Domain Forwarding for SEO

Question

For SEO, is the type of forwarding provided by domain registrars (like what I have pictured above) effective? Specifically, will old-domain.com rank better for the keyword "new" (or whatever happens to be in the forwarded domain name)?

If this type of forwarding is NOT effective, is there another approach that is?

Answer 1

If new-domain.com is literally a new domain you have just registered then no type of forwarding/redirection will provide any kind of SEO benefit for old-domain.com.

However, if new-domain.com has been hosting an established website for a period of time and has itself been indexed for its own merits and acquired a number of backlinks, then setting up a 301 (moved permanently) redirect to new-domain.com will provide some SEO benefit.

It is unclear what type of forwarding/redirection your registrar is providing in the screenshot. However, I would guess this is framed forwarding, which is unlikely to have any SEO benefit.

Answer 2

The issue with those types of forwards is they are often merely iframes, which are abysmal for SEO.

What you should ensure is that it is a 301 Permanent Redirect. If not, use the following code in the .htaccess on the root of your site to accomplish the same effect.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.new-domain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Answer 3

According to what I have read (based on Google) 301 redirects preserve the vast majority of your SEO 'juice.' (like upwards of 90%).

However, much like what others have touched on, it depends on your intent. If the new domain is nothing but a common misspelling of a competitors name (or a keyword etc.) then it is unlikely to provide much benefit...and if you do it to the point of seeming spammy (having 10 keyword rich URLs pointing to the same eventual destination) you might see a detriment.

If, on the other hand, it is an honest-to-god redirect of valid content then you'll be fine, if memory serves, the SEO juiced passed is actually upwards of 95%.