SEO question: Wordpress MU + Domain Mapping vs. Separate WP Installs
 

I'm looking to put up a bunch of mainstream blogs in the coming weeks/months and would like them to be as easy to put up and run as possible. I was thinking Wordpress MU + Domain Mapping would be ideal for that, but just got to thinking about what potential repercussions there could be for the content to show both for the standalone domain being mapped as well as the subdomain or subfolder it's mapping to. Would that be an issue? If so, would the benefit of building up the WP MU domain with the subdomains/subfolders all the blogs are mapping to make up for it? I realize it all depends on what the intention is for the WP MU domain but just wanted to see people's general thoughts on this.

I hate this - venturing into new territory, I could research and argue with myself indefinitely about what I want to do when best is to bite the bullet, pick something and just run with it. Just so tough to do that - I'm used to the domain world where I see something I want, I get it and try to sell for profit...so straightforward vs. development. :(

Yes it would be a duplicate content issue if the same thing showed up on a subdomain and on a mapped virtual domain.

Solution: Setup the sub domains on a domain that is not pointing to your server, but is added to your server. Then google won't be able to find it, only the mapped domain name. (This is what I did in the past and it worked, no duplicate problems) -- There are also probably work arounds that can be done on the server directly, but since I am not a tech, I really can't comment there.

Seperate wp install for sure

Wouldn't the WP MU install have to be on the domain? How would you do that if it's not pointing to the server? Install in a subfolder I guess?

Sounds interesting.

You can use rel="canonical" in the theme or in the form of a plugin on your domains. All of the usual favorite SEO plugins should handle this just fine.
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogsp...canonical.html

If I go to visit my wpmu subdomain, it 302 redirects me to the domain name that was mapped. Shouldn't be anything to worry about.