Question

Topic: SEO/SEM

Blog On Web Site Or Standalone Url?

Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 2/26/2008 at 3:03 PM ET 500 Points
I would like to hear this group's opinion on whether a company's blog should be on the company's Web site (for example, blog.company.com or company.com/blog/) or on a standalone Web site/URL (for example, companyblog.com).

For purposes of this discussion, please assume that the company is interested in enhancing SERP for a handful of keywords. In other words, if the blog is on a standalone URL, its mission is to either (1) become ranked in its own right so that it can direct traffic to the company site *or* (2) enhance the rankings of the company site. Of course, if it could do both, that would be even better.

In addition, to the extent that it means anything, the company's current site index page has a modest PR of 5.

I hear arguments that you should put all of your great content on one domain, and I hear arguments that you should use all your great content to build good inbound links to your company site.

Assume that the blog content will not be purely promotional but primarily informative, and assume that blog content will be updated regularly.

Looking forward to your feedback.

- Paul
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by excellira on 2/26/2008 at 3:18 PM Accepted
    The answer is "it depends". However, I generally prefer to keep everything under "one roof" so to speak. It's easier and less costly to market one site than two.

    Another advantage to having a blog under the main domain is that deep links help the entire site including the home page. So, if you do a good job of RSS and Social Media Marketing then you'll be building the main site by marketing the blog and vice versa.

    The other issue is that the blog will not have PageRank initially. It'll take a while before it will achieve greatness. ;-)

    So, the two sites should do better together than on their own.

    You could argue that throwing links back and forth between the two domains could overcome some of my raised objections. Though, if you actively post on the blog it will increase the crawl rate on the main site.

    Another argument for separating them is from a site "brand" perspective. You could potentially bury the blog and have difficulty differentiating it from the commercial aspect of the main site. Some powerful web sites do a good job of combining those two objectives nicely though.

    Regards,

    Greg Hill
    Trinity Search Engine Marketing
  • Posted by excellira on 2/26/2008 at 3:31 PM Member
    "The other issue is that the blog will not have PageRank initially. It'll take a while before it will achieve greatness. ;-)"


    I reread my post and realized that this may be misunderstood. To clarify: It will take longer for the blog to receive good PR on its own than it will by being a part (subdirectory) of the main site.

    On the other hand, it is possible that the main page of the blog, if marketed effectively, could achieve a higher PR on its own than being attached to the main site. This would take a lot of work though.

  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 2/27/2008 at 12:36 AM Accepted
    Hi Paul,

    Nice question, as usual.

    Though there is not a definitive answer for all blog situations, I am presenting some things to consider that will help you make the best choice for your application. #1 is an argument, and a very good one, for an integrated blog, and #2, #3, #4 and #5 are arguments for a stand-alone blog.

    This is not meant to argue that because there are 4 bullets for “stand-alone blog” and just 1 for “integrated blog” that a stand-alone is better as the rationales for an integrated are very strong. The final solution here really is an “it depends”.

    #1: If you already have an established web presence and brand, an integrated blog is probably best because you already have significant time and money invested in the website, marketing and branding, both online and offline, that is driving traffic to the site. Starting over will consume a lot more resources than creating an integrated blog that ties in with your current website and branding and you'll get plenty of traffic to it if you make sure you show prominent links to it on the main website.

    #2: If your current website has questionable presence and popularity, and little converting traffic, it could strengthen the argument to go with a stand-alone blog especially if you have a clear direction of the blog's purpose (as opposed to just having it to increase traffic).

    #3: Another argument for a stand-alone blog would be if your main website promotes multiple products or services, because if you used an integrated blog, what would you focus on?

    #4: Another determining factor could be if your website is built and hosted on a platform/server like ASP which isn’t compatible with a hosted blogging platform like WordPress or TypePad on a Linux platform. In a situation like this you don't want to screw-up or compromise your current website and you don't want to compromise the plan and strategy you have for your blog, so in this case it would probably make sense to go with a stand-alone blog which you can then link to it and promote it from your main website, and vice-versa which is a good segue to #5…..

    #5: If you develop a stand-alone blog you will gain the very valuable incoming search engine traffic to your site that it will generate.

    I hope that helps!
  • Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 2/27/2008 at 7:48 AM Author
    Thank you, both, for the responses. I was pretty sure that there's just no right or wrong answer.

    Keeping in mind that the mission of the subject blog is to enhance search engine rankings for a few choice keywords, I guess the essence of the question is:

    Which site will rank better? One with great content of its own, or one with many inbound links from another site (that is, the blog) that says, "Look at the great content that that other site has!"

    The "miserable failure" example from years ago would indicate that--at least back then--the second approach (blog on its own site) would do a better job, but then again those inbound links came from different sources. In the case of the blog, however, there's really only one "source," isn't there?

    So...what approach should rank bmh.com better for the phrase "bees make honey?"

    A site (bmh.com) with good content and lots of on-site blog postings (blog.bmh.com) about how bees make honey? Or a site (bmh.com) with good content (no blog, though) and a lot of inbound links from one off-site blog (bmhblog.com) that says that the site (bmh.com) has good content about how bees make honey?

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 2/27/2008 at 9:49 AM Accepted
    I'm assuming that your blog will have the same look & feel as the rest of your website, otherwise integrating it will create a visual shock to the reader (jumping from blog to website).

    From a prospect's position, it should live within the company's website. It's part of its image.

    From a search engine's position, it doesn't matter - since the content (and links) will be the same either way. If you're trying to drive up page rank of your company itself, then continue to focus on the keywords, relevant content, and backlinks from other authority sites.

    Also, it doesn't matter what your pagerank is. It matters what your competition's rank is, and your position with your targeted keywords.
  • Posted by mmorrison on 3/1/2008 at 5:07 AM Accepted
    Hi
    You can do both...

    If you set up yiour main blog on your site as others have said it adds to the content - I would also go for a different look and feel.

    If yopu then set up a blog on blogger.com with a long text make using keywords and registerr the site with rss feeds etc... his will get into google very quickly. Then post a 15 unique small posts - one a day using your keywords and have multiple links back to your main site (deep links)
    Then I would link the rss feeds from you main blog to be presented as contant on your blogger account. Then just once a month add new unique content to blogger.

    I have found this a powerful linking strategy. Also you can link from other blogs and firums to your blogger site more easily without it looking like spam!!

    I wish you well with whatever strategy you follow.
    Mike
  • Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 3/2/2008 at 10:23 AM Author
    Thank you, all, for responding.

    I appreciate your input very much.

    -Paul
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