Home | List of Articles | Submit an Article | Contact Us

An Easy Way Not to Get Banned by Google

Strategic search engine optimization involves far more than keyword research, META tags and content.

If you want to mange an SEO program, you need to be aware of any issue that can affect your success.

Domain name management is one of the big factors. Effective domain name management is critical because you could end up getting banned from Google and other search engines if you take the wrong approach.

Why would Google ban you?

In the spirit of fair play and providing depth in its results, Google frowns on duplicate content. Some web site owners purchase multiple domains and copy their content for both domains. They figure they may land the #1 and #2 positions that way. That may be the company’s goal, but it’s not very valuable for the Internet searcher.

Even if you don’t maintain your identical content with two or more domains, you can still run into problems. It’s possible to update just one set of web pages, but have them look like duplicates because of how the domain names are administered. You may be risking everything if someone enters
www.yoursite2005.com/about.html and
www.oursite2005.com/about.html
and they see the same content – even if they pages reside in only one location.
Many web site owners redirect one domain to the next rather than configure the server to associate the core content with a second domain name. In many cases, a 301 redirect is your best bet. It’s a server-side redirect most administrators can handle in a few minutes. In effect, it’s a proper way of telling search engines to ignore one domain and favor another.
You may have many good reasons for owning multiple domains, including brand protection. Some companies get extra domains on the off-chance that someone may simply try a domain name and see what comes up. A classic example is 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. One of their domains is www.1800flowers.com, but you can get there with www.flowers.com as well.

The Bottom Line

If you secure more than one domain, redirect the extras to your main web site (on the server) or use the extra domains for unique content (showcasing a line of products of services).

About the Author

Michael Murray is vice president of Fathom SEO, a Cleveland, Ohio-based search engine marketing (SEM) firm. A member of Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), he also authored the white paper, "Search Engine Marketing: Get in the Game."

Related Articles:

Cracking the Google Code: Under the GoogleScope - Google’s sweeping changes confirm the search giant has launched a full out assault against artificial link inflation & declared war against search engine spam in a continuing effort to provide the best search service in the world… and if you thought you cracked the Google Code and had Google all figured out … guess again. Google has raised ...

Dispelling the Myths - Will WebPosition Get My Site Banned from Google? - Dispelling the Myths - Will WebPosition Get My Site Banned from Google? by Matt Paolini In mid November of 2003, Google seriously revamped their ranking algorithm. As a result, many sites were dropped from their index, or fell dramatically in rank. This infuriated many Web site owners at the height of the holiday buying season. S ...

How I Took My Site: www.Passive-Profits.com to #1 on Google in Under a Week - For FREE! - If you want your website listed at the top of the major search engines fast and for FREE! – Read on... Yes you read the headline correctly and when I tell you how I did it, you will kick yourself, it is so simple. There are many millions of websites as we all know and the aim of most is to make money for the owners. The way to the money is ob ...

Getting Sure Profits Through Google, Goto.com and DirectHit - Pay-for-inclusion is becoming highly popular lately and is an excellent way to get guaranteed traffic in a guaranteed time from major engines. That is, if you know how to use them well. So on the upside you have guaranteed quick listing and ranking. Google.com, Goto.com and DirectHit/AskJeeves can give you page one listing for searches of your keyw ...

Our Accidental Top Page Rank in Google And How Little Difference It Makes (So Far) - Case study into keywords reveals how a firm of Amsterdam-based copywriters achieved PR-3 listing in Google This a shameless marketing article but we're hard faced enough to take on the odds you're going to read it A-Z. It is the story of how we ended up in the top echelons of major search engines, a goal everybody wishes to achieve, so we're sur ...

What In The World Is This Google Sandbox Theory Thing? And How Do I Beat It? - Ok, so over the past month or so I've been collecting various search engine optimization questions from all of you. Today, I'm going to answer what was the most frequently asked question over the past month. You guessed it... What is the Google Sandbox Theory and how do I escape it? When you finish reading this lesson, you'll be an expert ...

For a Complete list of Articles with summaries Click Here