This week our team is doing some housekeeping in our domain management account and reviewing secondary domains with some of our clients. We received some really good questions back and wanted to share here so that it can help you make better decisions when it comes to your domains.
What is a secondary domain?
It’s an alternate domain sometimes used in place of your primary domain. For example, applecomputer.com(secondary domain name) automatically redirects you to apple.com(primary domain name).
Why use a secondary domain?
There are several reasons to use a secondary domain:
- Promotional campaigns;
- Sub-brands within a parent company;
- Product-specific content;
- To prevent another entity or person from impersonating the brand;
- To intentionally redirect traffic to another website with malicious intent;
- Region-specific domains (like .ca here in Canada);
- To hoard domains from every new “project” you think up.
That last one is all too common, and we’re certainly guilty of that one from time to time.
Do I need a secondary?
It depends, but generally speaking, the answer is no. It’s typically much better to direct all traffic to your primary domain, and secondary domains can cause more fuss than they’re worth.
You should speak with an expert (like us) who can help guide those decisions if you think you might need a secondary domain.