is it a good to have domain names pointing to inner pages

[brookwater]

is it ever a good to have domain names pointing to inner pages? we have reserved a number of different web domain names, like www.nicethings.com, www.really-nice-things.com etc, you get the idea. I want to point these names to the relevant pages within our website.
1.)is it good to do so?
2.) will we be penalized by the serach engines for doing so
3.) is this a bit "black-hat" seo?

My reason for doing so is that instead of having multiple websites we just have the one website with these (what would have been other website addresses) other domains pointing to the relevant pages.

Many thanks in advance,
brookwater[/list]

[Tubby]

"My reason for doing so is that instead of having multiple websites we just have the one website with these (what would have been other website addresses) other domains pointing to the relevant pages. "

My thinking is: If you are only going to have the one website. . you should not need multiple domain names.
Pointing users to relevant pages is common sense.

I would not be tempted to think for search engines. . Thinking for your users will work perfectly. Your users will find you just as well with one domain name.

I think, Sometimes It can make sense to have different websites for related topics. . But a website just to re-direct seems to me pointless.

[advancedmerchant]

I think he has a good question, as there are valid reasons to point multiple domain names to your site:

1) Misspellings of you name can go to a page that tells the person how it is properly spelled, then redirects to your home page.
2) Competitors that have gone out of business, and (if you were lucky to get their domain name), can go to pages that explain that you are offering a similar service
3) Many companies purchase the domain name corresponding to hot selling products (ipod.com goes to the ipod page of Apple)

So the question remains, does this hurt, help or is it neutral to the search engines?

[DrTandem1]

I had an experience with Google where a client had a very popular product (just one of many related products) and they registered a domain name using the product name. The product on their interior page was already easily found by doing a search for it using the product name, however, some people were trying to find it using it as a domain name such as productx.com.

Hence, the other domain name. It was then forwarded to the interior page by just parking the domain at the registering company and forwarding the URL. For instance, product.com forwarded to theirmainsite.com/productx.html. This worked fine for quite some time.

One day, they noticed that their product name was no longer popping up high in Google's search. It was #1. We copied the page for productx and placed it on another server and pointed the forwarded URL to the new server. So then, productx.com forwarded to unrelatedsite.com/productx.html. The links to the original site on this new page were given the full path that brought the visitor to theirmainsite.com.

Soon, productx was #1 in the Google SERPs, but for its own URL, not the interior page. It has remained there since, which is about two years.

So, I'm not sure how Google interpretted this, but that is what happened. Currently, it is not as easily found in Yahoo, but is at the top of MSN.

It may be wiser to create a sub domain. Since the client is happy, I have no reason to experiment.

[achronister]

If you use a standard 301 from the alternate domain to the inner page, it should not be a problem. Any link juice from people linking to the alternate domain should also be passed. This would be the preferred way to accomplish this. Using a parked page redirect isn't the best option as they sometimes use 302 redirects or just point the name server to the other domain, which could result in some problems for the engines.

[cinebiz]

I have also had this question about pointing domain names to inner pages, and my process has been to buy domains that relate to my services and point them to inner pages.

Over the last 5 years, competitors have bought domain names similar to mine, copied text and sales language directly from my site, and posted their own competing sites. It has resulted in calls from potential customers asking us to defend our value proposition as compared to the "real guys" -- which turn out to be our copycats.

We often see competitors buying Google ads that are titled with our company name, but point to their sites.

To combat this, I have bought a number of domains similar to my original domain, in order to widen the footprint, and at least keep some new competitors from using those names. I either set up 1-page sites that point to my main site, or I simply forward the domains.

I am often surprised at Google's handling of such sites. Sometimes they pop up high in the rankings, and other sites, equally deserving but with more information, do not pop up so high.

I am not a sophisticated user of these methods, however, and I'm not even sure about some of the jargon used in these postings (e.g., 301 vs. 302, "link juice"). Seems to me that the internet, and especially Google, has become a "tech-ocracy," and it's getting too hard to use it as a sales tool or business presence, unless you hire out the work for big bucks -- which is not something we can afford well now, especially with all the copycats diluting the business landscape.

[incrediblehelp]

Why do you want to do this exactly? To game the SE's? If so don't do it.

Of course it sounds like your doing for "real" reasons like misspelling and such. If you do do it, just set up a 301 redirect to be safe.

Seems like a lot of work just for some misspellings through. You should be able to achieve any rankings, for any products with normal optimization. You don't have to buy a domain name to have your inner pages rank better, rank for misspellings or rank for company names.

[fpeter]

I too have purchased similar domain names to my original for two reasons.

1. To stop the competition using them.
2. To point them to inner pages of my website

Not knowing what will happen if I do point these to inner pages or just have a one page website pointing to my original website, these name remain in cyberspace unused.

My ranking is high on all the major search engines for our keywords and I don't want to get removed.

Could the unused domain names be used for other search terms or an information site and just add a link to your main website.

It may be worth a try!

Peter

[achronister]

Could the unused domain names be used for other search terms or an information site and just add a link to your main website.

Not a good idea. This may cause duplicate content issues with the content, and linking to your main site with a network of other sites you own will certainly get you penalized. 301 the other domains to your main site. You won't get them to rank separately, but any type in traffic, old bookmarks, etc will go to the right place.

[garywhw]

If you are pointing it from another sites / domains to an inner page of one website for SE reasons, you are advised to fill the new domain / site with unique content so it becomes an independent site alone too.

In addition, you may fill the inner page with more content for SE.

From the user's point of view, i do not enjoy seeing myself being redirected from SiteA to SiteB the moment i go to SiteA. I would think of it as a spam or a tricky site that has directed me to a page to collect my info before i was redirected by the agent (siteA) to siteB. Just my opinion.