Multiple domains vs single domain vs subdomains ?

[dgalassi]

I have a client that recently read an article that advised him to break up his website into various URL's that targeted specific products. It was supposed to be a solution to gain footing in an already competitive industry. So rather than company.com with various pages targeting his products, he'd end up having multiple smaller sites:

companyClothing.com

companyShoes.com

Etc.

The article stated that by structuring your website this way, you were more likely to gain ranking in Google by targeting these niche markets.

I wanted to know if this article was based on any facts. Are there any benefits to creating a new website that targets a specific niche market versus as a section of pages on a main website?

I then began looking into structuring each of these product areas into subdomains, but the data out there is not definitive as to how subdomains are viewed by Google and other search engines - more specifically how subdomains benefit (or not!) the primary domain.

So, in general, when a business targets many products and services that cover a wide range - what is the best way to structure the delivery of this info: multiple domains, single domain with folders/categories, or subdomains?  If single domain with folders/categories are not an option, how do subdomains stack up?

Thanks in advance for your help/suggestions!

[EGOL]

I just posted this in another thread but believe that it applies here as well....

========================================

Let me just call this... "logical speculation"....

If you chop a domain's content in half and place it on two different websites, you have also just chopped all of the links, likes, mentions, etc in half.

If you do that you should expect every ranking everywhere to drop - because you now have less domain authority - you cut it in half.

========================================

[MagicDude4Eva]

Splitting a client's website into multiple domains could affect you in branding (unless you incorporate the brand name and the vertical you want to split into the domain).

Subdomains only make sense if you really want to target different audiences and there is little chance of cross-over (i.e. there would be a slim chance that customers would overlap if you sell cosmetics on one domain and DYI products on another). The danger of subdomains is that if content is not properly managed, you will run into all sorts of content issues.

I would rather focus on a single domain with a good product category structure, product pages and a good set of landing-/conversion pages to target the different verticals.

I also think that a single domain will afford you better long-term value (both from a SEO and SEM perspective).

[danatanseo]

As is often the case, I think it depends on your specific business and products. I have seen the niche site idea work extremely well, and not work at all. Something to really take into account when considering the multi-site option is: Do you have the resources to develop manage and market multiple sites?

I am an in-house SEO for a company that just launched a micro-brand. They could have opted to put these new products on their existing Web site, but the products and customers were going to be vastly different than the core customer persona of the main site, although they are all church ministry related.

Our main site is very large and I have advised that it would be better to separate out the three subsections of the site because, again, the customers of each leg of the business are completely different. We are in a highly competitive category too, so this makes it extremely hard to rank for important keywords because our messaging is trying to address three different businesses with one Website.

If you have the resources to handle multiple sites, and you're in a competitive space, I'd say go for the niche sites. But beware of Exact Match Domains. Google is crackin' down!

Hope this perspective helps a bit.

[EGOL]

I used to have a lot of hotdog stand websites... then built a big site that quickly  defeated all of them and most of their competitors.

Who is kicking all of the ass out there right now?. The hotdog stands? Or, the big sites like wikipedia, about, amazon, ebay, ??

If you are going to attack the US Navy which would you rather have?  One battleship or ten potato guns?

I used to run subdomains and then redirected them into folders on the main site and the results have been kickass.  Kickass.

There is always a question about how google is going to treat subdomains but there is never a question about how they are going to treat a big website.

As far as conversions go and impressing your visitors.  Which is going to do a better job.. A hotdog stand or a supermarket?  Which will produce better shopping cart totals though cross selling?

Your questions have been asked in this Q&A over and over again.  If you use search you will find lots of opinions that support the above?