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Multi Domain Name Problem

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  • 07-02-2011 12:48am
    #1
    BrianD
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,221 ✭✭✭


    I have a number of domain names pointing at our site. I have two problems that I have been unable to resolve.

    When surfing the site, it will randomly jump from domain to doman e.g. from xyz.ie to xyz.com There's no effect on the user experience but I'd prefer it not happen. Any idea on how to prevent this?

    Secondly, I assume related to the above when I look at Google Analytics the other domains that point at the site are some of the top referers. Is there any way to resolve this?


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    #2
    PaulPinnacle
    Registered Users Posts: 447 ✭✭PaulPinnacle


    BrianD wrote: »
    I have a number of domain names pointing at our site.
    When I first read this earlier, I assumed you meant the additional domains were simply redirecting to the main site (which didn't make sense with the latter domain hopping). Taking a quick look, you've actually got two (or more) domains resolving to the same account (i.e. showing the same pages)? Or redirecting with url masking?

    Is there a strong reason/need for this?

    In 'most' cases (I can't think of an obvious exception where multiple domains are resolving to the same content), it makes far more sense to simply 301 redirect the less important TLDs/domains to the main site and have a 'single site', where the value of the links are consolidated and concentrated on the preferred domain.

    There are a large number of benefits for this, with very few negatives. At the very least, you might want to consider adding in a canonical tag pointing to the preferred domain to ensure that the SEs have a better idea of which site to rank in SERPs (at the moment you've got two separate sites, with duplicate content, spreading the benefits between them. It makes the site look less important in the eyes of SEs and hurts your rankings).
    BrianD wrote: »
    When surfing the site, it will randomly jump from domain to doman e.g. from xyz.ie to xyz.com There's no effect on the user experience but I'd prefer it not happen. Any idea on how to prevent this?
    At a quick glance and guess, I'd assume it's due to a mixture of absolute and relative links (the only area I spotted it at a glance was in the left column of the footer, where they appear to be set to the .ie domain with the others appearing relative to the current url). That's easily fixed, but I'd again suggest the real issue is the multiple domains and duplicate content.
    BrianD wrote: »
    Secondly, I assume related to the above when I look at Google Analytics the other domains that point at the site are some of the top referers. Is there any way to resolve this?
    Directly related to the above.

    Fix the first issue with the site wide redirection of the parked domain with a server side 301 and job done. Fix the issues with the accidental cross linking and it'll at least stop the cross referrals.

    If there ever is a requirement for tracking across multiple domains/subdomains, that guide on analytics does a pretty good job at explaining the steps to take.


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    #3
    BrianD
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,221 ✭✭✭BrianD


    Paul thanks for the response and the PM. I think we've managed to sort out the problems. Much appreciated.


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