Best Marketing Strategy when Owning Similar High-Search Vol. Domains

13 replies
Hi everyone!

Today I purchased three domain names that are quite similar in name - each of which harvests up to 10,000 hits per month.

These are high value domains and I have no competition. I intend to create an e-commerce site to create a platform to sell to members.

The question is, I'm not sure which one of these 2 strategies would work best:

1) Create 1 site and point / redirect the other 2 domains to that site

2) Create 3 separate sites selling the same type of product

Which do you believe should work best? The problem with (2) is that it would require 3x SEO effort. But I want to capitalize as much as possible but to do so in a way that maximizes the potential search volume, so I'm willing to put in the work should it be needed.

Thanks in advance for your replies!
#domains #highsearch #marketing #owning #similar #strategy #vol
  • Profile picture of the author MichaelQuinn
    Originally Posted by maltesefalcon View Post

    Hi everyone!

    Today I purchased three domain names that are quite similar in name - each of which harvests up to 10,000 hits per month.

    These are high value domains and I have no competition. I intend to create an e-commerce site to create a platform to sell to members.

    The question is, I'm not sure which one of these 2 strategies would work best:

    1) Create 1 site and point / redirect the other 2 domains to that site

    2) Create 3 separate sites selling the same type of product

    Which do you believe should work best? The problem with (2) is that it would require 3x SEO effort. But I want to capitalize as much as possible but to do so in a way that maximizes the potential search volume, so I'm willing to put in the work should it be needed.

    Thanks in advance for your replies!
    I'm pretty curious about the answer to your question too so hopefully an expert can give you a solid answer. If I were in your spot I would think that option 1 would be the best course of action and I'm wondering if I'm right about that.
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  • Profile picture of the author JennyBright
    Also interested in this thread, hope some experts can assist you with your issue
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  • Profile picture of the author RevForce19
    Also interested... will be following along.
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    There may be more factors involved but if it was me....

    I would definitely do your strategy number 1 and redirect 2 of the sites to a main website that you will keep developing. Branding and SEO efforts for 3 similar sites is a lot of extra work and may end up bringing less traffic in the long run.

    I picked up an expired domain with traffic that I redirect to an authority site and it has worked for over a year. I didn't build a site on the domain at all. If you keep up at least a minimum of maintenance on the 2 sites you may also pass along the 'link juice' to your main site. You could end up having some search terms rank higher and get more traffic from one optimized site than you would from 3 lower ranking sites. I don't know if that made sense but you probably know what I mean.
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    • Profile picture of the author maltesefalcon
      Originally Posted by Janice Sperry View Post

      There may be more factors involved but if it was me....

      I would definitely do your strategy number 1 and redirect 2 of the sites to a main website that you will keep developing. Branding and SEO efforts for 3 similar sites is a lot of extra work and may end up bringing less traffic in the long run.

      I picked up an expired domain with traffic that I redirect to an authority site and it has worked for over a year. I didn't build a site on the domain at all. If you keep up at least a minimum of maintenance on the 2 sites you may also pass along the 'link juice' to your main site. You could end up having some search terms rank higher and get more traffic from one optimized site than you would from 3 lower ranking sites. I don't know if that made sense but you probably know what I mean.
      Yeah, I completely get your point.

      Do you think I should set up a "landing page" + blog for the other 2 sites, pointing to my #1 site? That way I can rank those 2 sites (perhaps different keywords for each) while recommending people to purchase from the #1 site.

      Starting to think that might be the best long-term approach. The domains I bought ALL have no traffic at present though. They are not domains with a history of traffic / current traffic, so I have to commence SEO from scratch.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
        Originally Posted by maltesefalcon View Post

        Hi everyone!

        Today I purchased three domain names that are quite similar in name - each of which harvests up to 10,000 hits per month.
        <snip>

        Thanks in advance for your replies!
        Originally Posted by maltesefalcon View Post

        <snip>
        Starting to think that might be the best long-term approach. The domains I bought ALL have no traffic at present though. They are not domains with a history of traffic / current traffic, so I have to commence SEO from scratch.

        I am confused. In your original post you stated "..I purchased three domain names.. each of which harvests up to 10,000 hits per month." and in this post you stated "The domains I bought ALL have no traffic at present though."

        Those statements contradict each other so what is it?

        Here is a reputable article, last updated: June 8, 2019 , that answers your question:
        The Pros and Cons of Using Multiple Domains
        (not an affiliate)
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    Like Jeffery I am also confused now... If these are not websites that are already getting traffic I retract everything in my earlier post. Maybe you meant that the keywords are searched 10k times per month. That is a whole different thing.

    If these are undeveloped domains getting no traffic you are overthinking it. Pick ONE and get started. Forget the other two. If you are thinking because they are exact match domains there is something extra special about them you are many years too late. You can optimize for all the keywords you want on ONE website and you will be better off.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    So basically you bought 3 EMD domains thinking that EMD's are magically going to rank just because the search term is in the domain name.

    Redirecting 2 brand new domains to a 3rd domain has absolutely no value at all. They don't give any keyword relevance just because of their name.

    I would scrap all of your ideas, pick one domain, and then start building something valuable on there.

    The idea of building 3 sites and trying to rank 2 of them for terms that redirect people to the 3rd site is not idea. You are making people take an extra click to buy something which is just going to hurt conversions.

    Just build one site and rank that site for whatever it is you are targeting.
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  • Profile picture of the author maltesefalcon
    Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

    I am confused. In your original post you stated "..I purchased three domain names.. each of which harvests up to 10,000 hits per month." and in this post you stated "The domains I bought ALL have no traffic at present though."

    Those statements contradict each other so what is it?

    Here is a reputable article, last updated: June 8, 2019 , that answers your question:
    The Pros and Cons of Using Multiple Domains
    (not an affiliate)
    Sorry for the confusion. I meant to say that each domain name - which are all exact match domains - attracts up to 10,000 hits per month.

    As I just bought the domains, I'm trying to plan what to do with them.

    I read the article and came across this section, which pretty much answers my first post:

    "Exceptions can be considered when protecting your website name or business brand. As a rule of thumb, it makes sense to register similar, complementary domains closely related to your site name before someone else does. Ending up with multiple domain names is quite natural. They don't bring much of an advantage to website rankings but will guard your brand recognition and reputation. Additionally, after redirecting, they can be a good source of type-in traffic, given that the domain names are of a high quality (short, memorable, pronounceable)."

    In this way, they are indeed suggestions redirects for the other two sites due to the potential benefit of "type-in traffic" - which is easily done given the domains I have.

    Originally Posted by Janice Sperry View Post

    Like Jeffery I am also confused now... If these are not websites that are already getting traffic I retract everything in my earlier post. Maybe you meant that the keywords are searched 10k times per month. That is a whole different thing.

    If these are undeveloped domains getting no traffic you are overthinking it. Pick ONE and get started. Forget the other two. If you are thinking because they are exact match domains there is something extra special about them you are many years too late. You can optimize for all the keywords you want on ONE website and you will be better off.
    See above. Sorry again for the confusion initially.

    Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

    So basically you bought 3 EMD domains thinking that EMD's are magically going to rank just because the search term is in the domain name.

    Redirecting 2 brand new domains to a 3rd domain has absolutely no value at all. They don't give any keyword relevance just because of their name.

    I would scrap all of your ideas, pick one domain, and then start building something valuable on there.

    The idea of building 3 sites and trying to rank 2 of them for terms that redirect people to the 3rd site is not idea. You are making people take an extra click to buy something which is just going to hurt conversions.

    Just build one site and rank that site for whatever it is you are targeting.
    I thing is the article above recommends redirecting the two sites to the main site. So that leaves me with some degree of confusion.

    In addition, one further benefit of buying these 3 domains is that the other two preclude the possibility of close competition based on exact match keywords.

    I know how to turn an exact-match domain into a successful membership site. I did it in February and, within 6 weeks, started to generate monthly profits. I do believe having the high-value keyword as part of the domain makes it easier - when pounded out with exceptional content - to rank the site than if it were a non-relevant "brand" name instead.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
    Janice and Mike have already given you the best advise and in case you do not know it because you are new to the forum both Janice and Mike are some of the forum's "best at what they do" based on their respective experience. The thing is when either of them offer advise based on their experience we pretty much know we can take it to the bank.

    For clarification you stated "Sorry for the confusion. I meant to say that each domain name - which are all exact match domains - attracts up to 10,000 hits per month."

    No, we now know that you meant that the keywords in your domain names are searched 10k times per month and we also know they don't give any keyword relevance just because of their name.

    Your Marketing Strategy is relying on Google for organic traffic and type-in-traffic based on The Exact Match Domain (EMD). That is not a Marketing Strategy. It is an SEO Strategy. As an SEO Strategy it is a failed strategy.

    Your Guide to Google's Exact Match Domain Algorithm Update
    December 1, 2017

    When someone posts a link consider the link to be a jumping link to more information, so you can do more research.
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    I want to concur with maltesefalcon. Registering domains that are close to the name of your website helps to keep competition low. Also, the fact that it will redirect visitors to your site means that there is no loss. It will allow you to focus your SEO effort on one site.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
      Originally Posted by Medon View Post

      I want to concur with maltesefalcon. Registering domains that are close to the name of your website helps to keep competition low. Also, the fact that it will redirect visitors to your site means that there is no loss. It will allow you to focus your SEO effort on one site.

      Disagree with your statement because Google states the complete opposite.. "Also, the fact that it will redirect visitors to your site means that there is no loss."

      The fact is Google gives no weight to domains with thin content and when a domain name without content is redirected to any domain name there is no content on the redirected domain for Google for to give weight to. Thus no gain.


      Read the link to the whole article and you will find the process that the Google Algo employs to rank domain names with thin content.. Since 2012 for that fact.
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      • Profile picture of the author maltesefalcon
        Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

        Disagree with your statement because Google states the complete opposite.. "Also, the fact that it will redirect visitors to your site means that there is no loss."

        The fact is Google gives no weight to domains with thin content and when a domain name without content is redirected to any domain name there is no content on the redirected domain for Google for to give weight to. Thus no gain.


        Read the link to the whole article and you will find the process that the Google Algo employs to rank domain names with thin content.. Since 2012 for that fact.
        But that's precisely the opposite of what I intend to create.

        I'm very intensely directed toward high-quality content. Not just high-quality content, but content that is exclusively better than all competing forms. I view factors such as relevance, authority and trust as the highest factors when creating content and an information-based site that sells a product.

        The EMD update was a target toward low-quality sites that tried to leverage EMD for the domain name only. As the link you posted says, this says nothing about high quality sites. If you have a high quality site, then having an EMD is beneficial. That said, I appreciate the value of branded domains and what they can bring.

        But I think it's important we distinguish between EMDs purchased purely for the value of the domain name - versus - what I intend to do which is to harness the search volume benefits of an EMD as a consequence of the high quality content, authority link accrual, I intend to publish and gain.
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