Cross-domain canonical

[gmellak]

HI,

We've got a German e-commerce site on an .at domain and would like to have a copy on a .de domain as we expect higher conversions for German users there. The idea now would be to make use of the cross-domain canonical tag, create a "duplicate" on the .de domain and add a canonical tag on all sites and refer to the original content on the .at domain. That would mean the .de won't rank, but German users could see the .de domain, Austrian users the .at domain in the address bar and everybody could feel "at home"  ... that's the theory.

What do you guys think? Valid strategy?

[Tom-Anthony]

Well, it depends! Use of the rel=canonical tag sounds fine to me, I agree they'll feel more 'at home' with a .de domain.

However, what is the strategy for the German users to find the .de version of the site? I'm guessing AdWords or similar where you display the .de domain to increase the CTR. However, it would be nice to be able to bring users in via the organic rankings.

Seeing as this is a valid problem faced by many, it is a shame the engines haven't yet provided a better way to handle it.

Viel Glück!

[gmellak]

Servus, Tom

Thanks for your reply. Right, AdWords would be the first thing to think of ... in any other way we have thought of, we're always running into duplicate content issues within our sites (apart from the issues with other sites selling the same products and using manufacturer texts as our client does).

[EGOL]

See today's Whiteboard Friday... Rand talks about cross-domain canonical with examples.