Staging, SEO, Community Branding — Subdirectory vs. Subdomain
A bit complex topic, but I'll try to keep it simple: I'm setting up a staging environment using xCloud so that I can keep enhancing my site even after the launch.
I've posted something about this a long time back — and the attached reply from Jonathan is still making me think how to approach the domain of my community, i.e., Subdirectory (example.com/community) vs. Subdomain (community.example.com).
The thing is — to be honest, I don't want to host my community on a subdomain, because "in my opinion", it can impact SEO as well as community branding, and both of them are quite crucial for me. (Am I the only one who thinks subdomain doesn't look quite credible from a branding perspective!?! 🫣)
But as Jonathan mentioned, the challenge is — since I'm hosting my community on a subdirectory (example.com/community), if I take a couple of days to make and push changes from staging to production site, all activities from the live community (for those 2 days) would be wiped out! 🥺😰
So, I wanna know how other community founders are approaching this.
What type of domain are you using to host your community? (Also, if you can, I would appreciate your thoughts in comments.) 💚🙏
Lol... I'm using root domain
Bryan William Whoa! That's quite interesting! 🙌
Tbh, I didn't even think of that approach. But I'd say, in a way, it's somewhat similar to the subdirectory approach in the context of my logic in this post — i.e., to host your community on your primary domain name and not a subdomain.
Nonetheless, I added that option for you, my friend! 😄 Feel free to submit your vote! 🤗✨
I always prefer subdirectory, easier to manage, better for SEO
A community builds trust for a site in Google's eyes