This article is about the use of Folders vs Add-on Domains, also referred to as Subdomains, and the advantages and disadvantages of SEO and PageRank for both.
Naysayers - Web SEO Guru Idiots
Many web gurus will argue that search engines will see that the IP address is the same for each website and will put the website together in search results, and not split them out. If this were true, then hundreds of websites that are on shared hosting, that have the same IP address, would be searched and indexed as one website. Another fact against what these web gurus think, is that if this were true, then why do the major websites such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc. Practice this for their websites?? If you type in Google in a search engine you will see a long list of results for Google, such as news.google.com, maps.google.com, help.google.com, and the list goes on and on.
Folder Domain - Pros and Cons
When I say folders I am referring to folders that are one level higher on the site root. An example is http://howbits.com/examplefolder/.
Pros
- When using folders you get more content for your website. Each folder, and whatever is in the folder is consider content for the main site, so if I make howbits.com/news/, well anything that ends up in the News folder is more content for my website and everyone knows Content is king. Search Engines love websites with a lot of content, so this of course will increase my ranking in search results
- PageRank is shared with the folders of the website, so whatever my PageRank is in Howbits.com, chances are if the links are built right, then any content in the news folder will get the rank share.
- Folders are easier to maintain then Add-on Domains, because they are still part of the main website.
- If the websites are linked correctly, you can get an indented listing using the main website with good SEO, and then connecting to another page with poor ranking, but the ranking can ride on the ranking of the main website and thus get better search results by proxy.
Cons
- Since folders are part of the main website, they are indexed as supplemental results, and instead of getting multiple search results, the most you will get in a typical search engine is one listing, and then an indented listing. So you end up getting less exposure for your website. A good example is to type in your website address in a search engine, you will notice that only 1 possibly 2 pages of your website will show up at a time.
- Folders will rarely if ever have a higher PageRank then the main page that they are connected to. So as result the the PageRank sharing is limited, and each link from a page that is in a folder is not considered a Backlink, it is considered part of the internal linking.
Add-on Domains also called Subdomains
For people who do not know what a Add-on Domain is, it’s a website structure that looks like this. http://news.howbits.com, in this example News is a Add-on Domain of Howbits.com. So lets get down to the pro’s and con’s of each and then how to use Add-on domains in your favor
Pros
- An Add-on domain is considered in search engines eyes, as it’s own website a and not connected to the main website, so as a result you can get multiple search listings for your website. It’s not a coincidence that Google, Yahoo, etc all use add-on domains for their websites.
- Each Add-on Domain, if done right, will get their own PageRank, and in some cases a much higher PageRank then the main Website, so the PageRank sharing from Add-on Domain to Main Domain will result in a much greater boost of PageRank. since it is viewed as a separate entity.
- A link from an Add-on Domain to the main domain is considered a Backlink, and not part of the internal structure of the Website
- Search engine rankings, are increased because the Add-on domain is viewed as a link vote for the main website, so you get increase search engine ranking because it is another website pointing to your main website. Tip - Try to use some of the same keywords on the website, if you notice on each website I have some of the same keywords for each Add-on domain that the main website uses.
- With Add-on domains, since they are viewed as separate you can submit all your Add-on domains to one directory. So in a directory you would have news.howbits.com, forum.howbits.com, pictures.howbits.com, and howbits.com. Each one separate so I am allowed to submit them individually.
- Search engines look at websites and get a good idea of what the website is about, so as a result, one website with folders is usually categorized in terms of what the main website is about. But with Add-on domains, each domain can have it’s own search criteria that it can go for, and so you paint a better picture to search engines for what each Add-on domain is about. Example of a made up website - allaboutanimals.com can be about just animals. But supplies.allaboutanimals.com can be geared towards the selling of animals supplies, or advice.allaboutanimals.com can be all about tips to get rid of take care of animals. For each website you can cater the content of each page for better listings on the search engines, or at least end up with multiple search engine listings for About Animals.
Cons
- Add-on domains require more planning then the use of folders.
- Each Add-on domain needs to have it’s own SEO and backlinks created to get good search results.
- Since the websites are separated from each other, you will not get the boost of ranking from massive amounts of content on the main website.
- You need to treat each Add-on domain as a separate entity, so that means it will have it owns branding, web content, and links.
- Links to the main website, from a non Add-on Domains, do not increase the search engine ranking of the other Add-on Domains.
- Time consuming if each website is built from scratch, and have to be maintained separately.
Between the two website structures, neither of them is the perfect solution to go with. Take a look at what you want to be doing on your website, and how much time you want to put in, and then decide from there. If you only plan on posting to your website once in a blue moon, then the folder structure will be the way to go, easier to maintain and less SEO work. If you are like myself, where I have several different types of content I am posting, which is a result of broad interest in several categories, then I recommend going with a Add-on Domains. I plan to build PageRank and search engine ranking for each of my Add-on domains; so as a result all my other pages will get a PageRank boost, and search engine boost off of each Add-on Domain. I have always liked the idea of whatever I did over here, benefits something over there. But again it comes down to how much work you want to put into your website.
Howbits Website Split
I decided to split up my website a few days ago, so that way I could post news in it’s own area, pictures in another area, and then put a forum in another area. I did this with ease, I just copied my main website to each Add-on domain, and then changed the Keywords, Page Title, Descriptions, and then started adding content that fits the websites style. I changed the logo and the Favicons, and start from there. It took about an hour per Add-on domain from start to finish. As a result of this I now have multiple search results and ranking for each website. Screen shoot from Google -
Forum.howbits.com has dropped in ranking because I have been adding content and doing SEO on the other Add-on Domains. I will start doing SEO for the forum to increase it’s ranking in the next few days.
Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions in regards to this article.
21 Comments
I wish you could rewrite this article to make it simpler. I get the sort of general idea but your ideas and specifics and how to apply them safely , without damages to my websites or pagerank / alexa rank elude me
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Well first off, by adding a Add-on Domain, you will not damage the PageRank or the Alexa Rank of your main website. I recommend leaving all your current content where it is. Just make the Add-on domain and continue to grow the new areas.
Second thing…. Alexa rank is meaningless, only people with Alexa Tool Bar increase your ranking. If you want a good article to read on this.. [url=http://blog.v7n.com/2006/03/28/alexa-is-bunk/]follow this link.[/url]
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Let’s say i have a domain named DOMAIN1.com , and i make a add-on domain on the same hosting that is called DOMAIN2.com. When i search for domain2 on google it gives me back a search result wich states DOMAIN1.com/DOMAIN2/ which is acctually true cuz DOMAIN2 is acctually a subdomain, but i want DOMAIN1.com not to be included in the search result when i search for DOMAIN2. Is this possible and if so, how can i do it ?
Thanks in advance
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A regular domain is this…
http://www.howbits.com
A subdomain or a addon domain is
pictures.howbits.com
If you go to google.com and type in howbits, you will see http://www.howbits.com, pictures.howbits.com, forum.howbits.com, and news.howbits.com, even though I only have one domain which is howbits.
Each addon domain, minus the forum, has a indented listing in the search engines, result in 8 listings showing up in google.com.
Note: In my cpanel for hostmonster, hostgator, and mmhosting, it’s referred as addon domains.
If I want to make make http://www.howbits.com/news/ I would create a new folder called news in the directory for howbits.com. For addon domains, you type in the name, set which folder in the directory will be linked to the addon domain and you are all set up.
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I really like this article it’s informative.
I enjoy reading the pros and cons of all things marketing, especially search engines.
I am adding you to my news reader so I can keep up with you daily.
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Glad I could help you Louis, if you have any questions fill free to visit the forum, I check it daily and I will be happy to help our.
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Hey Djames , i want to ask you Some Q
lets to talk if i have DomainA & DomainB & DomainC
Domain C has Big SEO ranking so i want to share this ranking to A & C .. how to do that? is it possible ?
i found this article http://www.rankwell.co.uk/htaccess-for-addon-domains.html
is that helping me to doing what i want ?
Thanx for your article
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First off, the link that you posted is for people who use addon domains with same content as the main domain with no variance in it how the page is viewed by search engines. What the htaccess mod rewtire rule does, is change the subdomain to match the domain name, example would be, test.com and sub.test.com would appear the same, and sub.test.com would just be test.com, I do not know why he would want this to happen, but he seems to think it works. I don’t know why he just doesn’t tell people to use website folders, instead of making a subdomain, because he is accomplishing the same thing, and getting the benefit of a true sub domain.
As far as my article goes, I recommend changing the content, layout, tags, etc to make it look like a new and different website, so it can gain it’s own search ranking, and be it’s own entity. Using this technique you can have it link back to the main site and be relevant and increase your main website ranking. It will also give you more listings in an organic search results by using your sub domains. So instead of howbits.com being indexed in search results, I also have forum.howbits.com indexed, news.howbits.com, and pictures.howbits.com being indexed, thus resulting in more search results.
Some people like to continue buying more domain names to accomplish this feat, I prefer to just use free sub domains, same as google, yahoo, and msn.
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hi thanks for the article, i’m building a lot of SEO into the websites i make so this gave me some good ideas.
http://www.creative-web-designer.com/
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Well. I am confused because i added a add-on domain in our accont. I orginally thought we were buying a new website with its own cpanel. But after the sale the add on was part of our site. which can make for hectic files all over the place if you are using the same computer to ftp all them. Live and learn.
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How it works with a hosting account, typically using cpanel, you can have multiple Addon domains and Subdomains located in the directory of a primary Domain. The First primary domain that you setup will have a bunch of files right in the main FTP directory, then each addon domain will create it’s only folder.
So if the primary domain has wordpress installed on it, you will see Wp-includes wp-content wp-admin, etc., Then a bunch of files. When you add an addon or sub domain, you will now have a new folder created where you install the website files to it.
When I am setting up addon or sub domains I always name the folder, websitename.com, so i know what folder is for what domain or subdomain.
With Addon Domains and Subdomains you can create separate FTP accounts that will only access the files within that addon / subdomain. Which makes it easier for you to work with it. But the primary domain FTP will always show ALL the other folders and domains within the directory since the primary domain is sitting at the root directory.
Hopefully this makes sense, since I typed it up fast. If you have any questions please let me know.
Djames
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thanks as well. I too have been looking for a well laid out thoughtful discussion on the topic of add on domains. Specifically in terms of blogs . How is it best to add on a blog to a domain as there are various ways to do this.
Articles that I did come across were simplistic with a yes no answer without the benefit of a full discussion of factors . Various setups and possibilities were discussed in your article which led me to an explanation of my own concerns, situation and problems in my own situation as it is. Thank you again.
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Thank you very much indeed. This is very informative.
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Hi, One of your answer actually confused me a little bit. If I have primary domain as http://www.first.com and addon domain as http://www.second.com.
Now I search for second.com in google, what would it result ? if it would result as http://www.first.com/second then it is not good.
if is results as second.com then it is fine. so is it possible to search for “second.com in google and list as http://www.second.com instead of http://www.first.com/second/ ?
Many Thanks
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Katan - Addon domains will always show up as their own domain.
So lets say http://www.first.com is your primary domain name. Then second.com is an addon domain. Even though you can access second.com website by going to http://second.first.com or http://www.first.com/second.com/ search engines will not index it. They will always see the domains as separate entities. This why you will not see http://www.first.com/second.com/ in search engines, it will instead, index it as http://www.second.com and see it as it’s own unique website.
Whenever a search engine sees a folder attached to a domain name it knows that it is a separate website and not a folder of the primary website.
Not to throw another wrench into the equation, but the true limitation of an addon domain is if you are making an Ecommerce website. The primary domain can have an SSL that looks like https://www.first.com, but the addon domains have to use a Shared SSL Certificates which look messy in my opinion. It usually looks like https://(computer box name).(Web host).com/second.com
Example - https://mars.mmhosting.com/second.com which looks.. messy. The other down fall is, if you don’t have your search bot restrictions correct, search engines WILL index a shared https://mars.mmhosting.com/second.com as ANOTHER new website, even though it displays second.com as a secured website.
If you have any more questions or comments please feel free to reply back.
Djames
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Many Thanks. This is the best explanation.
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Hello Djames,
I think I understand what you have said about Add-on domains, and I would just like to obtain some clarification. I have many clients who don’t know anything at all about websites, and would like me to handle everything. They don’t want access to the site, and they want me to update all content.
I wondered if I could just create those as add-on domains in my hosting account. It would save on purchasing a separate hosting account for small sites that no one but me will ever access.
However, I want to be sure I don’t damage their changes of being ranked as highly as possible in the search engines.
If these add-on domains are not linked to my parent domain as the developer, and then DNS resolves the domain name directly to this sub-directory in the hosting account, will the sites be ranked with the same independence, and effectiveness etc. as if the website had been set up in its own web hosting account.
In both cases it would be without a dedicated IP address, since shared hosting does not offer that anyway for separate accounts unless purchased. and then that is only really necessary for commerce sites, which these are not.
Any insight on this would be great — I don’t want unnecessary expense — however, I don’t want to compromise SEO for any of my clients.
Thanks!
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By hosting the domains names on your hosting account, even though it is a shared IP and not a dedicated IP address, it will not effect their ranking. Google will rank them as an individual website with no connection to the primary domain or addon domains on the same server.
The two downfalls of addon domains is the shared ip address. You will not be able to have an SSL certificate for an addon domain, because all the website share the same IP address, dedicated or not, because they are on the same hosting box. You will have to use the Shared SSL for your box for addon domains.
The second issue is if one of those websites does Mass email spamming and lets say the email address that is spamming is blacklisted or blocked. An email address is typically blocked by an IP address. Since the email servers share the same ip address for the hostbox, that means that any emails sent from an email accounts on the webhost will be blocked. But as long as you have reputable clients who don’t do this email spamming then you will be ok.
On side note, some web hosting companies will make you setup a reseller account to host clients Websites. I currently have 3 webhosting companies I work with, Hostmonster, hostgator, and MMhosting. Out of the three companies I host with, mmhosting is the only one to give me permission to host client websites without the need of a reseller account. I have 11 website hosted on my 5.95 a month package, 3 are my clients, the rest are my websites.
If a client wants or needs their own hosting account, for the occasions when a website traffic gets to large for my single hosting account or if the client wants a dedicated IP address for SSL, then I call mmhosting.com and tell them to setup a new account. I then give them the domain name and they transfer all the files for just that domain from my account to the new account. Then I wait a couple hours and the website is transferred and live without any problems.
Again before you add an addon domains on to your hosting account, I highly recommend asking permission from your webhost to host additional domains that you do not own, so your account isn’t suspended and your websites don’t all go down.
If you want to you can also read one of my older reviews on the webhost I use, go to http://howbits.com/mmhosting-hostgator-hostmonster-short-review/
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This is all terrific information. I can’t thank you enough for this insight.
I have very reputable clients, small law firms, insurance agencies, etc. and they just have modest 10-20 page “brochure” websites. It just seems like it would be economical to have them in my account since they never intend to access them.
I don’t expect that they will do much emailing at all, but thanks for that heads up. I will keep it in mind.
I have also been scouring the web for days to find a good hosting company. Are you comfortable with all three of those you mentioned?
Any pros or cons?
Thanks a million for sharing the benefit of your experience.
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Sorry fo rthat last question about hosting. I see now that your review covers it all. Fantastic.
Thanks again!
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