I have a website/domain/seo question..?

[moredreams]

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If you start a new site on a .com domain name just to test and lets say it becomes successful in time and you then decide to adopt a .co.uk extension with the same domain name.

and lets say you then want the .co.uk extension to be the main site and have the .com just pointing to the .co.uk site.

Does it matter that you have set it up with .com first , does google mind or does it really make any difference..?

looking forward to the replies..

Thanks

[Paul Smith]

To be honest it seems a roundabout way of doing things and i'd never really advise moving domains unless you have to, even if its just from a .co.uk to a .com. If you can avoid having to do so, I certainly wouldn't choose to go down that route. That said if you do have to move domains you can set a 301 redirect on all the pages on the .com domain to point to the .co.uk domain which will tell the search engines you've moved. In webmaster tools Google also has a feature which allows you to tell them you've moved a domain.

The obvious question is why not just set up on the .co.uk domain in the first place? Or why would you want to move it from .com to .co.uk - persoanlly i'd say .com has a slight edge.

[moredreams]

It is a bit of an awkard way of doing things alright. I get stuff into my head and i just want to go with it. Plus i am new to all this.

I might just set the .co.uk up as the main site then and have the .com pointing towards the .co.uk so if anyone types in the .com address it will lead to the .co.uk.

Do i do that with redirect then..? but also,did i hear somewhere that google does not like two different addresses with the same content and sites get penalised because of this..?

Thanks again for the advice.

[jonsp]

It is a bit of an awkard way of doing things alright. I get stuff into my head and i just want to go with it. Plus i am new to all this.

I might just set the .co.uk up as the main site then and have the .com pointing towards the .co.uk so if anyone types in the .com address it will lead to the .co.uk.

Do i do that with redirect then..? but also,did i hear somewhere that google does not like two different addresses with the same content and sites get penalised because of this..?

Thanks again for the advice.

You're right that having the same content on you.com and you.co.uk will hurt you. Assuming you have both decide on 1 domain then 301 one to t'other. Say you decide on www/you/com as your site you would want to ensure that
www/you/co/uk
you.co.uk
you.com
all 301 to www/you/com. It would help to have your server physically in the UK - from a branding standpoint you.com might be better

[moredreams]

Cheers lads for all the help and advice.

[martinjc]

I'm tempted to say if it ain't broke don't fix it - if you're getting traffic on the .com domain, why not just focus on that? I agree with Paul as well: in my opinion, .com has a slight edge over .co.uk in my eyes. If you absolutely must do it, then 301 redirects are the way to go, but I'd be a little concerned about a slight drop in visitor confidence if they click on a .com address and end up at a .co.uk. Most probably won't even notice, but I always think that any barrier you put in the way of a potential conversion - no matter how small - is never a good thing.

[Mattieusk]

All of the above is sound advice.

I'd just add - are you specifically targeting people in the UK (i.e. those searching through .co.uk)? If so, then in my opinion it might be worth serving your site on the .co.uk domain (with the .com 302'd to it). As jonsp says, hosting the site in the UK, and also focusing on getting links from other .co.uk sites, is a good idea.

Personally, I prefer using .co.uk for any sales sites. Not really because of rankings (not sure it makes a huge difference) but because I think shoppers in the UK are more likely to go down the purchase/lead process if they know they are dealing with a company here in the UK - it shows them that the site's relevant to them.

This isn't scientific. It's just personal opinion.

[findlite]

Personally id setup on the .co.uk and route the .com to it for branding purposes......

Having said that if you have established on the .com I wouldnt bother 301'ing everything to a fresh .co.uk - Its a load of hassle for no real gain... Just make sure you .htaccess so that your customers can find you on both tld's and you'll be hunky dory!

I know its a pain because you want the vanity... but vanity doesnt pay the bills buddy... just make sure it all works (-: