Richard
asked on
web forwarding and aliases
I have in mind registering a web site say, birminghamlawyers.co.uk
I would then upload my usual content on it and use my usual (different) domain to point permanently to it. (301 redirect?)
The idea is that anyone going to my website would go through to the destination web site which should in theory (my theory) rank higher than my present one as more people search for birmingham (+) lawyers than my domain.
OK, what are the pros and cons of that? Does it make any sense for SEO ?
I would then upload my usual content on it and use my usual (different) domain to point permanently to it. (301 redirect?)
The idea is that anyone going to my website would go through to the destination web site which should in theory (my theory) rank higher than my present one as more people search for birmingham (+) lawyers than my domain.
OK, what are the pros and cons of that? Does it make any sense for SEO ?
You may lose some SEO ranking, things like domain age can have an impact.
But a 301 is Google's recommended way of moving to a new domain.
I'm not sure what Number-1 means by unrelated re-directs as a 301 is a moved permanently so will not have any impact
Having a domain that says who/what you are will add a little to your SEO and also will have a bearing in search queries.
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/93633?hl=en
But a 301 is Google's recommended way of moving to a new domain.
I'm not sure what Number-1 means by unrelated re-directs as a 301 is a moved permanently so will not have any impact
Having a domain that says who/what you are will add a little to your SEO and also will have a bearing in search queries.
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/93633?hl=en
You will gain just about zero from that strategy. Putting a hyphen between birmingham and lawyers would be a better name. However other than a few searches that contain the two words you are not going to gain anything.
If you want to increase traffic you do it down in the site content. A couple of articles about Birmingham and some must have unique content about lawyers will get you traffic, because that is what gets indexed and what Google gives the most weight when it is determining relevance.
Since the last update to the Google algorithm in May sites with quality content have seen traffic up by double digit percentages and junk content has been slammed (some sites seeing as much as a 40% drop in SE traffic.
Cd&
If you want to increase traffic you do it down in the site content. A couple of articles about Birmingham and some must have unique content about lawyers will get you traffic, because that is what gets indexed and what Google gives the most weight when it is determining relevance.
Since the last update to the Google algorithm in May sites with quality content have seen traffic up by double digit percentages and junk content has been slammed (some sites seeing as much as a 40% drop in SE traffic.
Cd&
ASKER
Ok, I get it that a redirect wont cut it.
Would a blog with Birmingham-lawyers with quality content have better results thanmy own web site with the same content.
Or are you saying that it makes no odds search wise.
Could you give me a further nudge by what you mean by junk versus quality.
Would a blog with Birmingham-lawyers with quality content have better results thanmy own web site with the same content.
Or are you saying that it makes no odds search wise.
Could you give me a further nudge by what you mean by junk versus quality.
Relevant domain names play a part in SEO but its one tiny slice of a much larger pie
If the new domain name if more relevant and is more suited to your business then you should move to it.
But in itself is not going to magically make you number 1 in Google.
If the new domain name if more relevant and is more suited to your business then you should move to it.
But in itself is not going to magically make you number 1 in Google.
@GaryC123 I meant that redirecting a bunch of domains to a central domain can have negative effects and should be avoided. Many companies have domains with similar names to keep them off the market.
In any case, a re-direct won't help SEO but it may give customers a route to teh new domain from an old bookmark or search result.
topUKlawyer check out this software to get a better idea of what on page optimization does for you. http://www.ibusinesspromoter.com/
In any case, a re-direct won't help SEO but it may give customers a route to teh new domain from an old bookmark or search result.
topUKlawyer check out this software to get a better idea of what on page optimization does for you. http://www.ibusinesspromoter.com/
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ASKER
Wooo, this is quality stuff, many thanks for that.
I will do these things
1 Create a standalone solid blog.
2 retain my present site
3 build a small but interesting site at birminghamslawyers with a hyperlink to the other sites (how would this rate versus 301 redirect?)
Any final comments before points?
I will do these things
1 Create a standalone solid blog.
2 retain my present site
3 build a small but interesting site at birminghamslawyers with a hyperlink to the other sites (how would this rate versus 301 redirect?)
Any final comments before points?
My opinion on your #3 is to not build an extra site called birminghamslawyers and instead generate your blog/articles on your own site. The domain name has less meaning as far as seo other then somebody typing birminghamslawyers.co.uk to the address bar. I don't see that happens in real life. Instead, people search and research. More then likely the will type in "birminghams lawyers" or "birminghams attornys" or more likely just "lawyers" or "attoryneys" and let Google automatically determine their location and pull up results.
With the lawyers I work with, I see more people coming to the site because of searching for one of the areas of practice / the type of trouble they are in.
With the lawyers I work with, I see more people coming to the site because of searching for one of the areas of practice / the type of trouble they are in.
I agree with padas that number 3 does not really gain you anything. Having the blog right on the main site actually would add some weight to it. The additional content on the single site would mean more to Google. The number of pages indexed does add a tiny bit to a site's juice, and if the articles are about the specific area of practice and contain unique information, you start to look more authoritative.
If you do decide to do a separate blog, then you want it hosted on a different class C IP address, and you want to have links to other sites as well as your own or Google may look to see if you are trying to game the search results.
Cd&
If you do decide to do a separate blog, then you want it hosted on a different class C IP address, and you want to have links to other sites as well as your own or Google may look to see if you are trying to game the search results.
Cd&
+1 ^
ASKER
Thanks can you explain the different class c IP address as this is lost on me.
Yes an ip consist of 4 parts separated by the dots
like: 111.222.000.101
A B C
an address like 111.222.000.101 are the same class C. All 256 unique addresses under 111.222.000 are part of the same class C block
however 111.222.001.101 is a different class C
The reason for wanting different class C IP addresses is because a class C block is frequently owned by the same organization and therefore sites on the same class C ip may be related, so Google reduces the value of links from sites on the same class C IP.
Cd&
like: 111.222.000.101
A B C
an address like 111.222.000.101 are the same class C. All 256 unique addresses under 111.222.000 are part of the same class C block
however 111.222.001.101 is a different class C
The reason for wanting different class C IP addresses is because a class C block is frequently owned by the same organization and therefore sites on the same class C ip may be related, so Google reduces the value of links from sites on the same class C IP.
Cd&
ASKER
COBOL
thanks for this.
My birminghamlawyers site is registered and hosted by a different registrar.
Is this likely to have a different class C address.
thanks for this.
My birminghamlawyers site is registered and hosted by a different registrar.
Is this likely to have a different class C address.
A different registrar will almost certainly be on a different Class C.
If you don't know the IP addresses you can use this domain lookup tool
Cd&
If you don't know the IP addresses you can use this domain lookup tool
Cd&
You won't get much, if any, SEO advantage from redirects. You may even incur penalties if you have too many unrelated re-directs.
If the new domain has your keywords in it you should rank better than a domain without those keywords all other factors being the same.