I've got a generic one-word .com domain in a non-English language since several years ago. I'm currently ranking #6 on Google.com for the search term that is in the domain name. (The site has a PR3. It's still more or less under construction, but I've got plans for it and I'm slowly building content there.) A few days ago I noticed that the .net version of the domain had suddenly also appeared on the first page (#7) of Google.com for the phrase. There was only a temporary SEDO page on that site, with some keywords plus the information that it was for sale. I checked with Archive.org and saw that there once was a real site on that domain, but that it had expired since some months ago or so. I didn't want to risk anyone else buying that domain, building a good site and potentially beating my site in the rankings, so I bought the domain myself at SEDO. My plan now is to set up a 301 redirect from the .net version to my .com version. I hope that it will perhaps boost the rankings of the .com site a little. The .net version currently has a modest PR1, but it's ranking top 10 among over 21,000,000 pages matching the search phrase. What do you recommend, is the 301 redirect the right choice or should I instead build a small site on the .net domain and link to my .com from there? I don't want to put too much effort into managing and building content for a second site though.
To me it seems silly to throw away a good rank. If you com is worthwhile in the top ten then it seems having ANOTHER site in that same top ten would be worthwhile also. Actually, the idea is to dominate the top ten, you have two down and eight to go. Bompa
I'd say for now build a small site on it - this way you have 2/10 spots in rankings. If later on you feel it's taking a lot of resources to maintain rankings for the small site (.net) then you may redirect it to your main site (.com)
I agree with mixke. Before 301 directing, think about creating a little content that links to your .com site.
Thank you for your answers. First I was almost sure I'd do the 301 redirect, but now I'm starting to lean towards setting up a small site after all. If it doesn't work out I can always do the 301 afterwards, but vice versa would be more problematic I think.
A 301 is the search engine-friendly way of making a permanent redirect: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=93633 It's supposed to transfer PR etc from the old address to the new one.