301 for dummies

[gazza777]

Hi all,

I am familiar with the 301 redirect, but never actually got my hands dirty in this regard. I have a client who owns two stores in two different regions, but under the same brand name.

They currently have two websites, for each store, the domain name dictating the region they are in.

What they want to do now is create a 3rd domain, have it serve as a landing page to re-direct traffic to the existing regional domains.

The question is, is this landing and re-directing good practice? Remember that each store has an online shopping cart, so running one domain servicing two stores/regions is not ideal.

The last question is, they want to convert the existing/longest standing domain name into the landing page, and do a 301 re-direct to a brand new domain name....

I'd love to hear your comments and views on this one.

Thanx

Gary

[gazza777]

Cool tx for the advice, I'll post feedback here on how it goes!

[Dr-Pete]

You could use the 3rd domain as the "face" of the brand, temporarily split traffic to the 2 other domains and then, if that gives you trouble, integrate those 2 domains as sub-folders of the 3rd domain (if that makes sense). Then, the user experience would at least be unified over time.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the payment/technical issues are - there may be ways around it (there usually are), but they can get tricky fast. I've coded a few payment gateways in the past, so I know what a pain it can be.

[gazza777]

The logic of the third domain to to ensure customer awareness (does the customer know which store they buying from) and also to simplify payment gateways/banking accounts.

I hear you though, I guess it's something we've got to do, if it doesn't work we'll know the next suggested route!

Thanx for your advice.

[Dr-Pete]

Honestly, in most cases, if you're just talking regions of the same country, I'd go for a sub-folder approach ("/region1", "/region2"). I'm finding that the power of exact-match domains is waning, while the benefits of consolidation are growing. Adding a 3rd domain just seems like a recipe for a mess, and is going to dilute your efforts even more.

What's the logic of the 3rd domain? Is it just to target some keywords?

Again, there's the business side to consider, so I can only tell you my general recommendations. It's not an easy situation.

[gazza777]

Hi Doc

Thanx, you are correct, two questions effectively.

I did propose the subdomain route, as both all three of these domains are in the same country. I just could not argue with conviction that a simple landing page diverting traffic to two different domains carries less SEO weight. Since there is less 'meat' to the site in terms of keywords and pages. Is this correct? What scenario would you punt or see as the ultimate route?

I guess the 301 is a case of, if you must, do it, but stick to the 301 rules and guidelines, over time you should resume your usual rankings.

[Dr-Pete]

It sounds like you've got 2 different questions here:

(1) In terms of the new/3rd domain, what's the goal? If it's just to get an exact-match domain and then send traffic to one of the 2 main domains, that could look like a doorway page. At best, it's a much weaker tactic than it was a few years ago. Keep in mind that you have to support these domains, build links to them, etc. In most cases, you're much better off focusing on your core domains.

(2) @Highland is right - your current domain may not pass all link-juice to the new domain, even with 301-redirects. You also may lose/gain depending on the domain name itself. That's not to say that you should never change domains, just that it carries risk and should be done carefully.

I'm wondering if a sub-directory structure would make more sense for your regions. Are these within one country (ccTLD) or international. You might be better off merging everything into one domain, honestly. Of course, this is both an SEO and a business decision, so it's hard to give responsible advice in just a few minutes.

[Highland]

One of the things I preach about 301s is you need to realize they have limitations

1. They aren't guaranteed to transfer 100% of the existing ranking factors (90-95% is a reasonable expectation)
2. Indexation takes time to catch up so it's possible, in the interim, to have Google see the new site as duplicate content

If they can live with those limitations then let them go ahead. The problems are mostly short term.