Hi guys, I've just registered some domain names which I want associated with my current 'blog. I've used a Plugin for WordPress called Domain Mirror, which lets me run multiple domain names from one 'blog that map to the content, rather than just point to the TLD. My question is, does having more than one domain name that maps to the self same content as all of the others incur a duplicate content penalty? I know that the search engines are smart enough to figure out websites hanging off the same IP address and the same server, but does the same apply to domain names running this way?
Yes, this will cause a duplicate content issue. Why not just 301 redirect the domain name you're not using to the domain that the blog is at instead?
Hi Dan and thanks for the feedback! I want to run SEM campaigns around specific articles which make use of keyword-relevant web addresses. It's a shame that the SE's aren't smart enough to work the relationship out, especially since they're picking up same IP's and servers...
Yes, you will get hit with duped for this. I say get rid of it, if your main blog is powerful then you can SEO each individual sub keyword page for whatever you want.
That's not the reason why it would be considered duplicate content. It's just a measure in place to prevent people with the moral compass of a mass murderer from taking your site's content and passing it off as their own work. So when you think about it, it's actually being done for your benefit (despite both domains being on the same server and pointing to the same IP address). Besides, why would you want to do twice the work to maintain two separate domains when just concentrating on the one?
Hi guys! "Besides, why would you want to do twice the work to maintain two separate domains when just concentrating on the one?" It's the same 'blog, but as I said, I'll be picking out specific articles to tie in with specific domain names that feature the same keywords & phrases as in the article title. If it is the case that I'm inviting a penalty, it might be simpler to do some .htaccess madness and have the articles in question "fixed" and re-directed to the domain names I want to use. I need to give some thought to this...
Ummm I got HAMMERED by Google for doing that back in the day and lost A TON of great sites because of me bing a complete idiot and placing the 40 some odd links on EVERY site I owned .. It was cool for a month or 2.. then the bad day started when I lost my best sites pages by the ton .. almost over night and it was like a domino after that. Remember If you make Google look bad ..they will do the same to you.. is the rule of thumb someone told me on this forum .. lol
I don't see any of this as some kind of search engine chicanery — quite the opposite, in fact. If the emphasis is on being relevant to the search, then why not make use of the web addresses we own?
If you're not aware of some reasons for duplicate content penalties, well this are the most frequent causes: 1) Displaying Content from other sites using a feed or database. 2) Using Tracking URLs to identify where a visitor comes from: 3) Using a 404 friendly error page. 4) Using multiple domain names to display similar versions of the same site. 5) Affiliate Marketing Systems
Funny you should mention 404s — I created one for my WordPress 'blog late yesterday evening. Slight off-topic, but if you want your friendly 404 to not incur penalties, add: <?php header("HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found"); ?> <?php header("Status: 404 Not Found"); ?> PHP: Right at the top of the web page...