To foward or not to forward? How it affects SEO & Google PR

This debate has been going around in my mind for many years now. Basically, I need to know which method is better for SEO & Google PR of my main website.

1. simply forward multiple domain names to my main site
   
2. or basically make a 'dummy' sites that the user will click on a link and eventually find his/her way to my main site

Here's and example:

Say www.sprite.com is my main site where I want all the traffic and best page rank. I also own www.drinksprite.com, www.spiteisgood.com, www.thesprite.com. Should I have each of the above sites just forward to www.sprite.com? Or should I create three separate sites with minimal content with hopes that the user will click an obvious link to get to www.sprite.com (the main site)?

This is a valid question and I know that Google has a preference but I just don't know what it is. I know that are a few other factors involved but please just give me your quick and easy answer to which is better. Thanks guys!

 

The quick and easy answer?

301 redirect all your other domains to your primary one, if they other domains have backlinks it will accumulate all the PR in one place.

Not that toolbar PR matters.

 

Hmm so would this work?
I have around 70 domains currently parked, if i was to forward all of them to one site, would if work?
Or do i need to host these sites first or something?

Thanks.

 

Wait a second, how would the other domains have backlinks if they were simply redirecting sites. Its seems these "dummy" sites would have no PR ranking at all or backlinks for that matter. That doesn't make sense to me but maybe I'm not understanding you. Please explain.

Not that it matters? PR plays a key role when backlinking and linking to other sites. Its critial to positioning on Google. Once again, please explain.

I appreciate your relies snoob.

 

I'd do neither. I'd create a network of sites devoted to a single topic (with sprite.com being the main site, or "network hub", drinksprite.com being used as a marketing campaign to get more people to drink Sprite, use spriteisgood.com to educate people about Sprite (and why it's better than the other sodas on the market), and then just redirect thesprite.com to sprite.com in case anyone was really foolish enough to look for Sprite by typing in thesprite.com (of course, these are just examples, like yours were, but the point still stands). Then I'd link them to each other (appropriately, of course, like having general references to Sprite go to sprite.com, persuading people to drink Sprite by linking to drinksprite.com and so forth).

But, none of those sites would have minimal content on them. In fact, they'd all contain relevant and quality content that can be built upon and added to as time goes by.

 

forwarding via a 301 redirect would be more effective.

Building out micro sites and then linking to the main page would pass less link juice than links pointing to the main site directly.

 

Forward your all sites to one site using 301 redirect. Its better in terms of SEO.

 

Not always. And I never said anything about building micro sites. The sites I described are actually fully self-sustaining and separate sites that just happen to be linked together despite serving separate objectives. Each site would have its own needs, and would have to be cared for individually, but over time can prove to be a wise decision not to mention investment.

Again, not always. Would you rather have several domains being redirected to one site (remember, those domains have no content, and thus no ranking), or several sites linking back to yours (even if you made them, and promoted them to the point where each site not only has its own links pointing to it, but also sharing the live with the rest of the private network)?

 

Sorry Dan,
I would have to disagree with this. The time and effort required to build a "fully self-sustaining" site with SEO value is not justified by the results of such an action, especially for a one-man business. You can always build the pages you were talking about within in the sprite.com domain - this will lead to more SEO value. Links to thesprite.com that then links to sprite.com are diluted and not as valuable.

Plus, there's always a possibility that Google will devalue links based on the interlinking of sites.

I say use a 301 redirects and focus on your main site.

 

The time may not be justifiable to you, but it can be justifiable to others. Also, the other sites don't have to be large gargantuan behemoths either. Remember, SEO is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It's a long-term investment.

Now, while links from Site A which then have their "juice" passed to Site B may not be as valuable right away, you have to remember that each site would have a very unique and distinctive purpose. I'm not saying to cross-link willy-nilly here. I'm talking about controlled and targeted cross-linking here. As for the possibililty of Google devaluing links, that's what hosting on separate servers are for (not only that, but I also don't like the idea of having all my eggs - or in this case, sites - in one basket - or on one server; should the server go down, I'm in trouble since all the sites would be down). Again, I'm not talking about doing something just because it can be done (but in most cases probably shouldn't). I'm talking about doing something for a reason, and doing so responsibly.

But I guess some people just don't believe in doing actual work (not saying you don't, of course). Oh well.

 

Great replies guys. I started some good conversation huh?

While I don't consider myself one of those 'people that just don't believe in doing actual work', I do find my time valuable and in short supply these days. Long story short, it's sounding like a 301 redirect will work out better for me as I'd like to focus all my energy on building up the main site.

I use godaddy as my host so I'm assuming that a 301 redirect is available. If anyone else has any other opinions, please let me know. Thanks guys. Things are looking up!

 

Well, if it works for you, then go with it. Just remember that if you ever feel the need to build another site, you already have some domain names available for it (just make sure that you're not promoting the redirected domains before deciding to develop one of them though).

Good luck with your site.

 

Thanks Dan, I will let you know how it goes. I'll also report back as to if the godaddy 301 redirect is really a 301.

Take care and maybe one day I'll be brave enough to showcase my sites on here.

 

I did not suggest my strategy as a means to limiting actual work. What I meant was that the actual work done would be more productive if it was done on the main site rather than on smaller sites. I think that's more effecient use of time and effort - especially for a website run by only one person.

Regardless, good luck to you elvis

 

Well, I did a redirect using the Godaddy.com control panel for one of my sites and this is what I get when I run the checker:

SEO Consultants Directory Check Server Headers - Single URI Results
Current Date and Time: 2007-11-08T10:45:22-0700
User IP Address: 71.59.XXX.XXX#1

Server Response: http://www.mysite.com
HTTP Status Code: HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Content-Length: 0
Location: /?6a3ba878
Redirect Target: /?6a3ba878

Is this okay? Other checkers say its SEO friendly. I've heard this before about godaddy but just wondering if I should call and hassle them or just let things be. I will be redirecting up to 10 domains to this one site.

Thanks.

 

You need to use a 301 redirect, not a 302. A 301 redirect is permanent, while the 302 (which you used) is only temporary.

 

You can do satellites (fill the sites with the content on the topic), put some links to them and link them and the main site using the keywords you want to promote. That will increase your positions.

 

simply use 301 redirect .

 

Simple 301 redirect solution!

If your server has no .htaccess limitations, Open up your favorite editor (E.g Notepad).

Type in this code:

 redirect 301 /xyz.html http://ttt.abc.com/pqr.html

Code (markup):

Of course change the URL's to the proper ones.

Then click SAVE AS on your editor, in the format box, select - ANY FILE (*.*) -
Then make the file name: .htaccess (Then click the SAVE button)

Now, open up your favorite FTP software (E.G. CuteFTP, FireFTP, etc.), Access your server & locate the root folder you want redirected. Open the folder & upload the .htaccess file into the target folder.

Now open up a browser & test the URL to make sure you did it right, if it doesn't redirect then you did something wrong, repeat the above process again until you get it right.

Once it redirects, you're done.... Easy as that..

(Note: "Personally" I would much rather have unique content on a separate domain name targeting similar yet different keywords in order to draw additional potential traffic from my SEO campaigns. Then I would of course anchor those smaller keyword targeted sites to my main site using similar navigation & styles.)

Good luck to you!

 

So my simple 301 redirect solution is getting to be a real pain since I've found out that no matter what I do, godaddy redirects will always come out as a 302 redirects . It's how they have their servers setup - end of story.

So my question is, do I really need to change domain registrars just to do the correct 301 redirects. That is such a pain especially with 100+ domains. Any ideas guys? I'm beginning to really hate godaddy.