Definition:
Mirror domains are addresses or links that share the same IP with another domain. The use of a mirror domain is a web positioning practice employed by companies that seek to prevent the competition from using the same keywords in the direction of their site.
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What is a mirror domain?
On the Internet, as indicated in the previous section, the concept refers to all domains that share the same IP address.
Although the use of a mirror domain may seem like a strange strategy, the truth is that it is a very common action in networks. When a company acquires addresses related to its main domain, it can order that all of them point to the same website. In this way, it is possible to prevent third parties from taking advantage of these links. Thus, if a user types an address, the web page will be displayed regardless of the termination you have used to search for it in the browser.
Why use mirror domains?
The use of mirror domains, in addition to ensuring that the competition will not resort to the same positioning technique, will contribute to the recruitment of users (since it facilitates the searches of the website). Regardless of the address through which it is accessed or even if it is typed incorrectly, the same page will always be displayed. This strategy helps to shield and protect the name of the websites.
However, there are some drawbacks. This practice can present problems for the owner of the website. The reason? Having mirror domains makes positioning tasks difficult. Having multiple pages with the same content causes conflicts in search engines. This disadvantage affects SEO and prevents the web from climbing positions.
How to use mirror domain without penalty?
In order to avoid inconveniences with the mirror domain, it is necessary to apply different strategies that allow to continue taking advantage of the traffic obtained through all the acquired addresses. The most recurrent actions are:
- 301 redirects. While not 100% effective, this command is set on the web with the goal of dodging crawling through the URL.
- Non-index tags. This action allows you to tell Google’s algorithm that it only has to evaluate the main page. In this way it is possible to save penalties in positioning.
- With canonical labels. It is one of the best solutions, because it allows Google to understand that, although it is a duplicate page, it does not have to affect the positioning.
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