Alternative domains redirected with 301 to the main domain
-
Hi everyone
I've got a website which gained a Panda penalty back in March 2012 which was because of the implementation of a range of spammy practices (keyword stuffing in titles, indexed category and tag pages, duplicate domains).
I've fixed the titles and deindexed any pages that could be seen as thin or duplicate so I'm confident that any onsite Panda issues have been fixed.
As mentioned above the client had also created over 40 alternative domains to the website and pointed them to their main website folders (hence duplicating the website and content 40 times over). These domains have now been redirected via 301 redirects to the main website to ensure that any links they have gained are captured.
The reason for the redirection is that we initially took the domains down and saw a drop in traffic and this seemed to be the most likely reason. While Moz and Majestic are not showing any significant links to these domains (which is why they where originally taken down), past experience has told me that these tools don't always pick up all referring domains.
Primary domain
5 Example Alternative Domains
- presentationskillslondon.com
- workingvoiceslive.biz
- workingvoices.co.uk
- livingvoices.co.uk
- working-voices.net
Question 1: At the same time we took down the alternative domains (and experienced the drop in traffic) we removed duplicate instances of Google Analytics code from the webpages. All the guidance that we could find stated that duplicate instances of code shouldn't affect your Analytics numbers, hence we assumed it was the taking down of the alternative domains, but maybe the guidance we found was wrong?
Question 2: It is 3 months later and these alternative domains are still indexed by Google, and Panda hasn't run since October 2014 so we haven't experienced a recovery yet. Redirecting the domains will remove any issue of a Panda penalty, but now of course I am worried about Penguin - the last thing I want to do is trigger that can of worms!
This whole saga has been pretty complicated and I think I need some fresh sets of eyes.
What does everyone think? Could the initial drop have been due to the duplicate Analytics code being removed? Could the redirecting domains trigger Penguin? Should we take the alternative domains down and be done with them? Any other thoughts!
Looking forward to hearing your opinions!
Damon.
-
Question 1: Could duplicate instances of code affect your Analytics numbers?
Yes, but not all of them. Duplicate Google Analytics roughly doubles your page views, pages per session, and causes your bounce rates to fall to nearly zero. Other metrics are not impacted.
Question 2: Paraphrased - can Penguin penalties transfer with a redirect?
Yes. See - http://moz.com/community/q/site-penalized-301-redirect-question. There doesn't seem to be clear direction on that particular question but general consensus is yes, penalties transfer.
You don't mention timing. When did you put the redirects in place? Have visitors had a chance to experience the redirects and learn the new domain? Have you used Tools to identify incoming links to the 40 domains and changed the substantive ones to point to workingvoices.com?
If it were me, I'd remove the redirects and be patient. It can take Google quite a while to drop pages from it's index. You can use Google Webmaster Tools to try to expedite their removal, but it doesn't always work.
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
-
Redirect to one domain to another domain
Hii
Reporting & Analytics | | John_smith45
I'm john. I am a blogger. I want to change my domain. This is my domain (https://playfireboywatergirl.com/)
I want to redirect to the **.org **domain. But I work hard on my site .com and also the authority of my site in Google. Kindly help how can I redirect from one domain to another. can google convert authority of my to another site?0 -
Tracking 301 redirect traffic in Google Analytics
if I 301 redirect www.mywebsite.com to go to www.yourwebsite.com, how can I track the traffic in Google Analytics that is coming from mywebsite.com?? I don't think that's a referral traffic, is it?
Reporting & Analytics | | Armen-SEO0 -
My domain as a sufix on GA reports
Hi, There's a friend of mine who asked me with some weird results on her sites' Google Analytics reports (http://esther-roche.es). I've searched the GA code and its GA account config and I've no clue about where this esther-roche.es is to remove it. Any idea? Thanks in advance, BzgPcAo.jpg
Reporting & Analytics | | Webicultors0 -
On Google Analytics, Pages that were 301 redirected are still being crawled. What's the issue here?
URL that we redirected are being crawled on Google Analytics. Since they dont exist, they have high bounce rates. What can the issue be?
Reporting & Analytics | | prestigeluxuryrentals.com0 -
Question re Google Analytics and its more accurate alternatives
Hi guys There are two main issues we have with Google Analytics, and I'd really appreciate if anyone has the time to give an answer to that. We completely miss organic traffic data before 7/22/2013 although our account is active since 2005. Any thoughts on that? Is it the not provided move that swiped out all data or something else? Even for the data we do have there is lots of inaccuracies, and we are thinking on switching or at least adding a new analytics software, any recommendations? (FYI, it turns out we do not keep access logs on the server for more than 2 months, and we might fix that for future references, but now we are looking for external solution). Any help will be much appreciated Thanks Lily
Reporting & Analytics | | wspwsp0 -
Exact match domains DOMINTATING the serps
For longer tail keywords with typical local monthly search volume of 50 or so, there are exact match domains that are just killing it. Take for instance "alabama registered agent", I'm showing www.alabamaregisteredagent.com in the first spot ahead of the state department, etc. This site has zero links in OSE (DA and PA 1) and is a very small site in general. Can anyone explain why this domain is doing so well?
Reporting & Analytics | | Harbor_Compliance0 -
ECommerc site redirect to external site when add to cart. Need HELP to track sales!!!
Hi, I buil this site on WordPress, http://www.pilatesboisfranc.com When you go on <<plan &="" pricing="">> on the menu you can purchase a package online.</plan> When you click ''Get Started Now'' or ''Add to Cart'' the buyer is redirect to this external site: mindbodyonline.com QUESTIONS: Can I track my sales on Googles Analytics? Can I creat a goal on G.A. ? I found this video: https://getsatisfaction.com/mindbody/topics/chalk_talk_how_to_setup_google_analytics Is this the right way to do this? About goals, a simple goal I would like to create is, one purchase. Can I acheive that? Not shure about Goals. When I test and purchase, URL is always the same https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=30371 I'm know only very basics stuff when it is time to play in Analytics, I hope you can provide help in details. Thank you, BigBlaze
Reporting & Analytics | | BigBlaze2050 -
Multiple Domain Tracking with One Google Analytics Account
I am working on multiple online retail stores as follow. Right now, I have tracking facility with multiple account. Attached image can give you more idea about it. http://www.vistastores.com/
Reporting & Analytics | | CommercePundit
http://www.lampslightingandmore.com/
http://www.vistapatioumbrellas.com/ I don't want to track my statistics with multiple account. Because, it may take too much time behind Goal set up as well as analysis. Can I track all data under one account for all online retail stores? 6464019053_bda32e9fe0_b.jpg0