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Two almost identical domains: google penalty?

by Nigels
11 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have secured two domain names which are identical except that one has the 2nd keyword as a plural and the other has the keyword in the singular. For example (not the actual keywords):

frogponds.net
frogpond.net

Both variations have similar monthly exact search volumes and similar existing competition levels.

I am inclined to use both domains for separate adsense sites in the same niche. If I do so, I will put unique(ish) content on each. However, even though the text will be unique to each site, the basic subject matter (frogponds) is the same and I do not want to spend a lot of time making the two sites radically different from each other. So a seach for frog ponds might see the sites ranking close or next to each other. Is there a risk that Google will regard such a result as spammy based on the closely related domain names and penalize the sites?

If the answer is yes, does anyone have a better strategy for getting good value from the two domains? Would a redirect be a better idea?
#domains #google #identical #penalty
  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    Google in many searches will omit the "s" (the plural).

    Using 2 domains for the same content, well, that would
    be a duplicate content penalty, maybe.

    Using a url forwarding would not work either.
    Especially a server domain forwarder.

    Why? Because google indexes webpages, not domains.
    You would never get a domain by itself indexed or
    get PR without being a published website.

    Now, how do you get around this?
    Use the trick that the big boys use.

    You could do:

    Use each domain for a different part of the "overall"
    website.

    Use one domain for the website, the other for an adjunct blog.

    Store data, images, etc. on one domain.

    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author Tom Goodwin
      Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

      Google in many searches will omit the "s" (the plural).
      The interesting this is --- among my many micro niche adsense sites, I have 6 plural/non-plural pairs of exact domain match sites (i.e., one site having the "s" and one not). Of these 12 sites (6x2), each ranks on page 1 of google for the keyword in the domain, and with only one exception, doesn't rank in the top 5 pages of Google for the related keyword (with or without the "s").

      That is:

      bluewidget.com ranks on page 1 for "blue widget", but isn't in the top 5 pages for bluewidgets, and vice versa.

      There is one site in which i have the plural, and the non-plural sites mid-page 2. The interesting thing is about half of these sites I have done zero backlinking to. So, at least for my sites, Google clearly is giving huge weight to having the exact match keyword domain, but not really giving me any significant credit at all for the plural or singular version of it.

      Tom
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Polomka
    If it was me I would probably just make the sites a little bit different from each other. Use a different theme and rewrite your articles just so that they aren't identical sites. I don't think you would be penalized, they are still 2 different sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author Negotiator74
    I would push forward with both sites but I wouldn't have unique "ish" content I would have unique content. In my opinion the sites will rank for both terms much like Tom described above. IMO, they are two completely different sites and that is how Google will view and rank them.
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  • Profile picture of the author kpmedia
    You're making two sites, it's not really "spammy". When I think of spam sites, I think of splogs that steal content from RSS feeds. That's spammy!
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  • Profile picture of the author Nigels
    Thank you to everyone for the advice. I think I'll use the two domains to build two halves of an overall package like Paul suggests. It will be interesting to see whether Google does pay attention to the 's' or not for ranking purposes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mrs S
    Nigels will you post back and let us know how you get on? I'm interested to see how this one turns out.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nigels
      Originally Posted by Mrs S View Post

      Nigels will you post back and let us know how you get on? I'm interested to see how this one turns out.
      Certainly. I won't get round to putting content on these domains for a short while, but I'll give you an update on progress in due course.

      Nigel
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  • Profile picture of the author Evita
    You can use both.

    I have, and both are ranking. But... you can also use the widgetS.com site and rank for widget AND widgets.
    All depends on the competition, naturally, but it is easier when you use widgets.com to rank for both than when you use widget.com

    If you use both though, I would think that using original content, and possibly setting the site up a bit differently, would be a plus. This last paragraph is pure speculation... but makes sense, no?

    Evita
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  • Profile picture of the author Spencer Haws
    You can certainly use both. In fact, I'm sure we have all search searches that rank keywords.com and keywords.net for example. Google doesnt care if the domain name is exactly the same; it is more concerned with the content on the site. I wouldnt worry at all about any sort of Google penalty for having such a similar domain name...this happens ALL the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author stephane
    You can use both as far as the content are not duplicate or a copy of each other lol
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