Comments on: Are you moving to the new domain correctly? http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/ Weblog for the Google Webmasters Forum Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:47:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.1.1 By: Paul Mycroft http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-18 Paul Mycroft Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:13:12 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-18 This is great. Question: exactly where do you put the 301 redirect if you have canceled the web hosting for the old domain? Thanks! This is great.

Question: exactly where do you put the 301 redirect if you have canceled the web hosting for the old domain?

Thanks!

]]> By: John Honeck http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-19 John Honeck Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:41:25 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-19 Paul, Did you cancel the web hosting, but still own the registration for the old domain? Paul,

Did you cancel the web hosting, but still own the registration for the old domain?

]]> By: Paul Mycroft http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-20 Paul Mycroft Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:46:23 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-20 Hi John, Thanks for the response. This is just hypothetical; I just want to understand this technique fully. If you own the old domain, let's say it's hosted in GoDaddy, how do you apply a 301 redirect on that domain name? I know that to redirect old pages to new ones on the same domain requires an .htaccess file (on Apache anyway, not sure on IIS) but I have yet to locate the answer to the above question. Thanks again, Paul Hi John,

Thanks for the response.

This is just hypothetical; I just want to understand this technique fully.

If you own the old domain, let’s say it’s hosted in GoDaddy, how do you apply a 301 redirect on that domain name?

I know that to redirect old pages to new ones on the same domain requires an .htaccess file (on Apache anyway, not sure on IIS) but I have yet to locate the answer to the above question.

Thanks again,
Paul

]]> By: John Mueller http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-21 John Mueller Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:25:15 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-21 As far as I know you have to set up hosting to do a site-wide 301 redirect with GoDaddy. You can do a 301 redirect in the "Forwarding" section, but you can only specify a single URL - it will not redirect the files and folders to the appropriate locations. A "full-site-to-single-URL" 301 redirect is a possibility, but it is not the optimal solution. If you have "value" in the old domain and in the old pages (if old pages are still indexed), then I would suggest to set up hosting for the domain just to be able to set up the optimal redirect. If the domain name is older and has transfered most of the value to the new domain name, and you just need to make sure that the type-in traffic (people entering the old domain name in their browser) is redirected, then a redirect like GoDaddy offers would by fine. As far as I know you have to set up hosting to do a site-wide 301 redirect with GoDaddy. You can do a 301 redirect in the “Forwarding” section, but you can only specify a single URL - it will not redirect the files and folders to the appropriate locations. A “full-site-to-single-URL” 301 redirect is a possibility, but it is not the optimal solution. If you have “value” in the old domain and in the old pages (if old pages are still indexed), then I would suggest to set up hosting for the domain just to be able to set up the optimal redirect.

If the domain name is older and has transfered most of the value to the new domain name, and you just need to make sure that the type-in traffic (people entering the old domain name in their browser) is redirected, then a redirect like GoDaddy offers would by fine.

]]> By: Paul Mycroft http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-23 Paul Mycroft Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:55:34 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-23 Hi John M, Thanks for your response. QUOTE: "If you have 'value' in the old domain and in the old pages (if old pages are still indexed), then I would suggest to set up hosting for the domain just to be able to set up the optimal redirect." Does this optimal redirect involve placing an .htaccess file on the root level of the hosting (Apache) server, which would then 301-redirect all attempts to access the old domain to redirect to the new one? In effect, this hosting could be empty except for the .htaccess file. Then when all new pages have been indexed by the engines, the hosting can be canceled. Am I on the right track here? Thanks again, Paul Hi John M,

Thanks for your response.

QUOTE: “If you have ‘value’ in the old domain and in the old pages (if old pages are still indexed), then I would suggest to set up hosting for the domain just to be able to set up the optimal redirect.”

Does this optimal redirect involve placing an .htaccess file on the root level of the hosting (Apache) server, which would then 301-redirect all attempts to access the old domain to redirect to the new one? In effect, this hosting could be empty except for the .htaccess file.

Then when all new pages have been indexed by the engines, the hosting can be canceled.

Am I on the right track here?

Thanks again,
Paul

]]> By: John Mueller http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-25 John Mueller Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:18:29 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-25 Yes, that's correct Paul - the hosting would only be for the .htaccess file to redirect all accesses to the new pages. However, I would wait a while (perhaps a year?) before you remove the hosting and the redirect. If at all possible, afterwards I would continue to redirect using one form or the other (it's not that important - it's mainly for the visitors) and certainly make sure that you keep the old domain name. There's nothing worse than having an old name (that you think you don't need) expire and having someone set up a copy of your last site with lots of ads :-(. Keep the old name, it doesn't cost that much. Yes, that’s correct Paul - the hosting would only be for the .htaccess file to redirect all accesses to the new pages. However, I would wait a while (perhaps a year?) before you remove the hosting and the redirect. If at all possible, afterwards I would continue to redirect using one form or the other (it’s not that important - it’s mainly for the visitors) and certainly make sure that you keep the old domain name. There’s nothing worse than having an old name (that you think you don’t need) expire and having someone set up a copy of your last site with lots of ads :-(. Keep the old name, it doesn’t cost that much.

]]> By: Paul Mycroft http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-26 Paul Mycroft Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:42:31 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-26 Thanks so much, John(s), for taking time out of your day to assist me. Much appreciated. Paul Thanks so much, John(s), for taking time out of your day to assist me.

Much appreciated.

Paul

]]> By: Ramjet http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-96 Ramjet Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:08:05 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-96 John, I'm considering moving my site to a new domain since a new domain name may be better suited for the content but I'd also like to use (or sell) the old domain since it would still be useful, just with more specialized content. Is there a way to let the search engines know that the new site is the old site and the old domain is going to be something new? The old site has 2000+ pages and 1500+ backlinks. Since the new site won't have any backlinks, will the Google Page Rank and traffic be dramatically reduced? What if the old site links to the new site? Is there any way to set up links to help with all that. Thanks! -Ramjet John,

I’m considering moving my site to a new domain since a new domain name may be better suited for the content but I’d also like to use (or sell) the old domain since it would still be useful, just with more specialized content. Is there a way to let the search engines know that the new site is the old site and the old domain is going to be something new? The old site has 2000+ pages and 1500+ backlinks. Since the new site won’t have any backlinks, will the Google Page Rank and traffic be dramatically reduced? What if the old site links to the new site? Is there any way to set up links to help with all that.

Thanks!

-Ramjet

]]> By: Talina http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-157 Talina Sat, 17 Nov 2007 18:35:06 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-157 Can a 301 redirect be used for only part of a site? Say you want to move yoursite.com/blog to blog.com but that you want to keep yoursite.com intact. Would a 301 do this correctly? Can a 301 redirect be used for only part of a site? Say you want to move yoursite.com/blog to blog.com but that you want to keep yoursite.com intact. Would a 301 do this correctly?

]]> By: Tom - Graphic Design http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-179 Tom - Graphic Design Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:06:10 +0000 http://webmastershelp.iblogget.com/2007/04/04/moving-domains/#comment-179 A 301 redirect is the best (and only I think) way of letting Google that your site has permantley moved thus retaining pagerank and the effectiveness of your inbound links to your old site. Not too sure how Yahoo and other search engines handle your PR in terms of 301's though. For single page redirects, a 301 can be used for single pages. A good explanation is at the link below: http://www.dailyblogtips.com/how-to-setup-a-301-redirect/ We recently changed our domain and used a 301 redirect from our old domain. I haven't as yet noticed any drop in rankings... the only downside being that to get the 301 to work (with 123-reg anyway) we had to have some web hosting rather than domain name hosting alone. A 301 redirect is the best (and only I think) way of letting Google that your site has permantley moved thus retaining pagerank and the effectiveness of your inbound links to your old site. Not too sure how Yahoo and other search engines handle your PR in terms of 301’s though.

For single page redirects, a 301 can be used for single pages. A good explanation is at the link below:
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/how-to-setup-a-301-redirect/

We recently changed our domain and used a 301 redirect from our old domain. I haven’t as yet noticed any drop in rankings… the only downside being that to get the 301 to work (with 123-reg anyway) we had to have some web hosting rather than domain name hosting alone.

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