Brand Name URL Redirecting to Actual URL

[grayloon]

So we have already built a site under a parent company's URL: parentcompany.com

And now we have their branded product lines in directories: parentcompany.com/brand-name1, and parentcompany.com/brand-name2

We also own the actual URL Brand Name 1 (which is also the exact description of the product): brandname1.com

We do not yet own the URL for Brand Name 2 (which is also the exact description of the product): brandname2.com. This is because a squatter is sitting on it and is asking $10,000+ for it.

What we are trying to determine is how valuable these brand name URLs are since they will be redirecting and not the actual site's primary domain name. Anybody know how much of an effect owning those and redirecting has on ranking for those brand names that are also very descriptive of the products?

Would we be smarter to spend $10,000 on adwords or 10,000 on the domain?

Thanks!

[YannickVeys]

(Search volume (exact/phrase match)cpcX) + competitiveness in that market + what the mad man wants to pay for it

Where X would be the earning back period. How long does your client want to pay for the domain before earning it back?

[SimonCullum]

Hi There

A good question.  I can most confidently tell you that purchasing a domain name and redirecting it to another domain/website will have Zero SEO benefit. It's not even a good idea to market the domain that's being redirected as the links that will inevitably be acquired will be redirected also, loosing some of the link strength through the rediirect.

Plus for User Experience, it's usually not particularly good as visitors expect to land on the expected site rather than being redirected to another.

It's also the general consensus now that exact match domains do not have as much SEO weight as they used to, especially with Google. So exact match domains are not worth what they used to be.

• If you're purchasing a live website on the domain, that's different as you may be able to take advantage of that site's strength if it's a relevant website in a similar category.

If it's purely purchasing and redirecting it, then don't spend any more than the typical registration cost of a few $.  Spend that $10,000 investing in Content and distributing it well, which will lead to some relevant links too, or indeed on PPC as you suggest (though that's not an investment).

If the branded domain has some other value to the business, then paying a fair price is typical as you'd be buying an assett.

I hope that helps,

Regards

Simon

[YannickVeys]

Totally agree with Simon. If you just want to have the domain, to "have". Don't bother.

[SimonCullum]

Thanks Yannick, glad you agree

[EGOL]

If I owned the brand I would acquire the domain.  If it is a good brand the $10,000 would not be a deterrent.

[AlanMosley]

Simon is correct, there is no ranking value in what you are doing, dont pay the 10,000. the squatter knows that you are probably the only person to want this domain, if you dont take it he will probably never sell it, you hold the cards not him, Offer him $100 take it or leave it. The only good the domain will do for you, is stop others using it.

[iung]

I agree that redirecting would be of no interest.

In such a case I would probably go for another strategy. I actually see this as an opportunity.

• register brandname2.pro or .net or similar, host it on another server
• do the same brandname1.com, different server
• Create a Wordpress blog or a very simple CMS on each server
• Create quality content for each of those blogs. Brand history, processes, whatever as long as it is interesting for someone who is really into that brand. I believe for $10K you can have some good quality content.
• Point links to relevant pages under parentcompany.com/brand-name1 and parentcompany.com/brand-name2

The results :

• more backlinks
• 3 different points of entry to your e-commerce website (I am thinking long trail here, and search engines evolutions)
• a better differenciation between the ecommerce website and the brands sites, because their short-term goals are different (buying vs. getting information), allowing you for instance to post content on brandname1.com which would appear strange on parentcompany.com, because the latter should be more streamlined with a very good UI and sales funnel. You can be more creative on the brand sites and you dont need to do A/B tests not worry too much about analytics etc.

Of course it is  more work, but you would be getting a higher granularity for your brand.

Regards

Gil