HubSpot Migration, Subdomains, 301 redirects & SEO...

[Harribo]

Hi all!

I'm migrating my website to HubSpot and looking for some advice in terms of how to handle the migration best in terms of SEO.

SEO is pretty much the only marketing channel we have currently (although looking to build out others when the new site is live).

Currently, we have content across 4 subdomains, a blog (WordPress) + 3 territory-specific English language sites.

The sites link to an app which is currently localised, but the new site will coincide with a new app which is global - in other words, the subdomains are no longer really required.

The blog content represents 90% of traffic (approx 5k clicks a month from Google excluding brand terms) the other traffic is relatively small but very relevant and some great keywords in there which drive some great leads.

These are the options I'm considering...

Option 1 - All new website content on root domain, blog in a subfolder, 301 redirects for all existing pages.

Pros

- Doable on the cheapest HubSpot package.

- Removes index bloat and potentially much easier to maintain moving forward.

- Potentially boosts some pages by having 4x backlinks from various subdomain pages...

Cons

- Best case traffic drops off a cliff initially but recovers, worst case, never recovers 😕

Option 2 - New root domain for the country subdomains, 301 the existing pages to corresponding new pages, and keep the blog in a subdomain.

Pros

- Maintains the existing blog content rankings.

Cons

- Needs the CMS Pro package which is 10x current monthly.

- Having the blog in a subfolder is generally considered better for SEO...

Option 3 - Keep things as they are, but do a content audit and remove old, no traffic and redundant pages and 301 these (would do this as part of all three options)

Pros

- Safest route forward as potentially maintains existing traffic

Cons

- Needs the CMS Pro package which is 10x current monthly.

- Doesn't solve the issue of the redundancy of the 3x subdomains and potential long-term bump from several subdomains into one root domain.

- Having the blog in a subfolder is generally considered better for SEO?

Any advice, thoughts welcome - anyone been through something similar?

[danmoyle · Accepted solution]

@Harribo my two cents: I'm a fan of option 1. Move everything you can into your main domain with subdirectories (HubSpot really isn't a folder structure like old school websites, but you can add subdirectories like yourdomain.com/country1 and yourdomain.com/country2, etc.). 301 redirects should have little to no effect on search rankings. Based on what you described, I'd recommend that approach as the most efficient and best UX scenario for your viewers. 

[Sam62 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Harribo,

I too think that Option 1 is the most apt case for you and even you think so. But before migrating your website on a new domain, I'd suggest you to perform a content audit. You can keep it simple by using a spreadsheet to shortlist and eliminate pages that are there just for the sake of it but aren't generating any value towards your site.

Then you can go with Option 1 as you thought.

And I'd like to mention that having content in a subfolder or in a subdirectory doesn't really impact SEO(in most cases).

[Harribo]

Hi Satyam,

The content audit is definitely something I would do in all scenarios.

Thanks for your suggestions!

-

M

[danmoyle · Accepted solution]

@Harribo my two cents: I'm a fan of option 1. Move everything you can into your main domain with subdirectories (HubSpot really isn't a folder structure like old school websites, but you can add subdirectories like yourdomain.com/country1 and yourdomain.com/country2, etc.). 301 redirects should have little to no effect on search rankings. Based on what you described, I'd recommend that approach as the most efficient and best UX scenario for your viewers. 

[Harribo]

Hi Dan,

Some great advice there, thanks a lot!

-

M

[kvlschaefer]

Hi @Harribo,

Thank you for reaching out, and for including all of this information! 

I would like to invite a few of our subject matter experts to get their insight. 

Hi @NicoleSengers, @Sam62, @danmoyle, @JonPayne, @DavidDennison - Do you have any recommendations for @Harribo? 

Thank you! 

Best,

Kristen