Difference between redirect and host headers

[andrewsmd]

I wasn't really sure where to put this so I guessed here. I know there is a difference between the two, I just don't know what it is. What is the difference when it comes to SEO between adding host headers so multiple domains work on your site, or doing an HTTP redirect?

Here's the example
I have a website example.com I also own the domains example.org and example.net

Should I http redirect the .net and .org at the server level so a user always gets routed to .com? Or should I leave it so .com .org and .net all work and show the same site? i.e. you could browse to example.com/page.php and example.net/page.php and they would be the same page? Thanks,

[youfoundjake]

I would highly recommend redirecting the .net and .org domains to the .com domain with a 301. Otherwise whats gonna happen is that you'll have duplicate content across 3 domains, and the search engines may end up penalizing the wrong domain, for example only returning results related to the .net domain, when actually you want the traffic on the .com domain.
If you are able to create unique content for each domain, that would be the alternative.

[g1smd]

Don't forget to redirect both non-www and www to the correct place.

[andrewsmd]

That's what I figured. Thanks,

[Anna_Hussie]

Redirectors are always good and there is no problem if the redirecting site got duplicate content .Google know that.

[andrewsmd]

We actually did some SEO for a couple different sites with multiple domain names, and I tested to see the results. I know it's kind of tough as there are multiple factors that play in, but we did see better results on the site that routed everything to a single domain, vs. having all three work. Just thought you might want to know.

[Anna_Hussie]

This is right but point is that you can do whatever you link but content should be different if you are not redirecting the site.If you use permanent redirector then it is easily possible for Google to understand and he will not penalize you.