Domain vs Subdomain - Where should I open my store?

Incursio · Dec 23, 2023

I have a 40 DA domain where I post evergreen content related to kitchen niche. I have also been using that blog for affiliate marketing. Now I am planning to open a full fledged store and handle some retail selling myself. Now my question is, if I were to open a store on my main domain (example.com/store), will it nagatively or positively affect my SEO in any way? Or should I go for something like store.example.com?

Which one will be a better choice for organic SEO?

tazarbm · Dec 23, 2023

it depends on your preference, although there are some things to consider, such as...

1. Subdomains are treated as new sites by google, in the sense that they always start with 0 authority even if they belong to the most authoritative domain in the world, whereas folders (example.com/store) inherit some of the authority of their domain from the get-go.

2. if you have / predict you'll be having a big store it's better to install it on a subdomain for easier management and less headaches (on folders you might run into technical and - eventually SEO related - issues if - later on - you decide to massively change things around or to give the store its own separate install / CMS, which you probably will based on my experience).

So, in my opinion it depends on what you want most: boost in authority vs safer management without jeopardizing the main site.

There might be more things to consider but I can't think of them at the moment, I'm too sleepy

alonelywriter · Dec 23, 2023

Domain.com/shop is better. Personal Preference.

Incursio · Dec 24, 2023

tazarbm said:
it depends on your preference, although there are some things to consider, such as...

1. Subdomains are treated as new sites by google, in the sense that they always start with 0 authority even if they belong to the most authoritative domain in the world, whereas folders (example.com/store) inherit some of the authority of their domain from the get-go.

2. if you have / predict you'll be having a big store it's better to install it on a subdomain for easier management and less headaches (on folders you might run into technical and - eventually SEO related - issues if - later on - you decide to massively change things around or to give the store its own separate install / CMS, which you probably will based on my experience).

So, in my opinion it depends on what you want most: boost in authority vs safer management without jeopardizing the main site.

There might be more things to consider but I can't think of them at the moment, I'm too sleepy

Thank you for your response, in point number 2, can you give an example of SEO related issues you just mentioned? So far, even I'm inclined to subdomain install, but I just thought maybe I can use my existing authority to rank organically on searches.

Incursio · Dec 24, 2023

alonelywriter said:
Domain.com/shop is better. Personal Preference.

Ease of management or domain/SEO related benefits?

HarkTales · Dec 24, 2023

subdomain s best option shop.example.com, easy to mange store, and in beginning seo will be effect but after good traffic, subdomain good for SEO,

alonelywriter · Dec 24, 2023

Incursio said:
Ease of management or domain/SEO related benefits?

I would say Domain/SEO related benefits. Plus my personal preference but I find it easier to write /shop in front of a domain then writing it as a subdomain.

tazarbm · Dec 24, 2023

Incursio said:
Thank you for your response, in point number 2, can you give an example of SEO related issues you just mentioned? So far, even I'm inclined to subdomain install, but I just thought maybe I can use my existing authority to rank organically on searches.

for example you might install Wordpress both on domain and in folder, but later on - if you decide to change the Wordpress installation to another CMS - you might accidentally also delete the folder where your store is installed (people sometimes are reckless, and other times they genuinely forget or rush things so it is possible to accidentally delete the folder).

This is the only thing I can think of at the moment (which is still important), but I'm not a technical person so I don't know all of the implications of having 2 CMS installs on the same domain, but for peace of mind I would pick a subdomain

hideath · Dec 24, 2023

I do prefer and use subfolders for such cases,
But it really depend in your internal linking more than just which structure to use,

There are a ton of websites that rank fine just by using a ton of subdomains,
Some for every keyword/topic and others for every category, etc...
Even with some of these subdomains do not have any external links, they still rank high for competitive keywords just with internal links,

The only downside with using subdomains would be less authority than the subfolder,
And in some cases, it could get treated as a new & different website as mentioned by @tazarbm,
Less likely if you got them well linked to each other and both verified under the same GSC, but would you take the risk?

Incursio · Dec 25, 2023

hideath said:
I do prefer and use subfolders for such cases,
But it really depend in your internal linking more than just which structure to use,

There are a ton of websites that rank fine just by using a ton of subdomains,
Some for every keyword/topic and others for every category, etc...
Even with some of these subdomains do not have any external links, they still rank high for competitive keywords just with internal links,

The only downside with using subdomains would be less authority than the subfolder,
And in some cases, it could get treated as a new & different website as mentioned by @tazarbm,
Less likely if you got them well linked to each other and both verified under the same GSC, but would you take the risk?

Thank you for the very useful insights, I've decided to go with sub domain structure because:
1- I will be relying on internal linking to send my readers to my products.
2- It will help prevent keyword dilution in case I wish to sell different products on store.
3- installing woo commerce may have a hit on blog's speed.
4- I don't know how to have adsense work in a way to not put auto ads on my subfolder. While in a sub domain, I can choose to have adsense on or off for that particular sub domain.

Thanks for everyone's help.

hideath · Dec 25, 2023

Incursio said:
Thank you for the very useful insights, I've decided to go with sub domain structure because:
1- I will be relying on internal linking to send my readers to my products.
2- It will help prevent keyword dilution in case I wish to sell different products on store.
3- installing woo commerce may have a hit on blog's speed.
4- I don't know how to have adsense work in a way to not put auto ads on my subfolder. While in a sub domain, I can choose to have adsense on or off for that particular sub domain.

Thanks for everyone's help.

idk about the keyword dilution, as long as they're actually totally different products, it won't be a problem,
for the site speed, as long as you're using the same server for both your blog and store it won't be a difference, same resources used in either cases,
you can disable AdSense auto ads easily by excluding the folder in AdSense auto ads settings,

just use whatever you prefer, there won't be any major differences anyway ^^
best of luck!

Domain vs Subdomain - Where should I open my store?

Incursio

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tazarbm

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alonelywriter

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Incursio

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Incursio

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HarkTales

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alonelywriter

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tazarbm

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hideath

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