Link juice passing from a .org.uk link to a .org/uk websites

[Diana.varbanescu]

Hi all,

A client I am working on had a CMS built in recently which has resulted in all their canonicals tags being taken off the website, and as such the same page with both a .org/uk and .org.uk/uk domain have appeared in the search results and I am wondering what your guys take is on the best cause of action.

For further background: Historically they have always used .org.uk/uk (not sure why) for their UK website and used .org/xxx for other countries (they also have a .org splashpage FYI). Having seen the .org/uk pages, and knowing they have to choose one to avoid duplication, they would like to move their uk website to the .org/uk domain to fit in with the rest of the divisions. However due to the historical use of .org.uk/uk their backlink profile contains links to both the .org.uk and .org domains.

My question then: would a canonical tag on all the .org.uk/uk pages pointing to the .org/uk pages be strong enough to pass on link juice to the .org/uk pages (from all links pointing to .org.uk) or would a 301 redirect be required in this instance, or indeed would it be best to stay with the .org.uk/uk domain?

Thanks,

Diana

[Digital-Diameter]

I would absolutely use 301s in this case as the client is, in essence, picking a new URL. Switching from .uk/uk to .org/uk could Have unintended consequences for your rankings, but this could be offset by an international bump upwards. Without knowing your traffic, it's difficult to codify the potential issues of keeping or leaving the .uk TLD.

However, it's always fun To make statements after A disclaimer, so to steal Google's own PPC targeting terminology:

• People in, searching for, or viewing pages about your targeted location <-- May go down.
• People in your targeted location <-- May go down.
• People searching for or viewing pages about your targeted location <-- May go up.

At the very least, I would be sure that regional targeting is set to within WMT to ensure that Google knows your target region, based on your audience.

[gazzerman1]

Would a canonical tag on all the .org.uk/uk pages pointing to the .org/uk pages be strong enough to pass on link juice to the .org/uk pages (from all links pointing to .org.uk)

Canonical tags DO NOT pass link juice, they are separate pages in their own right and you are asking Google to consider using your recommendation not merging pages.

Would a 301 redirect be required in this instance?

Yes, unless for some reason you would like to have two copies of the same site available? I am pretty sure that you would not.

Indeed would it be best to stay with the .org.uk/uk domain?

Now that is a more tricky question. Google loves localized top level domains. If it is a .uk it knows your target market is the UK and ranks you in Google.co.uk as a priority. Moving to a .org will take that away. Do you have each folder setup in Webmaster Tools under a different "Geographic target" in "Site Settings"?

You will be best to do this if you have not. Where is your server hosted? If not in the UK this can also have a big effect on the site when moving to a more generic top level domain away from a localized one.

Hope that helps to shed some light on the matter