Sub domain vs new domain

I've posted in this a couple of other places, but would welcome GPWA's thoughts on this, as I'm still torn between the two options.

Basically, I'm considering buying a mobile domain for the mobile traffic to one of my sites.

Let's say I have the domain playpoker.com. There seem to be two ways that I could do this:
- Set up a sub-domain (mobile.playpoker.com)
- Purchase a separate domain (like playpoker.mobi) and re-direct releveant traffic there

Can someone help me out with the effects of these two options as far as SEO goes? To be honest, I'm leaning towards the separate domain. I'm guessing that the sub-domain option would allow me to pass some sort of PR value to the mobile pages instantly, but I'm not sure how important that is given that people will be directed there directly from my main pages.

Plus with a separate domain I'd be able to install a dedicated mobile theme for visitors.

You guys have any thoughts on this? I'd certainly like to hear them.

Cheers,

I would suggest you to go for sub-domain. In that way you would be able to make it a separate channel/entity in future as well if you want. Besides, it gives more flexibility to implement things without disturbing your main site.

Even for SEO purposes, a new domain is better I suppose. Just link it properly from your parent website and you will get the authority weight as well and your mobile site can also start ranking.

This is my opinion ofcourse, would be good to have further insights from other people as well.

As far as I know Sub-domains does not pass any Trust or Authority from the main domain/pages, it considered as a separate domain by Google.

But if you want to pass value to the mobile page then you can do it by creating a folder, such as playpoker.com/mobile , which will pass value to it.

Here is a good article related to this where they comparing Sub domains.

If it does pass any value then it should pass value to all the free blogs that you make in Wordpress and other sites :D

I like the .mobi idea, I think there are lots of good domains still available for grab.

Let us know how you get on :)

Thanks for the reply - I've seen it done both ways by some fairly big affiliate sites, so I'm kinda split.

If I went for the new domain, the link from my parent site would be in the form of a redirect, so there wouldn't necessarily be any linkage there. For that reason, I'm almost not too worried about whether the .mobi site ranks well (it will probably only be a single page with a list of affiliate links on it), so long as my main site continues to rank as it does.

I'm just wondering whether a re-direct like this will affect my main site at all. Also, is it possible to set up a new WP template specifically for a sub domain like mobile.playpoker.com? Is it a case of installing a new instance on WP on there?

Cheers,

You can install WP in subdomain or folder, you just have to create new folder and install WP in there.

Thanks for the link Jay - I'll have a good read of that this evening.

If a sub domain doesn't pick up any authority from the parent domain, would a 301 re-directing mobile users to a separate .mobi domain pass on authority?

301 will pass all the values that you have on the current URL, even if the URL has any sort of penalty it will pass it on to the certain 301 re-directed page.

It's probably also worth mentioning that the .mobi domain would be an exact match to the domain I use for my main site, so would presumably protect my brand. Its also made up of a fairly strong keyword phrase.

Does that change any opinions at all?

I should imagine it will help the ranking as well.

You should also look into the layout of your site if you were going with folder or sub-domain option. Most my websites rank well for mobile searches, same as it does on computers. Nowdays all the smart phones are capable of loading webpages as the same way computer does. So it's best to look into designing your site to support mobile phones. Single column layout is the way forward :)

Well this is the thing Jay - the 'mobile' site (whether it's on a sub domain or a separate domain) would have its own design, hopefully getting the best of both worlds :)

Even though I've bought the .mobi domain, I'm thinking I'll probably go with the subdomain option just as a way to raise the profile of my entire site.

Cheers,

Subdomains definitely pass trust and authority. Search google US for "bingo.com". They had an issue with a platform a year or so ago and switched it to a subdomain and regained rankings.

Also look at some of the top ranking sites for most gaming terms. If you have ranking on the main site and some domain strength to send you can pass it down.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GaryTheScubaGuy

Subdomains definitely pass trust and authority. Search google US for "bingo.com". They had an issue with a platform a year or so ago and switched it to a subdomain and regained rankings.

Also look at some of the top ranking sites for most gaming terms. If you have ranking on the main site and some domain strength to send you can pass it down.

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This topic is a confusing one when it get raised in SEO forums. Sub Domains do work if the site is a big site and all the internal linkbuilding has been done properly, links from main page to Sub Domain, so it indicates the relationship between both.

Im not sure what issue bingo.com has had as I can still see them doing 301 from their main site to subdomain. Shouldn't 301 have passed the same issue to Subdomain if that's the case?

Try running Screaming Frog. Sorry just very short on time.

301s don't always pass the negative, there are some old SEO tricks to get rid of penalties based around this, there are also some plans to game google fresh based around similar things.

I think You should make a directory called /(Products Name) and move forward. It will provide your domain authority and link juice to other pages. As you said that the company and logo are the same so there would no harm if you provide (Products name) in another directory of that root domain

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theshortstack

I've posted in this a couple of other places, but would welcome GPWA's thoughts on this, as I'm still torn between the two options.

Basically, I'm considering buying a mobile domain for the mobile traffic to one of my sites.

Let's say I have the domain playpoker.com. There seem to be two ways that I could do this:
- Set up a sub-domain (mobile.playpoker.com)
- Purchase a separate domain (like playpoker.mobi) and re-direct releveant traffic there

Can someone help me out with the effects of these two options as far as SEO goes? To be honest, I'm leaning towards the separate domain. I'm guessing that the sub-domain option would allow me to pass some sort of PR value to the mobile pages instantly, but I'm not sure how important that is given that people will be directed there directly from my main pages.

Plus with a separate domain I'd be able to install a dedicated mobile theme for visitors.

You guys have any thoughts on this? I'd certainly like to hear them.

Cheers,

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For a mobile site; always go with the sub-domain.

Hey, I suggest setting up a sub-domian to redirect mobile traffic. Moreover, work on different pages to redirect for different devices and highlight the "compatible with your "DEVICE" (ex: compatible with your iPhone, Compatible with your Android...)

Good luck

Issac,
BrightShare

Skype: issac.orland