Using two URL's for business site

[Diggerboy]

All,

Possibly a stoopid question, but advice appreciated:

I want to continue to use my business url as it is, but I also own a url that's really relevant to my business services:

We use and market: mybusinessname.co.uk (example)

We own and want to take advantage of: whatmybusinessdoes.co.uk

How can I use both effectively?

[WordPress Web Designers]

Well, one idea is that you keep your money site at mybusinessname.co.uk and carry on doing what you're doing (marketing).

Then set up a separate wordpress blog that is information and free info give-aways only at whatmybusinessdoes.co.uk, where you fill it with how-tos and what-fors. Wordpress is great (assuming you give it regular quality content) at generating relevant quality traffic which you then funnel through to your money site.

Liz

[Diggerboy]

Interesting idea - thanks for the reply. I'm a bit limited in terms of the volume of content I can provide on the ***services.com site - wouldn't like to attempt to put together a site with "padding" for fear of Google's wrath - or am I paranoid?

[WordPress Web Designers]

I could write pages on this. Obviously I don't know what service you're providing, but I'll bet you can write lots of useful content about it.

It really is the key to success in getting qualified traffic to your site. I'm not into spinning articles of creating gibberish for Google either. Mostly because if you do that it annoys real people, never mind old Google.

The main issue for you (IMHO) is : is your service something that only applies to the local community or is it something you can sell worldwide. It makes all the difference. If you can sell it worldwide - because your market it so large it makes it worth the effort of bringing in all that extra traffic a blog would bring. But if you live in rural Devon like me, and your service is window cleaning it's a complete waste of time.

Unless of course you write the world's greatest ebook on cleaning windows and open up your expertise to a wider market.

Liz

[crossdaz]

How can I use both effectively?

If you don't want to have 2 independent sites then redirect the original site to the new domain.
It will take a while for any benefit to be seen but if your second domain is more relevant then it can only be positive.
Ideally once you have the redirect in place it's a good idea to ask anyone who is linking to you to change the address, but it's not essential.

Obviously any links you get after the change will be much more search friendly so worth doing in the long run.

The problem with search traffic is that it takes a long time for even minor changes to have an effect so you have to be patient I'm afraid.

[Diggerboy]

What if I just host the original site under both the company name and the second URL? So, two identical sites? Any use?

[crossdaz]

What if I just host the original site under both the company name and the second URL? So, two identical sites? Any use?

Not really, it will be just duplicate content and you'll end up with some pages on one site doing better than the other - and visa versa.

I've seen a few sites where they just change the content enough not to be duplicate but I think this is not really very professional and enough people complain about it then you could end up doing more harm than good?

To be honest I think the options are either have an entirely separate site,ala the blog idea, or a simple redirect. The only other option, that I can think of, is just setting up a simple mini-site with some affiliate links or adsense as an investment which just generates an odd £10 to £20 now and again?