Keyword-Rich Domains - Redirect?

[lhc67]

Hi, Mozzers-

I have a client that has a bunch of pretty nice keyword-rich domain names. Their traffic and rankings are good. They provide legal services in the Chicago area.

I have lots of good content that I could use to start a blog using a domain like keyword,keyword-blog.com. Good idea? Currently I have a resources area on their website but feel like this area could be getting a little bloated and some news-related stuff isn't really appropriate.

2 Questions:

1. Should I use one of the decent domains for a blog and build up the rankings, traffic, and link to the main site?  Or is this lots of work for little payout? Both sites would be hosted in the cloud.
2. Some of the domain names are related to their name, others are keyword or geo-targeted. Would it be wise to setup 301 redirects going to their website? Pros/cons?

If you need additional info, please PM me for details.

Thank you, friends!

LHC

[EGOL]

Should I use one of the decent domains for a blog and build up the rankings, traffic, and link to the main site?  Or is this lots of work for little payout?

In my opinion, you are correct... lots of work for little payout.

If this company can contribute good content to a blog it would be best located in a folder on their primary domain.  That way, any links that are given to the blog by other webmasters will increase the power and authority of the primary domain.  It will also be a place to display the expertise of their company right on the main site.

Look at what SEOMoz has done... their blog is in a folder  seomoz.org/blog   and this forum is also in a folder   seomoz.org/q    this was  deliberate to concentrate links to their main site.

Some of the domain names are related to their name, others are keyword or geo-targeted. Would it be wise to setup 301 redirects going to their website?

This would be beneficial if you think those domains will receive type-in traffic.  If no type-in traffic occurs then there is zero value.

[lhc67]

Thank you! You confirmed my suspicions.

[Motava]

Other than typos, 301s for previous links or type-in traffic we have only used a supporting domain for advertisement/other marketing purposes that is catchier than the company name and main URL. This domain just 301s to the main domain.

Something like this can be used in print ads, commercials or billboards to get an idea of the traffic resulting from and subsequent effectiveness of the ad. A similar idea is setup with particular landing pages like www.godaddy.com/superbowl.

Using a different domain for this would not create the best brand recognition for the main URL, however. In our case, it's beneficial to use since the URL is the main slogan of the company as well.

[lhc67]

Hi, EGOL-

Thanks again for your help with this issue! Just one followup question, due to the site's construction it will be difficult adding a blog at http://www.mydomain.com/blog. It would be very simple to create http://blog.mydomain.com. Thoughts?

[EGOL]

I know that there are content management systems that will not permit additional folders and some hosts make it difficult to use WordPress and other blog systems that connect to a database.

I have seen some of those problems myself.  However, my blog is important enough to the success of my site that I have.... changed hosts and hired experts to solve such problems....

In my opinion, if the blog is not in a folder then all of my work on it - every day for years - is being done for fractional returns.   So, I would be wiling to move a small mountain to get the blog in a folder.

[lhc67]

Thank you!