Can someone please offer some advice on the use of sub domains? website(dot)com information.website(dot)com I am considering adding a new section to a website. The existing site is quite busy with a big database behind it. The new section would be mostly informative with many information pages. This would benefit from a different structure to the existing site but it would keep the same design and feel. My questions are as follows- Can the subdomain be held on a different server to the existing domain? If so are there any points to consider? What are the SEO implications of using sub domains?
Yes, very easily done using the zone file for the domain. Just add one line and that's it. Getting your CMS and database to work with both servers is another story. If the site you added to Google Webmaster Tools is www.website.com then you'll have to change it to website.com to get the new section into sitemaps. The sitemap for www.website.com does not have authority over other subdomains. Don't do it if at all possible. New subdomains are treated like new domains by Google. You won't get any results for a LONG time. Whether you are adding new content or moving old content to a new section, try to do it within your existing structure i.e. www.
Sounds painful and not great for SEO. Looks like we will have to think again. The existing site is not ideal for builing a lot of new information pages. I guess I will have to try and work around this.