Domain vs. Subdomain Question

g-Vector said:

This is pure hypothetical.

Say that I have 11 subdomains next to the main domain.
The site is new and up for just 2 months, indexed, and receiving good traffic.

If I would 301 redirect 3 of those subdomains with PR0 to the main domain name with PR4, would that hurt the SERP, and/or PR4 of the main domain ?

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Subdomains are no longer treated as separate domains by Google but as subfolders of the main domain - redirecting from a subdomain to the main domain should be the same as redirecting from one place on the main domain to another if done properly

- With 301 redirect Google will give new location credit for backlinks that are redirected from subdomain

- SERP will not be harmed if you relocate content properly - for example if content is moved from keyword.domain.com to domain.com/keyword/ then SERP will not be harmed because the new page will be indexed and subfolder is treated same as subdomain so you will pick up same SEO credit

I was reading up on this and google are trying to index sub domains in the same way they index normal domains, I have never tried it yet, but hopefully they have/will sort it out.

shockwave said:

..... - SERP will not be harmed if you relocate content properly - for example if content is moved from keyword.domain.com to domain.com/keyword/ then SERP will not be harmed because the new page will be indexed and subfolder is treated same as subdomain so you will pick up same SEO credit

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Good one.
But, not redirecting the subdomain to a maindomain/folder/ and moving the content. But rather redirecting the subdomain to the main domain.
For example keyword1.maindomain.com redirected to maindomain.com.
And then merging the subdomain's content with the content of the maindomain.
I'm making a map for my website right now, and I'm looking for the safest way to back out of the whole subdomain thing, without taking too much body shots.
Backing out and rearranging, should also be swift and not a lot of work.
Better lose some time know, and have a backout solution at hand, then having to come up with a backout solution when I needed it the day before yesterday.

godmonkee said:

I was reading up on this and google are trying to index sub domains in the same way they index normal domains, I have never tried it yet, but hopefully they have/will sort it out.

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Well I don't mind about that likewise indexing. That would mean that whatever happens in the subdomain shouldn't harm the PR, etc of the maindomain. (Except backlinks maybe.)
That would be cool. We could develop subdomains with high PR and SERP by optimizing top, left, and right, and most in the middle. And then sell or do short term lets of the unoptimized parts in the middle.
It's like offering and guaranteeing immediate split second front page exposure.

Robert

EDIT: I don't mean advertising. Because it's not mixing with your own content on the main domain. Like advertisements do.

it so hard basically to get a good domain with your keywords into it. I think I read somewhere most three words are gone now