301 redirect vs. Domain alias

[CMDublin]

Hi all,

I am sure this has been answered somewhere online but finding conflicting answers.

My question is if you have multiple domains (such as abc.ie, xyz.ie) what is the best SEO way to get them to point to abc.com, which is my main website and domain?

I would use 301 redirects but one of my colleagues disagrees, he would use a domain alias.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Colin.

 

[paul]

301 redirect you don't want
abc.ie/index32.html to xyz.ie/index32.html to have the same content.

 

[link8r]

I know Google does index alias sites but it doesn't always like them - I've seen aliased domains penalised.

 

[mneylon]

301 redirect

A domain alias can be 301ed - it depends on how Apache (or IIS) is configured.

For example:

Canonical Urls With Mod Rewrite - Mod Rewrite Tips and Tricks

that works fine and is what I use on multiple sites that ALL have multiple domains pointing at them.

Anyone who tells you that a 301 doesn't work etc etc., doesn't really know what they are talking about.

You can have an alias that is 301ed

 

[MickyWall]

I worked on a site recently that had domain aliases which created significant duplication issues and affected the ranking of the main site.

301 using the global.asax file worked fine on the windows server, though it did take some time for google to remove the aliases from their index.

 

[CMDublin]

@ paul, link8r, blacknight and MickyWall

Thanks for the responses, much appreciated.

 

[Hafsoh]

I worked on a site recently that had domain aliases which created significant duplication issues and affected the ranking of the main site.

301 using the global.asax file worked fine on the windows server, though it did take some time for google to remove the aliases from their index.

Yes domain aliases is usually considered spamming to the search engines because the domain name DUPLICATES the content on your primary domain and in turn, masks the domain name under the secondary domain. They may feel you are trying to trick them when you use a domain alias. Because what they see when they crawl an aliased domain is a website domain that has exactly the same content as the primary domain.
So when you have multiple domain names Use a 301 Redirect.

 

[AAA]

To CMDublin,

Since you have asked about 301 redirect, let me tell you something I read out in google's forums:

for instance if you want to change your domain name and to lose your Page Rank then you must use redirect 302 and NOT 301!

Maybe it aint very relevant, but it might be interesting for others

 

[stephen186]

you can use 302 redirect on a temporary basis....but if you want a permanent solution..........just give 301 redirection over domain Alias....