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Any disadvantages to domain forwarding?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by pweaver, Feb 22, 2005.

  1. #1
    Hi there,

    I'm wondering what disadvantages, SEO wise, there might be if the URL www.domain.com forwards to www.differentdomain.com/something, where the actual site is hosted. The first domain will not mask the second, but simply point there.

    I am totally ignorant as to how this is implemented, but wonder if it is ok to continue happily getting links to www.domain.com in the hopes that the benefits will be passed to www.differentdomain.com/something.

    I have done this with another small site and it seems to work fine, but maybe sometimes it doesn't?

    Thanks
     
    pweaver, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  2. exam

    exam Peon

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    #2
    Nothing wrong with it if you use a 301 permanent redirect.
     
    exam, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  3. pweaver

    pweaver Peon

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    #3
    Thanks exam,

    I thought a 301 redirect was used when you want to do a complete and permanent switch from the old domain name to the new one.

    This is not the case with my situation... we want the old URL to stay indexed.

    If not 301 redirect, how else would the forwarding be implemented?
     
    pweaver, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  4. Janissary

    Janissary Well-Known Member

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    #4
    here is a NO .htaccess solution.
    
    <frameset frameborder="0" framespacing="0" border="0" rows="100%,*">
        <frame name="MYTOPFRAME" src="http://www.xxx.com" noresize>
        <noframes>
           	<body>
               <h1>#title#</h1>
    
               ##definition##<br>
    	   ###keywords###<br>
    	   <br>
    	   Click here to enter <a href="http://www.xxx.com">http://www.xxx.com</a>
     </body>
        </noframes>
    
    Code (markup):
     
    Janissary, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  5. pweaver

    pweaver Peon

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    #5
    Janissary,

    Not sure what this does... Can you explain?

    Thanks
     
    pweaver, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  6. exam

    exam Peon

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    #6
    Do what Janissary says if you want to get dumped from the Google index for duplicate content.
    It copies the content from www.differentdomain.com/something and makes it available at www.domain.com as well.
     
    exam, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  7. pweaver

    pweaver Peon

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    #7
    That's what I thought... :)
     
    pweaver, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  8. pweaver

    pweaver Peon

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    #8
    exam,

    Do you know if there's a chance we'll get penalized for using a 302 redirect? I think that is what is currently setup.

    I'm not really sure what the big diff is, and why Google might penalized one and not the other.

    thanks
     
    pweaver, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  9. SEbasic

    SEbasic Peon

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    #9
    You could use a JS redirect, then apply a noindex meta to the pages on the new site that you redirect to.

    In other words...

    Person goes to page:
    http://www.example1.com/widget.html

    They are then redirected to:
    http://www.example2.com/blah/widget.html
    (Using a JavaScript Redirect or another form of cloaked redirect)

    Then you apply a noindex meta tag to:
    http://www.example2.com/blah/widget.html
    (It would involve adding a line of code to the pages)

    Essentially, you are asking about cloaking, but you don't want to use it do manipulate.

    It's a pretty risky way of trying to do whatever you want to do (Why not use a 301)... You could be banned for using it as G (or MSN and Y!) may well think you are cloaking in order to manipulate the results.

    You're best bet is a 301 like exam says....

    (I personally wouldn't use my or Janissary'2 suggestions as they could get you banned, although you could possibly get away with mine if you're [ii]real[/i])

    (Added: Do not use a 302).
     
    SEbasic, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  10. pweaver

    pweaver Peon

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    #10
    Thanks for the info.

    There is no real reason why I wouldn't use a 301. I just wondered what exactly would be the problem with a 302?

    Do other sites use 302 in devious ways, therefore making Google want to penalize i? I'm still not sure what the difference is between 301 and 302.
     
    pweaver, Feb 22, 2005 IP
  11. SEbasic

    SEbasic Peon

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    #11
    They can do, but they only do it because there is a very serious error in the way in which Google handle 302's.

    It's an error in the Google search engine which in very simple terms can seriously screw up any site that the 302 is pointed towards (It's fine in Yahoo and MSN, but Google seem to be incapable of solving the issue).
     
    SEbasic, Feb 22, 2005 IP