Source: Search Engine Roundtable by barry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz). Read the original article
TL;DR Summary of How to Use Two Different TLDs for Your Company’s SEO Strategy
John Mueller advises that when using two different TLDs, it’s crucial to perform a proper 301 redirect from the secondary domain to the primary one. Focus on building your main domain’s web presence and make it clear to search engines which domain is preferred. Using a different domain for email does not affect SEO, and managing duplicate content with canonical tags is acceptable only after establishing your main domain.
Optimixed’s Overview: Best Practices for Managing Multiple TLDs in Your SEO Strategy
Key Steps to Effectively Use Two TLDs for Your Company
Managing multiple top-level domains (TLDs) for one company can be complex but effective if done correctly. Google’s SEO expert John Mueller provides a clear roadmap to ensure your SEO efforts are not diluted.
- Perform a 301 Redirect Migration: Redirect all pages from the secondary domain (e.g., .digital) to your primary domain (e.g., .co.uk) to consolidate authority and signals.
- Build Your Primary Domain’s Presence: Focus on establishing and growing your main domain’s search visibility before leveraging the secondary domain.
- Clarify Domain Preference to Search Engines: Make it unambiguous which domain you want search engines to index and rank.
- Email Domains Don’t Impact SEO: Using different domains for email addresses is fine and does not affect search rankings.
- Use Canonical Tags Post-Establishment: Once your main domain is established, canonical tags can be used to handle duplicate content across domains.
Following these guidelines helps maintain SEO strength while allowing flexibility for marketing campaigns using different TLDs.
