Re: URL Structures in Advertising?

From: Alex Tillman <alex_at_webtillman.com>
Date: Fri 25 Jan 2002 08:48:36 -0500

Stephen W. NeSmith <nesmithegroup_at_hotmail.com> wrote:

>Ive told him that this URL structure has become a
>common practice (ie. MSN.com, Yahoo.com, etc.) but he
>says I have to "prove" that it is a better way to go,
>with supporting data, articles, etc. Can anyone point me
>to any supporting data that demonstrates that, from a
>marketing/advertising perspective my recommendation is
>strong? Or am I way off?"

There is one key aspect to consider here, which is
search engine optimization of the site. Many search
engines, when computing the formulas for listing
placement, will consider the keywords in a sub-domain
and weight those words much more heavily than words
that appear after the "/". (the reason probably being
that a searcher is much more likely to find rich
content on a page with the keyword in the sub-domain
than a keyword in a subdiretory- kind of like finding
a mini-site on the keyword versus a page on the
topic.)As long as there is substantial content
(sevreal pages worth) for each subdomain, and as long
as the subdomain content varies considerably from the
main domain, you will get a boost for using
subdomains.

In fact, some search engines will treat sub-domains as
separate domains, allowing you to submit each one
independently, increasing the chances that you can
have both your domain and sub-domain listed in the
same search engine.

I don't have any facts or figures to show what the
usage rates of this strategy is, but I could probably
get you more information on how sub-domains affect
placement strategy if you think it would help.

Bottom line- you can do far more effective search
engine strategies using sub-domains than by using sub
directories. Frankly, the worry about dilution of
brand seems quite trivial when compared to the
benefits of more focused placement strategies.



Received on Fri Jan 25 2002 - 07:48:36 CST