296 - From The Vault: Should I Host My Membership on a Separate Domain Name?

Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison

Choosing where to house your new membership site is a major decision. And you are not alone in feeling confused and uncertain about the options.

In this episode of the Membership Guys Podcast, we will provide some clarity around this topic and hopefully, you will get the facts you need to choose what works best for you.

In case you were wondering, we are not talking about which web hosting company to use, or whether you should use shared hosting or a dedicated server.

We are talking about whether you should:

a) have your membership site hosted as part of your main website,

b) have the site live on its own with a separate, dedicated domain, or

c) have the site live on a subdomain.

We will discuss these three options and the pros and cons of each.

Essential Learning Points:

• The three key implications that could impact your decision
• Why a single site is more appealing to the tech-averse folks
• How branding can factor into your decision
• What your long-term plan is for your membership site and why that’s important

Important Links & Mentions:

• The Membership Mastermind Facebook Group
• The Membership Academy
• WooCommerce
• BuddyPress
• bbPress
• Kajabi
• Thinkific
• Google Analytics

Key Quotes:

“If you’re going to ask your users to register for a free community on your main site, but then ask them to register on a completely different website to join your membership then this causes a disconnect and is not great from a user experience perspective.”

“Having everything under one roof gives you a single point of failure. If something goes wrong with that single website, then everything is offline.”

“If you have separate sites for your main and your membership, then the decision making for the membership site is done in isolation. This can greatly uncomplicate things.”