Is serving the same website to multiple domains bad for SEO?

Question

I'm working on a website which currently has two different domains pointing at it:

• example1.com
• example2.com

I have read that serving identical content to multiple domains can harm rankings.

The website being served is largely the same with the exception of item listings (think of an e-commerce site) and a few other minor tweaks (title, description, keywords, etc). Depending on the domain used it will adapt to serve different items.

Does this resolve the issue of serving duplicated content across multiple domains thus not harming the rankings?

Or would I be better to 301 redirect to a single domain and go from there?

Answer 1

If both your URLs show the same styled product listing then it will definitely affect the search engine result. Give a different look to both your websites in terms of displaying product or changing navigation menu. Put a slightly different image and add different descriptions to display your product.

Answer 2

If you run a website with same content and design on two different domains even with modified title, description and keywords, it is bad SEO practice and your website will be penalized by search engines. Best option would be making a new website design with original content for the second domain and optimize it. Other wise you can make a 301 redirect for pointing domain 2 to the domain 1, this will not harm you nor help you!

I have also seen multiple domains having same website, content, title and description.. But to my surprise that domain is ranking well.. Crazy search engines!