Multiple domains for one site / satellite domains

[BWIRic]

Hi,

I know this has been asked a few times before but I want to clarify everything my own head.

We've recently relaunched a website for a client that combined three existing sites into one.

The new site is http://www.gowerpensions.com/

I've added 301 rewrite rules to the three old domains to to point to the correct page on the new website, i.e the old contact page goes to the new one, the about page to the new about page etc, etc.

The old domains are thehorizonplan.com, horizonqrops.com and horizonqnups.com. I've informed Google Webmaster Tools of the change.

The client also has several other domains such as horizonpensions.com and qnupscheme.com.

Am I correct in thinking I should not park these domains on top of the gowerpensions.com website as this will be seen as duplicate content? I don't think there is anything linking to these domains. They might not even be listed in Google.

With the thehorizonplan.com, horizonqrops.com and horizonqnups.com domains there are existing links to them, but will parking these on top of gowerpensions.com cause a problem, or should I keep my 301 redirects forever?

Would a better strategy be to make microsites on all of the satellite domains that link to the main one to create more relevant links? If this is the case then I'd need to fix any third party links to the old horizon domains.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks

Ric

[Mark_Jay_Apsey_Jr.]

BWRic- If the other sites dont have a majority of duplicate content, keep them as defensive url's or microsites and link them to the main site. Then you can pass some or all of the linkjuice from the other sites to the main site. Anything that is duplciate ocnent, if it is a minority of the content, rewrite it for the new site and elimianet the redirects.

If they have a majority of duplicate content then you have a decision to make. if the old sites have a large amount of SEO value and links, then it makes sense to do redirects. if they don't, then either get rid of the old sites and out the new content directly into the new site or create the micro sites.

Hope this is helpful.  Make it happen!

[Dr-Pete]

When you say "park on top of" what do you mean, exactly? Typically, the host would be redirecting somehow (or using a CNAME).

For the old, active domains, you should keep the 301-redirects in place for the foreseeable future (at least a year) - the benefits far outweigh the costs. After that, you can probably just keep the domains and redirect them from the registrar directly (in other words, you won't need them hosted and redirected page-by-page).

With the several other domains, do those have active sites with content or are they just registered domains? There's no harm in pointing those domains to your main site, but it doesn't really accomplish much if they never were set up. If they're active sites, it really does depend on the scope and focus. I wouldn't 301-redirect dozens of domains all at once, as that can look suspicious.

Personally, I'm not nearly as fond of microsites as I once was. The benefits are declining, and the costs are increasing. The biggest cost, practically, is just splitting your efforts. At one time, that basically just meant content. Now, it means splitting link profiles, social efforts, etc. It's rarely worth the time and money. There are exceptions, and well-targeted microsites can work. Creating them just to have a few long-tail domains, though, isn't usually worth the trouble, and can create duplication issues.