Halp - Which domain to redirect to? Any thoughts?

Ok, bear with me on this one.

I have 4 domains related to cooking.

All empty

Https/SSL on the site I choose as the main one
Will be using Wordpress/Yoast and WP supercache etc on main site.


Domains are:

1. A keyword term that has a medium to high search volume related to a cooking show but shortened by one word.
2/3. My "brand name" which I want to keep or for people to be able to search for I have it as a .co.uk and as a .com all of my social media is tied into this too.
4. A domain that is a keyword I want to target but is a .net domain the .com is for sale but it's over 4 figures and I can't afford that.

I think what I should do is base the site on the popular 1. Search term and redirect any searches for my "brand" to that page? Then later on try to seo no 4 and use that as a redirect too.

The websites are closely linked in theme and someone searching for any of the domains would find something relevant and interesting.

How would you set this up? Is 3 redirects too much? Does it effect your ranking or cause a penalty?

Would you use the same strategy? What would you do?
Any thoughts or ideas much appreciated.

Wow, there's a lot of stuff here...
IMO:
3 redirects - its not about too much but how it is done. you gotta know the game or things can go bad pretty easily, so that's a big deal on it's own.
Regarding the domain's name - I would go for a branded name. It's the best thing for a long term project and also makes it easier on anchor diversity. Cheers

Yea I was thinking 3 redirects to one site maybe a bit too much. I'm not layering anything it's just to catch the search terms on my 'brand name' and redirect to what I think will be a much more searched term.
But then the question starts about if I could ever rank for the shorttail on it even with the domain name because it's now a worldwide show on TV pretty much everywhere.

Thanks for your suggestions

3 redirects to one site may be too much

If your sole intention is to build a brand then you should go with the brand name domain.

Here is the plan:

- Build the brand domain as the main site
- Develop other domain into niche related websites and host them on different servers.
- Build links and do SEO to the other domains and then post links on them pointing to your main brand site.
- Rank all the domains and dominate the SERPs for your target keywords.

Hope this will help you.

Thank you

durlav said:

3 redirects to one site may be too much

Click to expand...

ridersark said:

If your sole intention is to build a brand then you should go with the brand name domain.

Here is the plan:

- Build the brand domain as the main site
- Develop other domain into niche related websites and host them on different servers.
- Build links and do SEO to the other domains and then post links on them pointing to your main brand site.
- Rank all the domains and dominate the SERPs for your target keywords.

Hope this will help you.

Click to expand...

That's awesome, thanks for taking the time to explain it all in simple steps. Much appreciated. I'm dyslexic so that really helps me understand.
Looks like a lot of work needs to be done realistically in terms of establishing trust and authority but I'm keen and in it for the long haul. Thank you once again.

N00bby said:

That's awesome, thanks for taking the time to explain it all in simple steps. Much appreciated. I'm dyslexic so that really helps me understand.
Looks like a lot of work needs to be done realistically in terms of establishing trust and authority but I'm keen and in it for the long haul. Thank you once again.

Click to expand...

Sure its a lot of work right off the bat. But divide it into chunks and work on each site. Look at this as building a business and establishing authority in your target niche.

I will do. It's part of something I've been working on which is more Social media based for about a year.
Its been forever since I've done any kind of proper seo. Prolly around 2006 or 2009 lol! Back when page rank was king.
Got lots to do, I'll take your advice and break it down.
I'm thinking outsourcing some bits will help.
I'm rambling as always lol.
Cheers