Navigating domains: Custom vs. single domain strategies for apartment marketing

As apartment marketers, we’re constantly striving to optimize our online presence. Whether you manage a cluster of properties in the same area or oversee a portfolio of apartment communities across multiple states, the choice of domain strategy significantly impacts your digital footprint.

Let’s explore two distinct approaches: custom domains and a single parent domain. Each has its appeal, and understanding the differences is crucial. Keep reading to learn about the pros and cons of each approach.

What is a domain?

A domain is your website’s address on the internet, similar to a street address for a physical location. Think of it as one of several parts working together to form this example URL:

https://www.yourpropertyname.com/floor-plans

Protocol (https://): This ensures a secure connection.

Subdomain (www.): This is an optional prefix that can precede the domain name.

Domain name (e.g., yourproperty.com): This is the central identifier for your website. This is what we’re discussing in this article.

Optional path (e.g., /floor-plans): This directs users to a specific page or resource within the domain.

Custom domains vs. single domain?

When choosing a domain strategy for your apartment marketing, you have two primary options: custom domains or a single parent domain. Each approach offers unique advantages, but the best choice depends on your specific goals and circumstances.

To help you decide, let’s explore the pros and cons of each option in more detail.

Custom domain approach

Custom domains involve having individual web addresses for each apartment community. Picture a unique domain for your luxury high-rise in downtown Manhattan, another for your community in Brooklyn and yet another for a multifamily property in Newark.

Pros:

• Targeted marketing: Each domain can be tailored specifically to the local market, making it easier to target the right audience with localized content and promotions. These more branded, individual domains are often easier to remember and more marketable.
• Local SEO benefits: Individual domains can be optimized for local search terms, potentially improving visibility in local search results and attracting residents searching for apartments in that specific area. See all our SEO articles here.
• Customization: Each domain can have a unique design and functionality suited to the needs of each location, providing a more personalized experience for users.
• Easier, resilient management: Issues at one location (e.g., a website downtime) don’t affect other locations, allowing for more focused troubleshooting and management. If your website goes down, only one website is impacted — instead of your entire portfolio.

Cons:

• Higher costs: Maintaining multiple domains can be more expensive due to costs associated with domain registration, hosting and SSL certificates for each domain.
• SEO challenges: Building SEO authority for multiple domains can be more challenging compared to consolidating efforts on a single domain. It may also require more effort to manage and track SEO performance across several sites.
• Increased workload: Content updates, design changes and other site management tasks need to be done individually for each domain, increasing the workload.
• Brand consistency: Maintaining a consistent brand image and message can be more challenging when dealing with multiple domains.

Single parent domain approach

In contrast, the single parent domain approach houses information about all your apartment communities on one site. Imagine a central corporate site where visitors can explore properties across neighborhoods, cities and states.

Pros:

• Unified branding: A single domain allows for a consistent brand image and message across all locations, which can enhance brand recognition and trust.
• Centralized SEO efforts: All SEO efforts are focused on one domain, which can help build domain authority more efficiently and improve search engine rankings.
• Cost efficiency: There is only one domain registration, hosting plan and SSL certificate to manage, reducing overall costs.
• Simplified management: Managing content, updates, and design changes is more straightforward with a single site. Centralized content management systems (CMS) can also streamline these tasks.

Cons:

• Less localized marketing: It can be more challenging to create highly localized content for each location, which may affect the effectiveness of local marketing efforts.
• Complex site structure: A single parent domain with multiple locations may require a complex site structure, which could potentially impact user experience if not designed well.
• SEO risks: If not managed properly, a single domain with many locations might dilute the focus of SEO efforts, especially if content isn’t well-segmented and targeted. Your optimizations for a property in Atlanta don’t directly benefit your property in Portland.
• Single point of failure: If issues arise with the main domain (e.g., technical problems, security breaches), it could potentially affect all locations, not just one.

Considerations

• Size and scale: Larger operations with many locations might benefit more from a single parent domain due to simplified management and cost efficiency. Smaller operations might find single domains more manageable and beneficial for local SEO.
• Technical resources: Evaluate your team’s ability to handle multiple domains versus a more complex single site.

What about domain authority?

Another common discussion point brought up around this topic is domain authority, but this tends to be one of the more misunderstood ranking factors in SEO today. It’s just one of over 14,000 ranking factors considered by search engines.

While authority matters, it’s relative. Comparing your domain authority to your competitors’ matters more than the absolute value. Remember, no matter what tactics you deploy (custom vs. single domain), your domain authority is never going to be close to that of a CNN or Apple.com.

By focusing solely on domain authority above all else and opting for a single domain approach for that reason only, multifamily marketers may miss out on the nuanced benefits of individual property domains.

Final thoughts

Balancing domain authority, localized benefits and practical considerations is essential. Whether you opt for custom domains or a single parent domain, remember that your online presence reflects your brand.

Choose wisely and may your digital journey lead to fully occupied apartments and happy residents!