More than one web domain

[Bristolweb]

Hi

What is best when considering using more than one domain on a website, what the best policy ?

it's a question I get asked a lot,  usually because prior to any seo efforts the main domain name purchased  is  not keyword rich or  an abbreviated  company name etc.

what impact do new domains have on SEO compared to older existing domains- is it worth changing a generic company named domain for a keyword rich domain?

if having multiple domains pointing to the site is beneficial how best is it to configure?

How do i inform Google?

How do both domains get index when there is only one physical site?

How should i monitor it, Analytic s, SEO moz?

Will the domain compete against each other and effect SEO  rank?

Are they best used for marketing purposes  on external sites, adverts driving traffic to the  main site.

I'm aware  there are lots of questions above, any answers/ opinions , links to further info would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

[SEO5Team]

Changing the domain name to a keyword rich domain has a lot of pros and cons associated with it. I've listed some below:

Pros

• the obvious - you get the benefit of a keyword rich domain name and over time it can rank well for that keyword
• Easier to optimize for that key phrase

Downside

• Google has gotten very tough on over optimization and exact match domain names
• Slight over usage of the keyword on a page can result in a penalty
• You will lose all the traction that you site has gained with the generic brand name over the years especially the direct traffic that comes to the site
• You will have to 301 all the links to the new domain name and will lose rankings temporarily before google reindexes all the links.

As you can see , there are more disadvantages on changing up the domain . I would not change it up for a keyword rich domain. As opposed to that, try and get the generic domain ranked for that keyword by following all the best practices for SEO ( strong on site, off site, PR )

[EGOL]

See previous discussions on this... here and here

[Bristolweb]

thanks for the reply i have read your links, but i am not talking about having two sites mainly two domain pointing to the same site.

but i guess due to the issues i originally noted in my initial question it would be difficult to gain traffic to apart from direct marketing.

[Debdulal]

_Ok the thing is – you cannot decide between a keyword rich domain and a general company name. After the EDM update, I think you should not be going for keywords rich domain. Moreover, you find it really tough to make your brand presence stand out. For say, if you have a domain like this – seo-company-UK.com, how on earth you are going to boost its brand image. If this is not enough, you will struggle while building brand based links for the website. Hop you understand. _