Where and how you host your blog is as important to your search engine rankings as what plugins you use and how you optimize your blog posts. I have previously discussed the best WordPress SEO plugins, but here I want to discuss the importance of how you set up your blog’s hosting: 1) separate domain; 2) subdomain; 3) external hosted solution (WordPress.com, Typepad, Blogger); 4) subdirectory.
I won’t go into the separate-domain issue, but you can read Mark Jackson’s Search Engine Watch post about this option. Needless to say, the benefits to your primary domain in this case would be nil, except for backlinking from the new, blog domain to your primary domain. But because this blog domain will have likely been recently activated, you will have to wait at least a year before Google assigns it any meaningful TrustRank to the new domain.
As all SEOs know, a business should almost always host their blog under their own domain, rather than the other options mentioned above. When other websites link back to your posts or other pages of your blog, you want the backlinking credit to go to your domain, not to Blogger.com or Typepad.com.
Recently, a client asked us about setting up a blog for them and we told them what we tell all our clients:
- Use WordPress as the blogging platform: We love the incredible number of plugins and themes that are developed by the very large and active WordPress community. And we really like WordPress as a blogging platform (and Dan Cederholm agrees!);
- Install WordPress in a subdirectory: Install the blog under your own domain, in a subdirectory that has a keyword-rich name, eg /widget-sales-usa/) rather than “blog” (we actually use “blog”, but there’s a reason…) or “wordpress.”
HubSpot Business Blogging?
Not long after this conversation, our client informed us that they had purchased the HubSpot “Business Blogging” package, and they asked if this would be as beneficial to their SEO as having a WordPress blog. I decided to do some research.
I called HubSpot to have them explain how they integrate a customer’s blog into the customer’s domain (the examples on their site are all customers who opted for the full website+blog hosting, not just the blog package). They explained that they have the customer create a subdomain for their domain (eg hubspotblog.mydomain.com) and, via a CNAME record, the subdomain points to a HubSpot URL. The subdomain is where the blog is installed.
Because my client was going to use HubSpot only for their blog and not their entire website (another tier of service HubSpot offers), having the blog on a subdomain is the only way to have the blog’s URL under the primary domain in any sense.
Blog Hosting: Subdomain or Subdirectory
But is using a subdomain for your blog the most effective hosting solution, from an SEO standpoint? For their customers who opt for the entire package (website & blog hosting), HubSpot installs the blog in a keyword-rich subdirectory — which tells me that even HubSpot believes this to be the preferable choice between subdomain and subdirectory.
So what is the consensus among respected SEOs around this issue of subdomain v. subdirectory?
Google’s Subdomain/Primary Domain Algorithm
In the past, Google viewed subdomains as completely separate entities from the primary domain. Because Google uses what it calls “host crowding” to return up to two results from a single domain on a search engine results page (SERP) (with the second one indented), with subdomains treated as totally separate, a single domain could get more than two listings on a Google SERP, through its subdomains. Because Google prefers to offer their users a varied selection of search results rather than multiple results from a single entity, they made a change in December 2007, announcing that subdomains would be more closely associated with the primary domain — not to the point of being viewed as a subdirectory, but not so completely separate — and Matt Cutts wrote about this on his blog.
Although Google now more closely associates subdomains and primary domains, it still views them as separate entities. Thus, when another site links to your blog or individual posts, that “link love” flows back to the subdomain rather than to your primary domain.
If your blog tends to have content similar to that on your main website — and content relevant to your core offering — then having your blog in subdirectory of your primary domain creates a larger website with more related content. And any external linking credits to your blog flow back to your primary domain. The content of your primary domain is associated by Google with the content of your blog. If the blog is in a subdomain, although there apparently is some association, it appears that it’s not nearly as strong as having the blog content in your primary domain.
This post entitled “21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic” from Rand Fishkin (aka randfish), CEO and founder of SEOmoz, a very authoritative and respected SEO blog, addresses this topic:
Hosting your blog on a different domain from your primary site is one of the worst mistakes you can make. A blog on your domain can attract links, attention, publicity, trust and search rankings — by keeping the blog on a separate domain, you shoot yourself in the foot. From worst to best, your options are — Hosted (on a solution like Blogspot or WordpPress), on a unique domain (at least you can 301 it in the future), on a subdomain (these can be treated as unique from the primary domain by the engines) and as a sub-section of the primary domain (in a subfolder or page – this is the best solution).
and in a separate post, Root Domains, Subdomains vs. Subfolders and The Microsite Debate, Rand states:
Starting a blog? I almost always recommend yoursite.com/blog over blog.yoursite.com. Want to launch a new section of content? Use yoursite.com/newstuff rather than newstuff.yoursite.com.
Mark Jackson, of Search Engine Watch, writes in his post about how to host your blog:
Many of my company’s clients need to add content to the root of their domain to build up the authority necessary to compete for keywords. So, more often than not, we recommend that our clients add their blog to a subdirectory.
[...]
Adding the blog to the subdirectory shows the search engines that you regularly add fresh content to the root of the Web site, and you can feed (via RSS) the most recent posts to the home page and then promote this content through StumbleUpon, Digg, Mixx, Propeller, etc., and get folks to link (deep link) to the content, so long as you created linkable (i.e., quality) content.
Mark observes that most of the reasons you would want your blog under a subdomain of your website would be technical, eg your primary domain’s hosting environment isn’t friendly to the blogging platform you’d like to use (and Mark prefers WordPress, BTW…).
Conclusion
It appears that the overwhelming consensus among the experts in SEO is that to achieve the optimal SEO benefits from your blog, you should host it in a subdirectory rather than a subdomain.
So how did I advise my client? I told them that the HubSpot solution was a one-size-fits-all solution that wouldn’t provide them the bang for their SEO buck that hosting a WordPress blog in a subdirectory would. And I explained to them that HubSpot is a product that you pay for, like Microsoft Office. So you can’t add any features you hear about, or really much change the look and feel of it. All HubSpot customer blogs look pretty much the same, and rather plain and, um, “unbloglike.” WordPress is open-source and there are literally thousands of developers creating new plugins that expand the features and functionality of WordPress, and there are literally thousands of themes, free and commercial, available to give your blog a distinct appearance.
I’d be interested to hear what others have to say about this.
Other conversations around this topic:
ChrisG Blog
Facebook Fan Page Customization
#1 by Dharmesh Shah - October 26th, 2009 at 09:42
Disclosure: I work for HubSpot.
Great article and you make some valid points.
I totally agree that you should control the domain they host their blog on. This can be either a new, primary domain, or the sub-domain of a primary domain that you already control.
Google does a very good job of associating sub-domains with a primary domain. To the degree that Matt Cutts has said “it’s more of a personal choice”. But, I’d agree that all things being equal, sub-directories are likely a tad better from a pure SEO perspective.
However, not all things are equal. One reason to use sub-domains is that from a systems perspective, it’s easier to run the blog and the corporate site on different systems. Having a blog on a sub-domain also makes it easier to move around or rename, should that ever become necessary.
And, for the record, HubSpot itself hosts its primary blog on a sub-domain (http://blog.hubspot.com). This has been useful for us as we’ve been through a couple of branding/domain changes over the years, and having it on a sub-domain made the name change *much* easier.
Though there are certainly some minor advantages to using sub-directories, for *most* businesses this is an extremely minor consideration. It pales in comparison to anything you do that might increase the frequency of blogging, knowing what’s working (and what’s not) and integrating other tactics that will help with promotion.
Though really advanced running shoes might give you an advantage of you’re a professional athlete — for most people, it’s better to just pick whatever is going to cause you to exercise more.
Cheers.
Dharmesh
#2 by timware - October 26th, 2009 at 09:57
Thanks Dharmesh, and it’s impressive to see that HubSpot is seriously vigilant about the conversations going on about them on the Web! It appears we pretty much see eye to eye. I certainly understand HubSpot’s reason for hosting their (very successful & popular) blog under a subdomain. For a blog with that level of popularity and one that has been pretty much a going concern as long as HubSpot’s main site, it makes perfect sense.
And I agree that taking into consideration a client’s comfort level in blogging and making it as easy as possible to do so is an important priority.
Of course, how much Google actually now associates sub- and primary domains in terms of assigning ranking will remain somewhat of a mystery.
But all things being equal, I too feel that a sub-directory is the best choice from an SEO perspective, assuming the business’s blog deals with subjects similar and relevant to those subjects on their primary domain.
Personally, as a designer, I like the broader design options available through themes and the ever-expanding features made available through plugins by the community of WordPress developers. And as you know, a blog’s visitor analytics can be accessed a number of ways, including Google Analytics.
But the HubSpot solution seems well suited to users who want a pre-packaged solution that simplifies blogging.
#3 by Dharmesh Shah - October 26th, 2009 at 10:43
In terms of using WordPress vs. HubSpot (which I think is a better discussion than the SEO one):
I’m a huge fan of WordPress. It’s an immensely powerful product.
But, the decision really should come down to what’s best for the client:
If the client is pretty sophisticated, knows the ins-and-outs of how to make WordPress really hum, then it’s a great choice.
However, If they are just getting started with blogging, and need the simplicity of an *integrated* product that goes beyond just writing the blog article — HubSpot’s usually a better choice. It provides more than just the blogging tool — it has SEO and social media integration built-in and provides blog analytics that are very useful for those blogging for business. We built our tool from the ground-up to solve the problems we had ourselves in trying to grow our business — not compete with WordPress.
But, to be candid, we both have a bit of a bias. My advice: Do whatever is right for the client.
#4 by timware - October 26th, 2009 at 12:02
Our client will rely on our expertise to fine-tune WordPress, helping them set up a taxonomy for categories, and providing guidelines for tagging posts and using Permalinks, with ongoing support, as needed.
These are folks who have some familiarity with blogging and we certainly wouldn’t toss them into the Sea of Bloggers without proper training.
We have worked with our client for a couple years and feel that their particular SEO needs would best be served by having a WordPress blog that enjoys the features and flexibility provided by a very large community of developers. And we believe the maximum SEO bang would be had by hosting their blog in a subdirectory of their primary domain.
So I think we’re still in agreement. Do what is right for the client, based on where they are and the best way to get them where they need to go.
Using our company instead of purchasing a HubSpot product has its tradeoffs, as the above discussion indicates.
And, BTW, I think HubSpot has some great tools for SEO-related metrics.
#5 by John - November 11th, 2009 at 15:46
This is a nice write up
I definitely agree the subdirectory option is preferable SEO wise in almost all instances, assuming the idea of the blog (or one of them) is to attract links the links to the subdirectory will have more benefit to the root domain than on a subdomain.
I don’t think there’s a huge amount in it though. We’ve had a couple of cases where the subdirectory option wasn’t possible (.net site on the root domain, crap developers, that sort of thing!) and the subdomain option has still been succesful overall, the key with this approach is to integrate the blog & website together through your global navigation.
Again nice post
#6 by admin - November 11th, 2009 at 17:59
Thanks John. It’s been our experience that Google simply gives short shrift to subdomains, preferring subdirectories. And it’s unclear how much juice flows back to the primary domain from links to the subdomain. Because subdomains usually are distinct in content from the primary domain, I’m fairly sure that Google sees a much tighter relationship between the primary domain and its subdirectories than it does the primary domain and its subdomains. But, of course, we’re all just blind men feeling the elephant
#7 by theresa - November 22nd, 2009 at 16:17
OK so I’m setting up my blog as subdirectory of my domain (that is associated with an html website and a bunch of cached pages). For SEO purposes, do you suggest moving the Wordpress index and .htaccess files into the root directory or leaving them in the WP subdirectory? What about making the blog the homepage of the website?
#8 by timware - November 22nd, 2009 at 16:47
I would recommend keeping your blog in a keyword-rich-named subdirectory, along with its associated .htaccess file(s). I don’t see where there’d be any SEO benefits in moving your blog to the root directory unless your website is, say, built on WordPress and your blog *is* your website. If the blog is just a blog and there is other content/pages under your primary domain, I’d say keep it in the subdirectory.
#9 by Miriam Schwab - December 8th, 2009 at 00:45
What a timely post! Someone just asked me for my advice on this, and although we almost always install our clients’ blogs on what looks like a subdirectory (we build the whole site on WordPress, so the blog is part of the site but under a subdirectory in the URL), I thought that for SEO purposes it might be better to install on a subdomain and have the ability to send link love from the blog to the site and vice versa.
But you make great points here, and I think that you’re right. I’m going to send her the link to this post.
And BTW, your blog is great! I’ve been reading quite a lot of it, especially the FBML material. Thanks!
#10 by admin - December 8th, 2009 at 08:57
Thanks Miriam. Yeah, my curiosity got the better of me on this subject, and I’m glad it did. I had always suspected that the subdirectory hosting was the best for SEO, and such appears to be the case in most circumstances. Cheers.
#11 by Analisa - March 5th, 2010 at 17:30
Thanks for your kind words! We work hard to provide helpful advice to our community, not just our clients. If you feel so inclined, we would appreciate a quick review of our services on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hyperarts-web-design-oakland
#12 by Best Content Management System - December 14th, 2009 at 10:00
We always deploy blogs into the /blog directory unless specifically asked by our clients. People are so used to typing it into the url address bar that it may throw them off at times.
#13 by Jodi - December 15th, 2009 at 23:58
This was a fantastic article, I have found a LOT of good stuff on your site by the way. I have been googling all things FB trying to help this non-profit and this site seems to always be on the first page. Thanks for all the tips!!
Following the comments on this post was very interesting, I do think Hubspot (which I read also) gears more to the masses and you are geared towards the finer art of web and function with the tenacity of Drew Brees and the Saints… Anyway, it’s a compliment…..
#14 by Billy Bob - January 8th, 2010 at 15:04
Just admiring your blog great post and discussion! I actually got there looking for FBML info. As I am attempting Blog for SEO, Facebook, twitter, etc. Who knows what’s here tomorrow! I ran across your posting and really enjoyed the discussion. Hat’s off to Hubspot by the way for their participation….
We have many blogs that are out of date. Primary domains / subfolders from blogger and Wordpress sub-domain list in website. We, ok I, really like Wordpress for its custom look and feel not to mention the great plug-ins. We do not have the options to use Wordpress as a subdomain because of very complex cart and options not to mention PCI compliance. Would you recommend leaving the old stale blogs up and static or create 301 Redirects and move / republish the articles on wordpress subdomain? We have a total of 12 links to all the old blogs and nearly 100 on the new.
Thank you! Great Job! If I could only find the Elephants trunk, then at least I would know where I was starting to feel around… Just swinging from the tail!
#15 by admin - January 8th, 2010 at 15:18
For out of date blogs you could do 301 redirects from the individual posts to the corresponding posts on the new blog. I assume you’ll be using Permalinks in WordPress to create natural-language URLs. If over 100 folks are linking back to your blog, you certainly want to carry over that link love to the new blog posts!
As my post concludes, you definitely want to put your new blog into a subdirectory — NOT a subdomain — of your primary domain. You state that “we do not have the options to use Wordpress as a subdomain” and that’s a good thing. Subdirectory is better.
#16 by Ramit - January 22nd, 2010 at 18:48
I was having a discussion with my team on the pro’s and cons of using a Sub Domain Vs Sub Directory for blogs and we had googled to see what the census was and found your write up.
I’m pro for Sub Directories to be used for blogs as i have done so on my own blog. I find it best for SEO purposes.
#17 by John B. - February 22nd, 2010 at 22:35
This is a great discussion. I’m managing the SEM and website for a client of mine, and she currently has her blog hosted on a separate domain from her main website. It seems to me like it would be better to have the blog be a subdirectory on the main website so that good blog content can help generate backlinks to the main site, but the client’s “SEO expert” says “it can’t hurt to have 2 web presences out there driving traffic to your site”. I’m not really sure which way is better to go in this case – separate domain or subdirectory?
Any thoughts?
#18 by timware - February 23rd, 2010 at 00:02
Thanks John. My research supports the position that, assuming your blog and your primary domain are on the same topic(s), setting up your blog in a subdirectory of your primary domain is the way to go, and most of the experts I pay attention to concur. I think Rand Fish, as quoted above, said it best:
“Hosting your blog on a different domain from your primary site is one of the worst mistakes you can make. A blog on your domain can attract links, attention, publicity, trust and search rankings — by keeping the blog on a separate domain, you shoot yourself in the foot.”
I suggest your client’s “SEO expert” read this post and contribute to the conversation. Nothing like a dissenting opinion to get the juices flowing
#19 by Alan Mitchell - February 28th, 2010 at 01:50
Some great advice.
Am I right in thinking this article is geared towards businesses with an existing site looking to start a blog?
How would your advice change for people with an established blog (with plenty of external links), looking to start a new site. Would there be any value in keeping the blog separate so the trustworthy blog can give the new site a boost?
#20 by admin - March 5th, 2010 at 13:52
If the “trustworthy” blog is hosted under your own domain, then it’d be good to keep it there *if* the subject matter of the blog is somehow distinct from the new site. If the new site is related to the old blog — and that old blog is under your domain, not blogger, wordpress.com etc — the it’d be best to build the new site where the old blog is if, of course, the domain name is relevant. You can pass TrustRank and PageRank to a new domain using 301 Redirects. It may take the search engines a few months to “digest” the changeover and during that time you’d probably see a dip in the rankings, but if you properly redirect traffic to the new domain, you should retain that blog’s ranking factors.
#21 by Suhail Abbas - March 3rd, 2010 at 00:38
Hi,
Great discussion, I completely agree with your points, its always a subdirectory over subdomain if the topics are same. Having said that, subdomain(s) with constant and relevant content can be used to drive good amount of one-way link juice to the primary site.
Thoughts?