I am building a site for a client who runs a chalet. The website has content split into two sections, summer and winter.
The user can navigate between the two sites, and upon arriving at the homepage of the site for the first time they will be directed to the homepage of either the winter, or summer site, depending on the date.
What are the SEO implications of this, and suggested best practise.
Am I best to use a 301 redirect for the homepage, which then directs to the relevant summer / winter homepage. Or am I best to build a splash page (urgh!) with a selection between the two sites.
(The content for the most part is distinct between the two sections.)
I would not use a 301 redirect on this as it will hurt you with SEO.
Furthermore, I would not chose the site depending on the current date as the current date might have nothing to do with the season people are looking for (consider that they might want to book for the future).
I would make an initial page that directs to both and has some general information that’s applicable to both.