Blog: On Site vs. Off Site - SEO Advantages

[mjtaylor]

Which is better: a blog on the main web site or an entirely separate blog?

Assuming an on site blog attracts links, then all those links would benefit the entire site. On the other hand, if the same blog is off site, then it can generate backlinks to the main site through its own posts.

Which is better SEO-wise, in your opinion, please?

[Ace]

On-Site Blog will be better as your complete website will get attention in Search Engines.

[mjtaylor]

Ace, do you have any actual experience to support that?

I have clients with on and off site blogs, and it *seems* that the ones with off site blogs do better ...

[morestar]

Hi MJT.

Well I have created a few blogs for my site, two off-site blogs and one on a sub-domain. I get traffic and link juice from all three so my opinion is that it would be a matter of preference.

So far anyways...my view may change after I read some responses to this post later...

[keyon]

One advantage in creating a blog off-site is that you can use another domain name - a domain that might be better focused on the keywords you are targeting for that specific blog.

[SemAdvance]

Do both.

But if you can't, then as noted above, stand alone blog on separate hosting.

Two is usually better than one.

[morestar]

Should she use Wordpress.com then?

Just as addition to my question above...if MJT decides to use wordpress she will be taking advantage of her blog being on a different domain with a different IP?

And I'm really wondering cause the MJT could also simply register another domain/hosting account and setup the blog there rather than use the services of Wordpress.com...

I'm sure there are many people that create accounts at wordpress.com simply for spamming purposes too so would the search engines give a better 'rating' to a completely new domain over using wordpress too?

[deepsand]

IMO, to say "SEO-wise" is to put the cart before the horse; presumably, the primary goal is to increase traffic for the "main" site. Therefore, the real question is which method will result in more traffic.

Assuming that the blog itself can generate substantial traffic in its own right, the issue then becomes one of how much of that traffic can be internally re-directed to the "main" site. If such is acceptably high, then there may be no need for SEO considerations vis-a-vis the main site, and its being internal/external becomes inconsequential.

If, on the other hand, the blog itself cannot directly yield a satisfactory gain in traffic for the main site, then placing it external to such, with appropriate OBLS, may result in a PR gain for the main site such that its SERP Rank improves by an amount sufficient for its indirectly realizing a gain in traffic.

As for IBLs acquired by the blog itself, and the PR that it thus has to pass to the main site, it in theory makes no difference whether the blog is internal or external to the main site; from the viewpoint of the PR algorithm, each page is treated as an independent entity. In practice, though, we can but speculate, test, and thus perhaps refine our speculations.

[kylelmoon]

Create blogs in your own site will get your reputation up depending on the quality of your posts. Any internal links, which means hyperlinks going to your own domain, will not count in SEO. Only those links coming outside your domain is counted. So for SEO wise it is better to put your blog posts outside your domain. But do not neglect to place good quality articles in your own domain too!
You must maintain a good balance in your posts both inside and outside the domain.

[tangeray]

Kyle, do you know for fact that internal links don't give you link juice? I have to disagree from observation, but I do not know for fact.

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by kylelmoon

Any internal links, which means hyperlinks going to your own domain, will not count in SEO. Only those links coming outside your domain is counted.

As this runs contrary to both the published PR algorithm and Google's patents, not to mention numerous statements by Matt Cutts & other Google employees, you'll need to prove this.

[tangeray]

So DeepSand, what your saying is that if I link my PR3 home page and several other pages on my site to a new page I just created on that same site, that will help the PR go up on that new page?

[deepsand]

If your new page is accessible from within your site, it's already "linked" and receiving PR from such.

However, rather than trying to manipulate the internal flow of PR, commonly known as "PR sculpting," you should focus on designing your internal linkage for the best possible advantage to your users. The easier it is for your users to navigate your site the more inclined they will be to do so.

[sheena]

The thinking is that that off-site blog will generate more rankings potential for the main site because it will be a valuable incoming link to the main site. While that may be true to some extent I still prefer on-site blogs. One benefit of an on-site blog would be that we can use the blog pages as potential landing pages for Adwords and other PPC marketing (sure we can do that with an off-site blog but it would require another click before they get to your main site)

[allenhoward]

Off-site is better.
1. you can target the other main keyword to get traffic to your main site.
2. You can get some backlink.
3.You can use keyword in blog url

[full house]

I do the same strategy, I use separate blog, I don't do one blog but multiple blogs which can be a good back links bring huge traffics.

[Ace]

Originally Posted by mjtaylor

Ace, do you have any actual experience to support that?

I have clients with on and off site blogs, and it *seems* that the ones with off site blogs do better ...

People generally have habit of linking to root, in this way you will get lots of inbound link to your main site. I think which is your main purpose, you can see the example of of Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO Matt has also recommend having a blog as directory in his post on Whitehat SEO tips for bloggers

I hope that helps as on-site blog will give you lots of inbound links with different Ip's to your main site.

[Zhannalight]

I guess on-site is better.

When you speak about gaining backlinks, why on earth should anybody link to your main site pages which are in most cases no more than marketing hype?

People are more likely to link to the quality articles, blog posts, funny widgets etc. These can be posted on your on-site blog. Your blog entries will definitely have more backlink potential (read: backlink potential for your main site domain).

[jabo]

Would it really matter on which one is better as you can always do both? I mean there is no rule saying that a website should only have on site that could only be either "on" the site or "off" the site. just don't post the same things on those blogs as that will not be useful at all.

[seopo]

This question has been asked many times.

It always seems to end up with a pretty even mixed field with half people going one way and the other half the other.

I personally go for a subdomain.

However, I now believe that both methods will have their own seo benefits and that it would appear that both options are just as good as each other.

[nickoran]

Dont blogs get spidered more often than static content? so therefore wouldnt it be reasonable to suggest if you want your site spidered more often, to put a blog on the actual site?

[seopo]

If your content isn't changing, why would it matter how much your site gets spidered. Blogs get spidered more often as the content is updated a lot and therefore index the new content. But if your content is in the SERPs why would it matter if it gets checked again. Also, blogs get indexed quickly through pinging the search engines. Your 'regular' pages wont' ping Google so won't have the same advantage.

[nickoran]

Originally Posted by seopo

If your content isn't changing, why would it matter how much your site gets spidered. Blogs get spidered more often as the content is updated a lot and therefore index the new content. But if your content is in the SERPs why would it matter if it gets checked again.

well the advantage would be that when you did make a change it got indexed quicker

Originally Posted by seopo

Also, blogs get indexed quickly through pinging the search engines. Your 'regular' pages wont' ping Google so won't have the same advantage.

yes, thats true and fair enough, guess i was thinking aloud...

[seopo]

it's a sensible thought on the face of it, not sure 100% either way though.

[inertia]

On site every time. Because it ticks various boxes for your MAIN DOMAIN, and not some other domain. As deepsand said, the goal is always to improve rankings/traffic/profile of your main domain so why not put all that hard work on your main site so it gets all the benefits?

1. Fresh content
2. Content which backs up your main pages
3. Deep links
4. Better link profile - more varied (if you create a blog on a new domain keep in mind your cross linking is devalued heavily but when you put the blog on site you get a direct site wide benefit from any links the blog attracts).
5. If the blog is well linked into your main site (and vice versa) you'll get a higher visitor retention on all levels of the site (they prefer not to be pushed from one site to another).
6. Higher click throughs to your main pages (as above).
7. Better branding and reputation management opportunities (if your main TLD is the "online face" of the company then why not have their blog under the same TLD)?
8. The blog is a good place to post media such as youtube vids, which Google likes to see on a site IMO.
9. Blog posts get an initial boost of PR from the links which the site has already garnered so some work is already done for you (someone above mentioned internal links NOT passing PR, that is the biggest pile of BS i've heard in a while).
10. Traffic singals? Theres some debate about whether traffic signals are ranking factors, if they are then surely having a blog on site would benefit all areas.

Dont forget as well, if you create a new domain you have the usual work of getting that domain "moving and a grooving" before its starts to pick up any competitive rankings.

[inertia]

However, rather than trying to manipulate the internal flow of PR, commonly known as "PR sculpting," you should focus on designing your internal linkage for the best possible advantage to your users. The easier it is for your users to navigate your site the more inclined they will be to do so.

Yep - breadcrumbs, related post/page links, sitemap style footers, in content linking - all great SEO tools and all great for click throughs!

[inertia]

But, if you have loads of clients all in related areas then setting up general blogs could be a good move which benefits all your clients with links?

[risk]

Definitely do both and use blogger if you want Google juice. You need to create a ring of blogs offsite preferably dealing with niche keywords all linking back to the target site.
For example I have an Insurance Blog offsite to deal with generic insurance, a car insurance blog onsite to gain from constant new material and a set of keyword rich blogs offsite surrounding the target and constantly feeding it link juice e.g Specialist Car Insurance

and guess what It works!

however whether your blogs are sucessful or not depends on you constantly feeding them quality original content!

[innominds]

I'm of the opinion that on site blog would be more profitable in terms of SEO.
Moreover you can easily interact with your customers.

[NJ]

Originally Posted by Zhannalight

When you speak about gaining backlinks, why on earth should anybody link to your main site pages which are in most cases no more than marketing hype?

A quality site will use their home/main page to answer the basic reader questions "whacha got?" and "who are ya?." Just like a retail store, you'd better make it easy for me to find what I want when I walk in the door, or I will go somewhere else next time.

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by allenhoward

Off-site is better.
1. you can target the other main keyword to get traffic to your main site.
2. You can get some backlink.
3.You can use keyword in blog url

And, with an on-site blog, one is unable to do these things why?

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by Zhannalight

I guess on-site is better.

When you speak about gaining backlinks, why on earth should anybody link to your main site pages which are in most cases no more than marketing hype?

People are more likely to link to the quality articles, blog posts, funny widgets etc. These can be posted on your on-site blog. Your blog entries will definitely have more backlink potential (read: backlink potential for your main site domain).

And, an off-site blog cannot do the same why?

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by nickoran

Dont blogs get spidered more often than static content?

How does an SE know whether or not the content has changed if it doesn't re-crawl the site?

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by innominds

I'm of the opinion that on site blog would be more profitable in terms of SEO.

Bearing in mind that the primary goal is increased traffic, why do you hold said opinion?

Originally Posted by innominds

Moreover you can easily interact with your customers.

How is communications, of any kind, impacted by where a particular on-line resource is located?