Cloaking and PR

Building PR to the Shadow domain?

[Beastie]

If attempting to cloak, should you build PR to the shadow domain or to the main domain?

It seems that if the shadow domain is optimized perfectly for keyword density and frequency etc, that in order for it to pack it's biggest punch, PR would have to be working in an integrated fashion with the shadow domain itself, rather than the domain it redirects the user to?

I'm assuming the answer is probably fairly obvious, but hey I'm new to this...

[fathom]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld Beastie! ;)

Google's Belief [google.com] on your questions?

Near bottom of page

What are some other things to look out for?

[John_Caius]

Not a great opening salvo...

A better question is:

Should you attempt to cloak?

Answer:

No.

Simple. :)

[JayC]

If attempting to cloak

If attempting to ask a question about cloaking, you should use the cloaking forum [webmasterworld.com]; otherwise the answer you receive will usually be "don't cloak." ;)

[volatilegx]

Beastie, I believe the only answer is to attempt to build PR for BOTH the main domain and the shadow domain. Remember that PR isn't the be-all and end-all of SEO for Google, though. It is a major factor, but it's still possible to get a good ranking for a site with on-page criteria.

[fathom]

An extensive discussion on the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the grey areas of Cloaking [webmasterworld.com].

[Nick_W]

Are you talking 2 domains:

shadow.com
realsite.com

or do you mean cloaked pages on the realsite.com?

Nick

[Beastie]

Yes, I'm referring to the presence of a shadow domain.
However, if I need to build PR to the shadow domain, won't it be a bit obvious that something fishy is going on with all those inbound links referencing the shadow domain?

[Nick_W]

Yes.

You'll still show up for odd backlinks so your run at it maybe short-lived. Depends if you're in a category that's likely to attract spam reporters.

The question is: Is it worth it? - If the $$$'s are good, you may consider a 2-3 month run good going... Your call.

Nick