have a major affect on how your web pages appear in the search engines results pages (SERPS). Here’s an example; for a long time we used subdomains when implementing blogs for our clients. Later, we changed our strategy to use the domain hierarchy because we found that the latter was more effective at increasing the page rank for the root domain through the natural propagation of inbound links to the blog (as a directory).
There are cases where we just can’t use the company’s domain name; server access, backend software, content updates, etc. and sometimes it’s just easier to build the web site on a subdomain located outside the company’s normal IT infrastructure. To accomplish this, all you need to do is to get a CNAME (subdomain) on the company’s DNS server and point it to an IP address located on an alternate network.
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about subdomains being treated as directories by the major search engines. My guess is that the search engines are trying to make sure that subdomains are providing unique content and that they are not being exploited for higher SERP rankings. This got me thinking about how search engines evaluate web sites in the same way as we critique our favorite bands.
Like many people, I have been actively listening to music for most of my life and in that time I can remember many songs that I would now say fall into the category of “One Hit Wonders”. Every generation has them, songs like: “The Macarena” by Los Del Rio (1996), ”Tainted Love” by Soft Cell (1982) and “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas (1974) all come to mind.
Wikipedia characterizes “One Hit Wonders” as short-lived novelty songs deliberately written to cash in on a fad. Early on, I bought into the commercialization of music and actually bought several albums from some of these bands. I think I may still have an Iron Butterfly album in the attic somewhere. I guess we are all young and naïve at some point in our lives.
So how does this relate to URL nomenclature? Well, if you want to get traffic from organic search to a web site and you are using a subdomain, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that the content is unique in nature and there is an adequate level of substantive content. Think of the bands that have passed the test of time, they typically have their own style and many memorable songs accredited to them. Search engine algorithms are like web site critics, in that they attempt to identify valid web sites in a similar way to how we evaluate our favorite bands and their music over time.
Now this isn’t to say that subdomains can’t be used as single pages. Just like a “One Hit Wonder” can sound really good and make an artist and their record company a great deal of money, these “One Page Wonders” can be very visual and achieve their business goals; however, when planning these types of web sites don’t expect any search engines to ever rank them very high and consider the fact that you’ll need to use paid advertising to promote them.
When we start the process of building a web site the URL nomenclature always seems to come up. Sometimes we research and buy a new domain name, other times we create a new directory under an existing domain name and then there are times when we use a subdomain.
Clearly, your site’s URL strategy will have a major affect on how your web pages appear in the search engines results pages (SERPS). Here’s an example; for a long time we used subdomains when implementing blogs for our clients. Later, we changed our strategy to use the domain hierarchy because we found that the latter was more effective at increasing the page rank for the root domain through the natural propagation of inbound links to the blog (as a directory).
There are cases where we just can’t use the company’s domain name; server access, backend software, content updates, etc. and sometimes it’s just easier to build the web site on a subdomain located outside the company’s normal IT infrastructure. To accomplish this, all you need to do is to get a CNAME (subdomain) on the company’s DNS server and point it to an IP address located on an alternate network.
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about subdomains being treated as directories by the major search engines. My guess is that the search engines are trying to make sure that subdomains are providing unique content and that they are not being exploited for higher SERP rankings. This got me thinking about how search engines evaluate web sites in the same way as we critique our favorite bands.
Like many people, I have been actively listening to music for most of my life and in that time I can remember many songs that I would now say fall into the category of “One Hit Wonders”. Every generation has them, songs like: “The Macarena” by Los Del Rio (1996), ”Tainted Love” by Soft Cell (1982) and “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas (1974) all come to mind.
Wikipedia characterizes “One Hit Wonders” as short-lived novelty songs deliberately written to cash in on a fad. Early on, I bought into the commercialization of music and actually bought several albums from some of these bands. I think I may still have an Iron Butterfly album in the attic somewhere. I guess we are all young and naïve at some point in our lives.
So how does this relate to URL nomenclature? Well, if you want to get traffic from organic search to a web site and you are using a subdomain, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that the content is unique in nature and there is an adequate level of substantive content. Think of the bands that have passed the test of time, they typically have their own style and many memorable songs accredited to them. Search engine algorithms are like web site critics, in that they attempt to identify valid web sites in a similar way to how we evaluate our favorite bands and their music over time.
Now this isn’t to say that subdomains can’t be used as single pages. Just like a “One Hit Wonder” can sound really good and make an artist and their record company a great deal of money, these “One Page Wonders” can be very visual and achieve their business goals; however, when planning these types of web sites don’t expect any search engines to ever rank them very high and consider the fact that you’ll need to use paid advertising to promote them.
