POLL: Which site to opitimize for?

[suntzu]

I have a customer with one shopping cart site and two domains. With the new Jagger updates which domain would you optimize for?

1st Domain

Domain:CompanyName.com
Created:13-Jun-97
Expires:12-Jun-10
Status:Active
BackLinks:101
DMOZ:YES
PageRank:0
Redirects:To KeywordPhrase.com

2nd Domain

Domain:KeywordPhrase.com
Created:23-Mar-04
Expires:23-Mar-06
Status:Active
BackLinks:383
DMOZ:NO
PageRank:3
Redirects:NO

Thanks,

[wrockca]

I would say 1

however I would get rid of the redirect.

[SEOMike]

Before I start I'd like to pose one question... why does the domain with a DMOZ listing have a PR 0? Before I put a lot of effort in that domain I'd figure out what's going on there.

Without considering the PR factor in this equation I would target domain 1. It's the oldest domain and it's got a DMOZ listing. (hopefully a good one) I'd 301 domain #2 to domain #1 to capture all of the link credit, make sure everything else is in order with the domain and go after the older domain.

It's hard to opine on this one because there's not enough info here. You should conduct a comprehensive review of BOTH URLs and make an informed decision with all factors taken into consideration. (A domain that old with a PR of 0 makes alarm bells go off. It might have a bad history. I'd dig as deep as possible.)

Good luck!

[wrockca]

very true.....

Its very hard to not understand exactly what you have been doing within the last year.

I would get rid of any re-directs I use none....
I know how to do them I just don't like to use them. It's kind of like an experiment I am running.

Geek work

[Marcia]

1st Domain

Domain:CompanyName.com
Created:13-Jun-97
Expires:12-Jun-10
Status:Active
BackLinks:101
DMOZ:YES
PageRank:0
Redirects:To KeywordPhrase.com

I'd get rid of that redirect FAST before an ODP editor catches it and removes the listing, those listings are gold.

It's hard to tell about PR, with it only updating visibly on the toolbar every 3-4 months, but that domain redirecting to another means whatever PR it would have is totally wasted. 383 links with only a PR3 isn't impressive at all, a few good links (like DMOZ, for one) are more substantial than a lot with little value.

I'd 301 domain #2 to domain #1 to capture all of the link credit, make sure everything else is in order with the domain and go after the older domain.

Ditto, without a moments hesitation, I'd go with the branded, older domain and without any other clues, figure it's PR0 because of being redirected.

[wrockca]

I like the age of the domain.

[suntzu]

I think the PR0 is caused by the redirect. I can't find anything else yet.

Thanks to all.

[Robert Charlton]

Redirects:To KeywordPhrase.com

Maybe I missed this in skimming over the thread, but what kind of redirect... and how long has it been in place?

[suntzu]

Robert,

what kind of redirect... and how long has it been in place?

It's a 206 Response code that forwards to www.KeywordPhrase.com/companyname.aspx I don't know maybe months before I started working on it.

[Robert Charlton]

It's a 206 Response code...

suntzu - Sorry for my long silence on this. In truth, I haven't a clue what a 206 is all about. I thought you might have a meta refresh or javascript situation.

I agree that you should 301 domain #2 to domain #1. Trust you've already done this.

[SEOMike]

Sorry for my long silence too. I'm sure you've got the issue handled by now but I thought I'd put up the definition of a 206:

206: Partial Content
The server has fulfilled the partial GET request for the resource. The request MUST have included a Range header field indicating the desired range, and MAY have included an If-Range header field to make the request conditional.

[w3.org...]