Do you add all TLD variations of a domain in Google Search Console?

Marketing
1

Hello folks. (WOW I haven’t visited here in many years!) I hope this is the right forum for this question:

I own LILGAMES.com domain, and then I also registered the .net and .ca versions. I currently have the .net and .ca domains redirecting to the .com (via the registrar’s own redirection tool).

So then in Google Search Console, I added:
www.lilgames.com (Primary)
lilgames.com
www.lilgames.ca (Primary)
lilgames.ca
www.lilgames.net (Primary)
lilgames.net

What I want to know is if this is the right way to handle these domain variants or am I doing something “hurtful” for my SEO and rankings?
eg:

  1. Should I NOT redirect the .ca and .net and instead have them just show the registrar’s default page?
  2. Should I leave them redirecting to the .com but NOT include them in Search Console?
  3. Should I instead host those variants and then redirect via a clickable link? What about a meta-refresh?

I’m looking for expert opinions here. For one thing having the variants in GSC adds “clutter” to my dashboard, since those sites shouldn’t even be getting traffic, but you know… much of Google Search is a black box and I get real anxious about doing the 100% right thing!

Thanks,
R

2

I would redirect the .ca and .net versions to the .com as you are doing, just in case somebody trying to reach the site accidentally types the wrong extension. You don’t want to risk missing potential visitors.

I would only register the actual site on Search Console. i.e. just the .com version, as that’s the one with the content.

Registering or not registering domains or sites in Search Console will not affect their performance in SERPs.

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