I decided to merge 3 wordpress sites. It' much easier for me to take care of one as instead of 3 sites with similar content. So I merge everything, database, photos, content, etc. Now I change my .htaccess to do 301 redirect all traffic on only one site, and did the same on webmaster tool. I want to know is this allowed by Google? I guess it is since during the process in webmaster tools there was no notifications on this subject, but still I would like to be certain. Thank you.
Here is a link to an article about merging sites. http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2011/05/09/pros-cons-merging-websites/
You surely can merge several sites into one. I guess after Zoo it's rather popular move. But there is a problem - if you are merging your site to a new domain you can't pass link weight at once. You site will appear in SERP much lower them the merged ones were before the merging. And if any of your sites had a filter and you are redirecting them to a new domain, Google can your new domain in several days. As for technical side - you can just use 301 redirect without WMT panel. The result will be the same. P.s. if any of your old sites were filtered by Google you shouldn't add a new site to the same WMT panel. Good luck!
sure we can merge several sites into one. as per as blog link and matt cutt video. http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2011/05/09/pros-cons-merging-websites/
Justin Briggs said he knew a company who bought three websites with backlink profiles related to their website, combined them with a 301 and they started ranking pretty quickly - never had any problems with it and that's pretty much pure blackhat.
I've bought some competitor's domains before and 301 them to my main site for the same reason stated here. They were the same niche and it's easier to run 1 site than 3 about the same thing with the same updates. My site has been greatly from the link power gained even if it wasn't the full weight. At the moment I have 3 sites redirected, like you, and have seen no real problems by doing so. Buying and 301ing domains is done pretty often. I'm not sure I'd call it black hat though. Maybe grey hat.
Hmmm... I'd say it's entirely blackhat if you had no previous affiliation with the sites. Anything 301 you do purely for search engines benefit is blackhat. There are totally whitehat cases - incorporating a popular blog in your niche into your website, via a 301 has huge benefits - a new audience and an authority boost