Duplicate Content across 4 domains

[bjalc2011]

I am working on a new project where the client has 5 domains each with identical website content. There is no rel=canonical.

There is a great variation in the number of pages in the index for each of the domains (from 1 to 1250). OSE shows a range of linking domains from 1 to 120 for each domain.

I will be strongly recommending to the client to focus on one website and 301 everything from the other domains. I would recommend focusing on the domain that has the most pages indexed and the most referring domains but I've noticed the client has started using one of the other domains in their offline promotional activity and it is now their preferred domain.

What are your thoughts on this situation? Would it be better to 301 to the client's preferred domain (and lose a level of ranking power throught the 301 reduction factor + wait for other pages to get indexed) or stick with the highest ranking/most linked domain even though it doesn't match the client's preferred domain used for email addresses etc.

Or would it better to use cross-domain canoncial tags?

Thanks

[bjalc2011]

EGOL - thanks for advice. Yes there are lots of ilinks between the domains. Although I also have clients who have done this deliberately for perceived gain, I think in this case the client has made an honest mistake by simply applying their CMS (with relative links) to each of the domains they thought they should purchase. It's confused a bit further by one section using https with an absolute domain so users can end up migrating from one domain to another and from http to https!

As an SEO I also have inclination to 301 page-by-page to best ranking site. However, as I mentioned to Thomas (above) I think the client will probably want to go with their preferred domain and as such I'll 301 page-by-page to that one. I'll discuss with the client and post the outcome.

[bjalc2011]

Thomas - thanks for your reply. All the domains are very similar - variations from the same core concept. I have a feeling that the client will want to standardise on their preferred domain and as you say it is the easiest to remember.

[EGOL]

Lots of businesses build three sites because they think it is a good way to kickass on their competitors.  It can be really hard or even impossible get get them to give up on that idea.

I am going to guess that you have a second issue... they have links on all of these sites point to each other because they think it will help their pagerank and SERP position.  Really hard to talk people out of this practice too.

If I owned these five sites I would shut down four of them and redirect all of them page-by-page to my best ranking site... and it would become my preferred domain.  There is something else that you might try to talk this client out of.

Good luck!

[Thos003]

Wow... so many options. It is really hard to give a good answer without knowing what the domains are and the differences in the domain names themselves, but here are a few thoughts.

If the domains provide some distinct differences, whether that be target audience (grandmaroadbikes.com) or branding (ZippzRoadBikes.com) then I would start with the cross domain canonical tags. There are many sites that stand on their own while using cross-domain canonicals and maintaining their own brand.

How similar are the domain names? If the domains are too similar, and unique branding can not really be achieved, then I would consider the consolidation. My gut reaction as an advertiser is to stick with the easiest to say and type. I assume the domain being marketed offline wins that prize. I would focus on promoting that domain. Further, many people will loose a bit of trust if they type in www.AdvertisedDomain.com and get www.DomainUnAdvertised.com. Plus you don't want to cause brand confusion.