Forum Moderators: open
I have a domain I want to point to a page on my main site.
NOT for SEO reasons - BUT I am worried about the SEO ramifications and want to do it right.
Basically it is a new service I am offering and I want to brand it differently than my main site with a cool new domain name. I could set it up on it's own host at no cost, since I have a reseller hosting account, so money for hosting is not the issue.
But it's sort of a new service of my main site, so I want the traffic to count for my main site when I quote advertisers my total site traffic. So if I point "cool new service domain" to mydomain/folder I have a couple Qs.
1) How do I be sure SE don't see it as a dup? DO I do a 301 redirect?
2) Where does the PR go? If a bunch of people link to the new domain which is parked at my main domain will it show up for my main site?
3) Will my Alexa traffic show traffic to the new domain as going to my main site?
4) Is this a bad idea? Should I just set the new domain up on it's own host?
Anything else I should be aware of before doing this. I'm in a time crunch to release this new service so appreciate any advice!
Thanks, Linda
1) How do I be sure SE don't see it as a dup? DO I do a 301 redirect?
Absolutely, do a 301. But, see below...
2) Where does the PR go? If a bunch of people link to the new domain which is parked at my main domain will it show up for my main site?
Based on experience, the PR is transferred to the Redirect URI.
No need to link to the domain if it is just for promotion. See below...
3) Will my Alexa traffic show traffic to the new domain as going to my main site?
Based on what a 301 is and what it instructs the spider to do, all references to the promotional domain will be Permanently Redirected to the /sub/ of your domain.
4) Is this a bad idea? Should I just set the new domain up on it's own host?
Personally, I'd focus on the main site and save the domain for something else. Unless of course it is a large promotion and deserves its own domain, then that is something entirely different.
But if your only intention is to take visitors to /sub/ of your domain, you could do it, I just think you'd be better off promoting the brand domain instead.
www.example.com/keyword/
Anything else I should be aware of before doing this. I'm in a time crunch to release this new service so appreciate any advice!
Check, double check and triple check your server headers to make sure the proper status codes are being returned. Follow all redirects. Typically you'll get a 301 followed by a 200.
EXAMPLE: If my main site was 123industry dot com and the new service was a blog network or social networking community and the domain was IndustryBuzz dot com - it would be a service of 123industry but with a catchy domain and I would just want all the traffic generated to add to the traffic of my main site. Does this make sense?
Does this make sense?
It does. And doing a 301 for the type-in traffic is usually not a problem.
But, for something that grand, I might opt for a completely separate domain (the catchy one) and work with both of them, no 301s and you can link between the two safely.
Otherwise, if it's only a redirect, it's sorta wierd that it's branded and/or promoted, but as a surfer who might click on a link to IndustryBuzz.com I never actually land there. What's that all about? It sorta feels like something funny is up.
Personally, if I had a new service that was a blog or that sort of thing, and it were closely tied to my main site, for greatest SEO impact on the main site, AND to maximize the force of my branding and marketing efforts, I'd put the service on the site, as many others are doing with their blogs right now, e.g., 123industry.com/blog. That way, no messing around with iffy redirects; the service is clearly associated with the main site (no confusion); and links to the blog count as links to the site. BAM! You're golden.
But that's just me. ;-)
