.co.za + .com domain question

[DJ Yoda]

Greetings everyone!

Could you guys tell me if it makes sense to keep 2 identical websites - 1 - .co.za and 2nd - .com versus one of the domains pointing to another?
I was told that it is a good idea in terms of how google index works (pun?)
Both websites are to be hosted overseas, godaddy or something.

If this topic was discussed here already, could you point me to the relevant thread perhaps?

 

[AirWolf]

Greetings everyone!

Could you guys tell me if it makes sense to keep 2 identical websites - 1 - .co.za and 2nd - .com versus one of the domains pointing to another?
I was told that it is a good idea in terms of how google index works (pun?)
Both websites are to be hosted overseas, godaddy or something.

If this topic was discussed here already, could you point me to the relevant thread perhaps?

Would be much cheaper to just have the one pointing to the other i.e. no hosting fee for one.

 

[giggity]

Greetings everyone!

Could you guys tell me if it makes sense to keep 2 identical websites - 1 - .co.za and 2nd - .com versus one of the domains pointing to another?
I was told that it is a good idea in terms of how google index works (pun?)
Both websites are to be hosted overseas, godaddy or something.

If this topic was discussed here already, could you point me to the relevant thread perhaps?

Keep both domains, but point both to the same server using DNS, or use 301 redirection https://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection. In Google Webmaster tools, you can associate multiple domains with one website, and then set which is the preferred domain (I recommend you make the .com your preferred domain since it is a TLD).

 

[Domains.co.za (Wayne)]

@DJ Yoda, if you are going to run 2 different sites, make sure the content for each site is different, Google will score you down if the content is the same for each site, additionally, if you are running 2 sites, host the .com in the USA and the .co.za locally.
Google does use where the search is hosted as part of the ranking equation.

 

[DJ Yoda]

Thank you, everyone who took time and effort to answer me on this, you guys pointed me in the right direction.

Just to summarize, based on your answers, I found that google has 2 articles related to this topic.

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182192?hl=en

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/62399?hl=en

Will research further...