SKILL.md
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Structure
Example
SEO Authority
Brand Independence
Typical Use
Subfolder
company.com/product-a
Shared with main domain
Low
Products under one brand; SMB; content consolidation
Subdomain
product.company.com
Treated separately by Google
Medium
Separate product experience; tech isolation; support/docs
Independent domain
product.ai
None shared
High
Acquired brands; different markets; distinct brand identity
When to Use Each
Choose
When
Subfolder
Products share value proposition; want to strengthen main domain; SMB; blog, tools, features under one brand
Subdomain
Need separate tech stack (e.g., app vs marketing); support portal; docs; distinct UX but same brand
Independent domain
House of Brands; acquired company; different audience; different TLD (e.g., .ai for AI product)
SEO consensus: Subfolders typically outperform subdomains for most cases—authority flows to the main domain. Subdomains require separate SEO effort.
Brand Architecture
Model
Description
Domain Tendency
Examples
Branded House
One master brand; products use functional descriptors
Subfolder or subdomain
Google (google.com/search, google.com/maps), FedEx
House of Brands
Each brand independent; parent hidden
Independent domains
Unilever (dove.com, axe.com)
Sub-brands / Endorsed
Sub-brands with parent endorsement
Subdomain or independent
FedEx Express, Marriott Bonvoy
Decision factors: Business strategy, market positioning, product overlap, resource availability.
Hub-Spoke (Multiple Domains Coexist)
When company main site (company.com) and product site (product.ai) both exist:
Role
Domain
Focus
Hub
company.com
Brand, About, Research, product matrix; brand queries
Spoke
product.ai
Product features, pricing, signup; product queries
Principles:
- Hub links to Spoke (Products section); Spoke links back (About, Footer, "A [Company] product")
- Spoke avoids competing for brand queries in Title; Hub avoids competing for product keywords
- See multi-domain-brand-seo for brand search optimization.
Output Format
- Recommendation (subfolder / subdomain / independent) with rationale
- Brand architecture fit (Branded House / House of Brands / Sub-brands)
- Domain mapping (e.g., product A → company.com/product-a)
- Hub-Spoke guidance (if multiple domains)
- Related next steps (website-structure, rebranding-strategy)
Related Skills
- domain-selection: Initial domain choice (Brand/PMD/EMD, TLD); single-site use case
- website-structure: Plan pages within a domain; single-domain structure
- rebranding-strategy: Domain change, 301 redirects, migration
- multi-domain-brand-seo: Brand search control when Hub and Spoke coexist
- branding: Brand strategy, positioning; domain architecture implements brand structure