Does addon domain hurt SEO?

[Quilst]

I am conducting some research before I go into this one.

Anybody know the answer?

[Zeus66]

I have a Baby Croc account at Hostgator with over 20 domains/sites, and all of them but the original is an add-on. I haven't noticed any ill effects in terms of SEO. This is probably one of those myths that has little or no real basis in fact. Of course, there are many variables that probably affect SERPs, but I'd be surprised if add-on domains had any bearing whatsoever. I'm sure someone will chime in if they *KNOW* something I don't.

John

[Tyrus Antas]

Why would it be a problem? It can't certainly be worse than shared hosting. Shared hosting websites share the same ip which in some rare situations can be a problem. Do you want to link heavily between the sites? That can work as long as you do it smartly, however its unlikely that add-on domains will be a problem.

Tyrus

[Dean Martin]

Are you talking about a domain 'parked' on another domain (2 names to same content) or an add-on domain to which the correct comments were provided above?

[InternetMarketingIQ]

No it does not. The search engines (at least Google) will see this as an entirely seperate site. Your only potential problem is if it were to be in a "Bad Neighborhood" of spam sites sharing your IP Address. And even then its questionable. Google's Matt Cutt's has addressed this issue on his blog. If you believe he speaks the truth then no worries.

In my experience with Add On Domains I still rank just fine... no problems at all.

[chaumi]

same here, no ranking problems or differences noted with multiple different add on domains

[David]

Originally Posted by aidenw11

I asked the same question a few weeks ago and only got 1 reply which said it would not hurt. The reason I asked is because an addon domain is also treated as a subdomain by the host. In other words, your site basically has 2 URL's:

domain2.com (direct URL) and

domain2.domain1.com (where domain 1 is your main domain)

If I'm correct, search engines see them as 2 different sites just like URL's with and without www and forward slash.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear more people say it doesn't hurt.

I suspect you are mis-using that term... I think you mean Sub Domain

if that's the case prevailing consensus is that a sub domain is seen by Google as a completely independent website.

If on the other hand you are referring to a multiple domain hosting set up, where one of your domains is the hosted one and the remaining domains are redirects to a directory on your single hosting account (and the remaining domains have the same ip address of your original hosted domain)... I'd like to hear the current consensus of that question myself.

Last I heard is that the 'add on' domains all have the same googlejuice as the original hosted account.

[aidenw11]

I asked the same question a few weeks ago and only got 1 reply which said it would not hurt. The reason I asked is because an addon domain is also treated as a subdomain by the host. In other words, your site basically has 2 URL's:

domain2.com (direct URL) and

domain2.domain1.com (where domain 1 is your main domain)

If I'm correct, search engines see them as 2 different sites just like URL's with and without www and forward slash.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear more people say it doesn't hurt.

[aidenw11]

Originally Posted by David

I suspect you are mis-using that term... I think you mean Sub Domain

if that's the case prevailing consensus is that a sub domain is seen by Google as a completely independent website.

If on the other hand you are referring to a multiple domain hosting set up, where one of your domains is the hosted one and the remaining domains are redirects to a directory on your single hosting account (and the remaining domains have the same ip address of your original hosted domain)... I'd like to hear the current consensus of that question myself.

Last I heard is that the 'add on' domains all have the same googlejuice as the original hosted account.

No, I did not misuse the term, and that's my whole point. An addon domain
is also treated as a sub domain by the host (at least the host I'm using), which means your site has 2 different URL's like I said above.

[SiteMiracle]

Originally Posted by Quilst

I am conducting some research before I go into this one.

Anybody know the answer?

Addon domain won't hurt SEO.

[DeanJames]

I agree. Addon domains are fine.

Dean

[Quilst]

Thanks a bunch guys ^^

[Flyingpig7]

Thanks for clearing that confusion up between Add-on domain and Subdomain. I always did wonder if there was any difference.

Cheers
Keren

[adamcm]

Hi all,

sorry to bump an old thread, but I found thus through a google search.

When people say do not interlink the sites does that mean that if I add backlinks to one of my addon domains from the other that it will hurt my SERP?

Thanks!

[adamcm]

Originally Posted by Zane Abden

the only porblem is if your addon domain got unlisted by google it will unlist the whole sites under the primary domain

Ahhh ok, so as long as I still make quality sites I can add backlinks between them?

Thanks!

[edc3076]

I just found this thread, so here is my question as I feel it may be a little different. I have a .com .org and a .net all for the same name. When I built my site, I used the .com. But I did not even realize I had put the .org and .net as an addon domain. I searched and google is not ranking the .com, but they have the .net and the .org listed on page 2. My intentions for for just the .com to be ranked. Will I be penalized for this since it looks like the .com .org .net all have the same content or is this ok to leave it like this, any help would be appreciated. I am with bluehost.

[jessicaalba1]

i think this a good informative topic and i have learnt many things from this kind of discussion and i am looking forward for some more updates

[Jack Sprat]

While it's true that addon domains can be found also as a subdomain of your main domain, you can always use the cpanel (assuming that's what the hosting is) to redirect the subdomain to your addon domain. Then the site will never be found by the search engines at the subdomain.

[Brad Callen]

It's not going to be a problem unless you are talking on a massive scale. Doorway pages.. different story.

Originally Posted by edc3076

I just found this thread, so here is my question as I feel it may be a little different. I have a .com .org and a .net all for the same name. When I built my site, I used the .com. But I did not even realize I had put the .org and .net as an addon domain. I searched and google is not ranking the .com, but they have the .net and the .org listed on page 2. My intentions for for just the .com to be ranked. Will I be penalized for this since it looks like the .com .org .net all have the same content or is this ok to leave it like this, any help would be appreciated. I am with bluehost.

Nope, you won't get in any "trouble" but you will have a different version of your site taking some of the glory.

That means links will be built to more than one version and Google may even credit the wrong one as the original source. You should redirect the .net & .org into the .com, or whatever your primary domain will be.

[jenaselene]

Google is not indexing new pages long! Google optimization techniques forum to discuss increasing ranking in Google. Things to do is to have 301 redirects to allow management to review your old Googlebot on the new site. I think that's what you missed, especially if you change your address or domain name.

[buyfrompowerseller.com]

As long as your add on domain (sub domain) does not have duplicate content with your main domain, it should not hurt

A side note, unless you plan to make and maintain your add on domain as a separate site (for example a blog should have regular posts weekly), it may be better to use a sub folder instead of sub domain.

[Chat]

Sorry to bring this thread back up, this is actually how I found this forum and registered today.

Im glad to hear it does not hurt SEO because I can now save a bunch of money on hosting.

I would now think its true that as long as you do not have the same content it should not be a problem.

[timmoores]

The addon domain is a way for adding domains to your WHM/cPanel and doesn't have any effect on SEO of your domains. Be sure about it. Its only a structure in cPanel and doesn't related to search engines and their ranking.