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February 28, 2008
 One of the first things that made me scratch my head when I started learning about Internet Marketing was why some people selling multiple products had unique domain names, and sites, for each product. I just didn't understand why they weren't using a single URL and putting everything under one domain name. It seemed like a waste and a hassle to register multiple domain names, not to mention, making all those web sites.
I knew that some large companies, like Symantec or Microsoft group their products under a single domain name, but sometimes, even they will have unique domain names that they branch to for specific products. (Not that being big equates to doing anything the best way, in fact, it's usually the other way around).
Why you should have a domain name per product.
SEO
One reason is for search engine optimization purposes. If I have three related products, it's temping to group them together under the same sales site. This would limit my options for optimization to one site. If instead, I created three sites, a site for each product, then I could optimize each site to its maximum potential. Since the products are related, the will probably be some overlap in the keywords, but that's OK.
For each site you need to do / should do the following: - Select a domain name that reflects something about the product and hopefully has a keyword in it while not being too long.
- Select keyword phrases
- Optimize site for those keyword phrases
- Build inbound links
- Promote site with articles
- Possibly use a paid form of advertising
You are limited to just how many keyword phrases you can optimize a web page to rank well for. I generally target three or four. These same keywords are generally used in your link building efforts, and in the resource boxes at the end of articles that you submit around the web.
If you look at the math, each of your three products has three keyword phrases that you want to optimize it for: that's nine phrases. You won't be able to do a good job of optimizing a single site or page for nine keywords. You will have much more success trying to optimize three different sites for three keyword phrases each.
Make It Easy to Buy
Another reason is the sales process itself - it makes it easier. To sell something, you need to get a person to your sales page, keep them there long enough to make a buying decision, and then have them click the purchase button. I can't tell you how many "big" sites I've been to and wasted time trying to just figure out how to find the product I needed and pay for it. It's ludicrous. Search for a product and then buy it. That's how it should work. Then, direct the customer to a site or page that contains information about your other products. Follow up with emails telling them about your other products. If your product is good and they derive value from it, they will have a much higher likelihood of purchasing another product from you. If you're selling clothes or auto parts or something of that nature, then a shopping cart scenario is needed, but even then, make sure it's easy to find an item, put it the shopping cart and keep shopping. Even more important, make sure the checkout button or link is visible and more than obvious. Again, I've used web sites with shopping carts and had to look around and struggle to find the checkout button. If I can't find it, then others can't find it and that can only result in lost sales.
In one of my next articles, I'll talk about picking a domain name and product name. So, sign up to my mailing list below so that you receive a notification each time I post... that way, you're not sitting there hitting refresh for a few days!
Until Next Time,
Fred
About the Author
Fred Black is an experienced programmer, web site developer, online business operator, systems integrator, father, husband, musician, and songwriter. Visit his Internet Business Blog at: http://www.pqInternet.com.
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Posted by Fred on February 28, 2008 | Printer-Friendly
TrackBack: http://www.pqInternet.com/Blog/mt-tb.cgi/122
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Comments:
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You are one of the few blogs i am reading anymore thanks to your unique quality viewpoint.
I see you are still ranking #1 for "internet business" on google and have been there for a while now.
An article detailing how you accomplished that would be appreciated.
Thanks
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You're right! For search engine optimization purposes, it's important to have a separate domain name for your products. It would be easy for you to promote your website. Your post is very useful and informative! ;)
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Fred,
I've seen that you've used both dedicated domains and putting a "mini-site" on a subdomain. I'm curious about what you see as the pros and cons of using subdomains. As far as I can tell, appropriate use of subdomains would fit within what you posted.
Thanks for the insight.
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I think minisites on subdomains are still widely used by many. Many are too lazy to manage a few more domains itself thus they just stick to their main domain.
But there are still some benefits like sending most of the traffic to that main domain.
Just my 2 cents opinion.
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