Could redirecting all extensions to the same domain hurt SEO?
i have recently bought a lot of extensions of my site, .net, .org, .tv, .am, .fm, .ca, ….. about 20s of different ext. and permanently redirected them all to my .com domain thru godaddy.
i see that i have a lot less visitors coming the day after that, and it’s been two days and im getting less traffic, could it be because of all the redirects? will it change back in the future?
2 Responses
Miha L
14 Apr 2010
Choicex
14 Apr 2010
Question: are the different domain extensions new or recently registered?
If they are new, then it shouldn’t cause a problem.
If not, if they were previously used for different websites, then redirecting 20 domains could flag as being for SEO. If this is the case I would recommend re-instating domains back to individual websites and place prominent links to your preferred main domain / website.
Search Engines, Links and 301 Redirects
If you are considering using 301 redirect then search engines will usually know or expect this to be because you may be merging a couple of websites or using a new domain and you want to ensure that links to the old pages, including the SEO effects like anchor text and link power, go to the new website.
In these circumstances, which are completely legitimate and acceptable, then the website ranking should not be effected, in either Yahoo or Google.
However, be warned that the 301 redirect can also be used by some people for multiple domains for the sole purpose of SEO and trying to ‘redirect’ the site ranking and links from multiple domains to a single domain / website. This could trigger a ‘red flag’ to the search engine and the domain / website could be penalised.
To summarise, if the 301 redirect is used for its intended use, when the domain used for a website is being changed, then its OK
If the 301 redirect is used for multiple domains to a website for SEO only, then it could cause a penalty.
Good Luck
I would suggest to take a time and make unique content to each of your domains.
If you have bought 20 different domain’s just to redirect all to your .com domain then it is wrong and can cause penalty.