What do i do with multiple cheap domain names I want to use for SEO?
-
My domain registrar was having a sale for 1$ per year .com domain names (just for the first year). So I went all out and bought 16 domain names. They pretty much all are two or more keywords that i'd like to rank high on put together. We do dedicated server monitoring, so for instance I bought apachemonitoring.com and haproxymoniotring.com.
Can anyone tell me what the best way would be to put these to good use technically? Options:
-
Each domain just 301's to a specific landing page on my main company website
-
Each domain is a site on a drupal multisite with just one page that has links to just my company website
-
Other ideas?
Thanks in advance!
Walter
-
-
One of the best responses I've read on MOZ - great job!
-
this is a phenomenal answer. thanks ryan
-
Crystal clear, guess I'll park most of the domains then
-
Thanks for the response. I've seen people who hire some cheap content writer through odesk or some such and then add a twitter feed on the page that displays results of a search. I'm not saying i necessarily like that approach, but it is interesting. In the end, all I really want is high quality visitors on my site
thanks for the advice,
Walter
-
Walter,
I understand what you are trying to do, and why you are trying to do it. It's a form of Doorway page for your site. You wish to capture traffic searches for "apache monitoring" and other key phrases. You have purchased some domains which are an exact match for the phrases and wish to understand how you can best use these domains to drive traffic to your site.
The answer you are looking for is as follows:
- Most people who take this approach wish to use the site to improve their main site's PR or DA. It doesn't work because Google would recognize the same owner as the site it links to and discount the links.
How does Google make the connection? Well one way is to check the domain registration information. Google is a domain registrar so they have direct access to all the information. Other simple steps are to check the IP of the domain (c-block), the code structure, the content and more. In short, most people who attempt this approach either are not successful or enjoy success only for a short time before having the links devalued. Many do not even realize when they are penalized.
- Some people who use this approach are more focused on the actual traffic and don't care about the links so much. If you had a domain name such as "car insurance" which offers millions of searches each month and is highly competitive, then this approach has value. "Apache monitoring" only has 6600 searches per month and is considering a low competition phrase.
If you optimized a page on your own site for "apache monitoring" and had the benefit of your site's DA, you may be able to rank #1 for the search term anyway. If you spent any time and focus on quality SEO, you should be able to if it is an important term for your site.
The site "apache-monitor.com" presently ranks as #3 for the search. Their page is optimized for the phase with "apache monitoring" in the title, H1 tag and text. Their DA is 37 and PA 46. Your one-page site wont have the benefit of DA/PA so it wont rank as well. If you are going to the trouble of an EMD for a very low traffic phrase, at the very least you want to capture the #1 rank for the term. You wont even be #3 without tremendous resources and effort.
The practice of what you are doing is called Doorway Pages. It's a black hat SEO tactic. You are attempting to drive traffic to your site by creating fake micro websites. The problem is this tactic does not improve the user experience nor search quality. It is designed to manipulate search results and is therefore a violation of search quality. You can read more about it here: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=66355
Doorway pages were more popular in the past when the practice wasn't as clearly understood and defined. Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken. Your question is very common, but it is based on historical information and times have changed.
-
If you are just 301'ing them they won't rank because it's not a site and not indexed. If you are doing this for type thru direct traffic that could work if you have really good perfectly targeted keyword domain names like dogdoors.com not online-dog-doors.com but since all good domains are already owned i doubt that is the case.
If making one or 2 page landing page/sites make sure those two pages have a LOT of content, like 2000+ words on each page so they don't seem flimsy to Google.
I agree with Ryan, if looking to create different domains you're better off making pages on your main site that are targeted for those keywords.
"What you are saying is that having domains that exist out of those keywords is pointless? I read that domains with keywords will rank high for those keywords?"
This is true, domain name is extremely important for ranking, but putting them all on the same server is obvious to Google and unless you plan on really investing in setting up all of these domains with unique content on different servers, you're better off putting the keywords in the file name and optimizing it on your existing site. EX. www.bestpetstore.com/dog-doors
-
Hi Ryan,
many thanks for your response!
My reasoning is a bit different though: our monitoring service monitors a lot of different things, but I thought we'd use these domains as a funnel to catch people that are looking to monitor specific applications.
What you are saying is that having domains that exist out of those keywords is pointless? I read that domains with keywords will rank high for those keywords?
cheers,
Walter
-
There is not any intrinsic value to those domains at all. If those were my domains, I would park them and offer them for sale and hope someone is interested.
The solid SEO approach to take when you own a site is to place all your content on your site. You don't see quality sites buying up other domains. It's a poor tactic. In order for it to pay off you need to add quality content to the domain. At best, you can write a very solid 1-page site. You then need to obtain separate hosting for this one page site. The content needs to be good and then you link it to your site. In the end, you would likely be far better off if the quality content was on your main site, and you didn't spend the time and effort on this manipulation tactic.
If you want to buy a bunch of domains, try buying the ones which are similar to your own brand. This is done as a means of protection. If you are Google.com, buy Gogle.com, Google.net, along with any variations you can think of and 301 them all to your site.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How does the background on my product photos impact SEO - step and repeat vs. plain background
I have a new e-commerce site and I'm focused on optimizing it for SEO. If I am taking product photos, will having a step-and-repeat (background with our logo repeated) in the background of the product impact how the images are scanned by Google? In other words, would I benefit from having a plain background behind my item shots vs. a backdrop with our logos all across it? I don't want Google to think I'm spamming my logo across all our items, but also want our photos to be recognized as ours. I want to gain SEO from my effort and definitely not hurt it! Thanks!
Branding | | A_Wo0 -
Re-directing Multiple Sites to a Single Location
Hello Mozzers! So, I have a client whom has purchased a number of different domains that they want to re-direct to their main website. Their thinking is: that by doing as much, they will increase their opportunities to rank for related KW terms. To the best of my recollection, that is not the case, especially if they are not posting any content on those other domains, but simply redirecting the page to their "main site". I am very concerned, however, that by doing as much they run the risk of receiving a penalty from the Google Search team. I am a little hazy on this issue, as it's been some time, but to the best of my recollection doesn't this constitute "spammy behavior". Again, since it's been so long since I've had a client try to implement a strategy like this, I'm a little unfamiliar with how it may play out in the current landscape, so I'm eager to hear all of your opinions on the utility of such a strategy and whether or not it will spell doom for my client. I'm anxious to hear what you think, thanks for reading!
Branding | | maxcarnage1 -
If other people copy your content, is really GOOD or BAD for SEO ?
Hi MOZ friends. Last week, when i was following up the backlinks linking to my domain, i detect that a new website from an unknown administrator copies the content of an entire section of my website. The administrator of that webpage did not remove the internal links on the post, so i could find.
Branding | | NachoRetta
My website has a better domain and page authority and we focus every day on create new content, but when we found people that only copy content from another, i feel disappointed. But then I got to thinking that could be good that people copy our content, although they did not quote us. If they do not remove the links either by mistake or on purpose, we receive new backlinks. ¿What do you think about this? ¿Is really good that a website copy our content? If they remove all backlinks, Is risky that Google detects that the content owner is another? ¿What do you do in this cases?1 -
Rebranding & Minimizing SEO impact
Hello everyone, One of my clients is undergoing a major rebrand, which will require some substantial changes to their domain / URL structure. Primarily, we're going to: Move from a high-ish DA site to a low DA site Change the subdomain URL structure (more on that below) Update the content (copy, design, structure) on www. site to match the new brand The content on the subdomains should remain the same 301 redirect all pages from old site to new site where applicable The current site architecture makes great use of subdomains, which are also going to be changing in terms of name. So, we're moving from oldsubdomain.olddomain.com to newsubdomain.newdomain.com (and not oldsubdomian.olddomain.com to oldsubdomain.olddomain.com). The content / structure of these pages is going to change minimally. We understand that we're going to take an SEO hit overall, but are there things we can do to minimize this hit? Anyway we can 'estimate' the hit? Anyway we can educate our client to as to what to expect beyond (it is going to be bad…). Please let me know. Thanks!
Branding | | 10SL0 -
A forum on your primary domain name (implications)
Hi there What are the pitfalls of putting a forum on an already busy ecommerce website from an SEO perspective?
Branding | | bfrl
I wouldn't use a sub domain, I would add the forum on the primary domain in an attempt to help build my inbound link portfolio. Some pro's and cons that come to mind... Pros - Lots of (hopefully) great user generated and relevant content - Lots of potential landing pages off the back of the above Targeted community Cons - Dealing with potential negative forum posts Constant moderation Possible issues with potentially 1000's of (what Google may consider) low quality pages on a domain name / site which currently fairs well in the SERPs The last con would be my primary concern.
Anyone have any experiences with this? Or any advice at all. Many thanks0 -
I am changing the name of my company and would like to know best practices for SEOmoz
YES you made a good point my main problem is I have been signed up under a different domain name then what my company will have so the domain name will be new I am changing my brand, name, logo, site with SEOmoz been kind enough to have given me credit for the link and other links what's the best way to go about trying to keep some of my previous rank (301?) I would appreciate any and all information. I am I apologize English is not my first language I am sorry about any miscommunication
Branding | | BlueprintMarketing0 -
Branding/Domain Challenge
A year and a half ago, SEO was all new to me and I may have made a mistake that looks to be a problem now. In a misguided quest to rank higher and faster, I used a domain for it's keywords and quick ranking potential rather than using my business' name URL. I've built the links and authority to where I'm now ranking well for many of my local search terms which is important for my local business success. The situation is that now I want to expand my business nationally as a franchise which will require my company's name in the domain(?), and the addition of entirely new pages and terms. My company's name' URL> www.ImpactMMAfitness.com is pointed to my site www.austinfitnessgyms.com and GA shows a significant # of visitors type our name in to find us. I also think it would be odd for someone outside my town looking for franchise info to be pointed to a different domain with Austin in it. I was wondering what option would be best: Keep as is Change domains - ouch!? Make a new second site ? I have 'ImpactFranchise.com I could use for a new site just for franchising but I would be starting at the bottom for any rankings. Is there a solution, or did I dig myself into a hole?
Branding | | OhYeahSteve0 -
Will the word arse in a domain name cause a problem
I have a customer that wants to use the domain name cooksarse.com, what my concern is that the word arse may cause him problems with search engines, even get flaged as Adult content, or family filters. The site is a fun social site and nothing about it you couyld not talk about in church except the name of the site and domain. "cooks arse" am i being overly concerned or could this be a problem
Branding | | AlanMosley0