SEO Domain Delimma

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by stevenah, Jan 25, 2011.

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  1. #1
    Ok, I have two domains one which is not keyword rich and is 3 years old and another brand new domain (two weeks old) that is keyword rich.

    Here's what happened, I advertised the older domain only on PPC and wanted to use the new domain for SEO (which is why I made it a keyword rich site address). Normally all the domains I promote via PPC never appear in the organic listings, but two weeks into the SEO optimization the old domain started appearing in the search results for the same keywords I'm trying to target the new domain for (at a better ranking too).

    Here's the thing. I don't want to risk getting penalized by having two domains with the same content so I need to know which one would be the best to 301 redirect to the other.

    I would assume redirecting the old domain to the new keyword rich domain would be best for SEO optimization, but am concerned that the new domain's young age may negatively effect the performance if i do this. So what would be best, 301 redirect the new domain to the old one or vice versa?

    Thanks, any input is greatly appreciated.
     
    stevenah, Jan 25, 2011 IP
  2. webcosmo

    webcosmo Notable Member

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    #2
    if you have the new domain keyword rich, i would do that only if the old domain does not make enough business.
    even with 301 you would see some drop in traffic, but that should be back after some time.
    thinking long term, keyword rich domain might be more profitable.
     
    webcosmo, Jan 25, 2011 IP
  3. Falrish

    Falrish Greenhorn

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    #3
    I agree that 301 redirecting from the old domain to the new one will be the best in the long run. However, why not alter the one slightly and run both?
     
    Falrish, Jan 25, 2011 IP
  4. stevenah

    stevenah Peon

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    #4
    Thanks for your comments.

    Yeah that's what I was thinking. I wanted to make sure though because I had heard that google gives more value to older domains and I didn't want to risk losing whatever value the older domain had by 301 redirecting to a new domain.

    As far as running both domains, I'm still fairly new to seo so ill probably try just concentrating on one domain at a time until I become familiar with the way things work.
     
    stevenah, Jan 25, 2011 IP
  5. hufster

    hufster Peon

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    #5
    If you decide to move the site one of the most overlooked things you can do once you 301 redirect is actually go and notify google of the site/page move via their Google Webmaster Tools.
     
    hufster, Jan 25, 2011 IP
  6. ablife

    ablife Greenhorn

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    #6
    I'd do the same, 301 redirect the old domain to the keyword rich one, it's better in the long run.
     
    ablife, Jan 25, 2011 IP