Domain names to increase traffic

using keyword domains

[reprint]

Ok, the goal is to increase traffic not necessarily SE ranking.
If someone holds keyword1keyword2.com and another holds keyword2keyword1.com, who gets traffic when the keywords are searched? in other words does the order matter? What about keyword1-keyword2.com versus keyword1keyword2.com? Is there any point in doing this to increase traffic by redirecting these domain names to an established site or will all the traffic go through keyword1.com and keyword2.com?

thanks

[Terabytes]

the goal is to increase traffic not necessarily SE ranking...who gets traffic when the keywords are searched?

You're asking 2 completely opposite questions here.

Pointing a bunch of domain names at a single site and hoping to gain SE ranking based upon the domain name alone will get you nowhere. actually you'll end up hurting yourself. If you allowed the SE's to index your site under a bunch of domain names. You'd would incure a duplicate content penalty. The SE would decide what single domain the content belongs to and remove all the other domain names. You would not have a choice as to which domain name was used...it's very risky...you could end up with a less than desireable domain name in the SERPs, and your prize domain name in the dust...

the proper method would be to have 301 redirects from all domain names except the one you want to be found for in the SE...however you don't get any credit for the "other" domain names...

You can't have it both ways!

Hope that helps
Tera

[edited by: Terabytes at 3:53 am (utc) on Jan. 19, 2007]

[reprint]

Thanks. I was thinking of the senario where you have a 301 redirect to the listed page. So why would you bother buying other names if they are not listed and redirect them? How would you get traffic from these other domain names? I understand if it was an active website previously that it might have residual traffic maybe? I can see value in ring fencing your listed domain name but from my reading here on webmaster world, i got the impression that there was some traffic to be gained by doing 301 directs from domains with keywords in the area as listed above? Sorry if this seems very basic. I am new to this.

thanks

[handsome rob]

The value of pointing additional domains to your main site (if done properly) is to capitalize on the type-in traffic or residual traffic of those domains. Here are a few cases where a webmaster may choose to do this:

1. The webmaster buys a (hopefully related) domain with natural type-in traffic and simply redirects those visitors to their main site.
2. A webmaster purchases typos of their domain to preemptively combat typosquatters. This is usually done by very large sites.
3. A webmaster buys a domain purely to keep anyone else from having it.
4. A webmaster buys a related site from its owner solely for their traffic. Often in these cases, an explanation of the purchase will be provided to the visitors so they do not assume they've reached the wrong site. Steps may also be taken to retain the amount of pages the purchasee has indexed in the SE's.

[reprint]

Thanks Rob. I assume then that bluewidgets.com would get the type in traffic whereas widgetsblue.com would not.