: Merging multiple top-level domains into a single domain My client had multiple top-level-domains. Each one represented an insurance program within a specific vertical. For all the sites at these
My client had multiple top-level-domains. Each one represented an insurance program within a specific vertical. For all the sites at these alternate domains, there was a 30/70 mix of duplicate vs. original content. Some of the alternate domains ranked very well for their target keyphrase groups, where others were absent in results pages. We advised the client to merge multiple domains into their existing main domain, for usability and SEO reasons.
We recently ran the merger. Here was our process:
On the main domain, transfer the content such that it matches 1-for-1 content on the various alternate domains
Setup Google Webmaster Tools on the main domain
Push the new content on the main domain live and submit a corresponding sitemap to Google
Establish 301 redirects on the alternate domains, such that each alternate domain URL points to its respective page on the main domain
We did this 12 days ago, and pages (previously on the alternate domains) that had ranked well on Google have now plummeted or are entirely non-existent.
Did we do the right thing by merging multiple top-level domains into a single domain? Is this initial dip in rankings normal? How soon should we expect to see it return to its normal rankings?
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No, you didn't do things right.
Redirects from one domain to another usually give terrible results.
Maybe in the long run you might get better results but the old domain names won't improve it. They might even penalize it.
You will start to get better results when organic use and backlinks start to build up again but pretty much all the links from the older websites are dead.
And don't get smart making link pages from old domains to the new one. It might even get flagged as blackhat.
The best solution in this case, SEO-wise would have all the domains pointing to the same application and have the application to sort the routes. but keeping the domain content as it was.
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