Can a domain rank for a competitive term with no links?
-
Hi,
I know that this topic has received a lot of attention recently (Not all of it good) and I am not normally one to re-open a can of worms but the whole 'Camper Mens Shoes' fiasco has got me thinking.
If you're not familiar with the story then you can get the highlights of it here - http://martinmacdonald.net/the-curios-case-of-camper-shoes/
My question is this - Say that you had a domain (Domain A) that was ranking well for a competitve keyword and that it had a good backlink profile. If you used rel="canonical" on every page of Domain A to point to a duplicate site on a different domain (Domain B) , would Domain B then rank well in place of Domain A?
I know that this probably doesn't have much practical use but I am trying to get a better understanding of the effect of using rel="canonical"
Would the result of doing the above mean that Domain B would rank well without having any links pointing directly to it?
-
Yep I have actually done this (kinda! as a test).
EMD after 3 months of ranking 3rd, redirected it to a non-EMD. They swapped places for about 2 weeks... then it dropped 10+ pages deep.
I cant help but think, if I had increased link building effort over the 2 weeks it might have stayed up.
-
I agree with @activitysuper - it would work like a 301-redirect and Domain B would inherit the ranking power. Actually, I've seen that in action - some people even use a cross-domain canonical in place of 301s (it can be faster, but that's a tricky choice).
Even if Domain B had no relevance to Domain A, you might see some short-term rankings. In that case, though, the rankings would probably fall off quickly once Google re-evaluated Domain B.
-
Thanks again for the info. I am already using the link tag so hopefully I aqm on the right path.
Appreciate your comments on Teapot Creative
Have just had a look at Dribbble and it is on the list of things to do!
-
I did have to think twice about the tag linking to a external page on a different domain - but had a rummage and found this - http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/handling-legitimate-cross-domain.html
That link might be a closer fit to the answer your looking for.
p.s like your work on teapot creative, nice and clean.
You on dribbble?
-
Hi activitysuper,
Your expination and link is pretty much my understanding but I wondered if I was missing something.
Thanks for your reply.
-
He is a reference to what Google says it's supposed to be used for as well.
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/specify-your-canonical.html
I personally would say it would have the same effect as if you did a redirect on Domain B pages.
Domain B would rank but Domain A would drop off.
I've never tried it but I'm taking an educated guess.
If Domain A was sitting on say a exact match domain and Domain B was not, then I don't think rankings would be mirrored. So it's not a straight forward flip.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Can a linking Root Domain figure be in the millions?
Hi there! In SERP analysis for my chosen keywords, DA level for a facebook page is 97, and the RDs linking to root domain is 42,117,874. So does this site have 42 million domains leading back to this page, making it impossible to beat with SEO? Any help is appreciated as I'm struggling to understand what this means! Thanks 🙂
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Kati_nav0 -
Domain Name redirection to new Domain Name - VS - Transfering Domaine Name from account 1 to account 2
Hi there! Thanks for your time 😉 I have a new cutsomer that bought his domain name via WIX and your know... WIX sucks huge time for SEO. Basically, we want to do SEO outside of WIX. But I am not sure HOW I should proceed. I think I have 2 options: OPTION 1- We transfer the domain name from WIX to a new hoster. But we will lose 7 days during that, lose prospects while the website is in maintenance and we might lose the little bit of ranking we have on the way. BUT! ONCE Everything is done with the transfer, we will be able to operate our SEO campaing with a Domain Name that as 15 domain authority, links, little bit a ranking, etc. OPTION 2- I just buy a new domain name. I build the new Website on it and then use the SEO juice from the old domain name with redirect to push the new domain name. Like this, I won't lose any opportunities. BUT I will have to restart the SEO as new... Any tips or ideas for me? Maybe there is an OPTION 3 that I don't know about.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Gab-SEO1 -
Can a duplicate page referencing the original page on another domain in another country using the 'canonical link' still get indexed locally?
Hi I wonder if anyone could help me on a canonical link query/indexing issue. I have given an overview, intended solution and question below. Any advice on this query will be much appreciated. Overview: I have a client who has a .com domain that includes blog content intended for the US market using the correct lang tags. The client also has a .co.uk site without a blog but looking at creating one. As the target keywords and content are relevant across both UK and US markets and not to duplicate work the client has asked would it be worthwhile centralising the blog or provide any other efficient blog site structure recommendations. Suggested solution: As the domain authority (DA) on the .com/.co.uk sites are in the 60+ it would risky moving domains/subdomain at this stage and would be a waste not to utilise the DAs that have built up on both sites. I have suggested they keep both sites and share the same content between them using a content curated WP plugin and using the 'canonical link' to reference the original source (US or UK) - so not to get duplicate content issues. My question: Let's say I'm a potential customer in the UK and i'm searching using a keyword phrase that the content that answers my query is on both the UK and US site although the US content is the original source.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JonRayner
Will the US or UK version blog appear in UK SERPs? My gut is the UK blog will as Google will try and serve me the most appropriate version of the content and as I'm in the UK it will be this version, even though I have identified the US source using the canonical link?2 -
Linking and non-linking root domains
Hi, Is there any affect on SEO based on the ratio of linking root domains to non-linking root domains and if so what is the affect? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | halloranc0 -
Avoiding 301 on purpose; Landing homepage linking to another domain with "Click here to go" and 5 sec meta refresh
Hello, Some users when they search for our site by using "ourbrand" keyword that ignore the first result (we will call it here ourbrand.de -not real name-) and they look for ourbrand.com . Even though we have that domain name also registered (indeed it also has a high ranking power) we are doing a 301 from the dot com to the dot.de . What we want to do is to index the homepage of the dot com, that is http://www.ourband.com as a secondary result while doing a 301 to any other internal URL of the dot com to the dot .de. Yes, we will loose link juice for the main domain but at least we will not loose visits from the brand traffic (which is our main traffic). So the question is, would Google index ourbrand.com if we show just a landing page that just show our logo, a "Click here to go to ourbrand.de" with a link to http://www.ourbrand.de and a meta refresh of 6 seconds to that URL? Additionally a cookie would be sent to the first time visitors, so in the next time they would be automatically redirected. PS: The 6 seconds is to avoid search engine consider it a "301" like it do with short meta refresh (not sure what time is the minimum to avoid be considered a 301). Any other suggestions on how to deal with this problem are welcomed
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Zillo0 -
Is my "term & conditions"-"privacy policy" and "About Us" pages stealing link juice?
should i make them no follow? or is this a bogus method?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | SEObleu.com0 -
Can I Improve Organic Ranking by Restrict Website Access to Specific IP Address or Geo Location?
I am targeting my website in US so need to get high organic ranking in US web search. One of my competitor is restricting website access to specific IP address or Geo location. I have checked multiple categories to know more. What's going on with this restriction and why they make it happen? One of SEO forum is also restricting website access to specific location. I can understand that, it may help them to stop thread spamming with unnecessary Sign Up or Q & A. But, why Lamps Plus have set this? Is there any specific reason? Can I improve my organic ranking? Restriction may help me to save and maintain user statistic in terms of bounce rate, average page views per visit, etc...
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | CommercePundit1 -
Why isn't link velocity in the 2011 Ranking Factors?
How come there's no reference to link velocity in the Search Ranking Factors, 2011 or prior? We know that we have to continue building links for a client even if they're already doing well, not just because of the competition nipping at their heels but because if we stop they slip down anyway, so we know that stopping link building will often times have an adverse effect... meaning link velocity right? So how come there's no mention of it? Just curious 🙂
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | SteveOllington0