How To Redirect Your Domain

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Nick Wilson

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301 redirecting is the most effective and efficient way to redirect backlinks and page authority that is SEO (search engine optimization) friendly.  Redirecting your domain does pass link juice and authority but since Google Inc. has updated there algorithm 301 redirect has been devalued a bit so its not always a full power swap. If you decide to redirect your backlinks by 301′ing an entire site then you will most likely be using .htaccess to do so. There are many other methods to redirect your domain, all of which are listed below.

Redirecting Options

Htaccess Redirect to www: First things first, you need to create a .htaccess file using the code below. The code solidifies the request for all incoming traffic to be transferred to the new domain you selected. Keep in mind that the htaccess file MUST be placed in the root directory of the site you wish to redirect (original website), this will be the same area as your index file.You need to replace the “domain” with the actual site url and name in the code below.

Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
rewritecond %{http_host} ^domain [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [r=301,nc]

Htaccess Redirect Old Domain to New:

For redirecting an entire domain to a new one you need to follow the same steps shown in “Htaccess Redirect to www”, but remember to use the code below instead of the code above. One thing to keep in mind, the htaccess method only works with servers running Apache Mod-Rewrite.

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]

PHP Redirect: 

<?
Header( “HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently” );
Header( “Location: http://www.new-url.com” );
?>

Redirect JSP/Java:

<%
response.setStatus(301);
response.setHeader( “Location”, “http://www.new-url.com/” );
response.setHeader( “Connection”, “close” );
%>

ASP Redirect: 

<%@ Language=VBScript %>
<%
Response.Status=”301 Moved Permanently”
Response.AddHeader “Location”,”http://www.new-url.com/”
%>

IIS Redirect: Redirecting your IIS is a little more complex than the rest. Below are the basic steps to follow for a successful redirect.

• Open internet services manage and right click on the file or folder you are redirecting.
• Select “a redirection to a URL”.
• Open the redirection page.
• Check the “The exact url entered above” and the “A permanent redirection for this resource”.
• Then apply your changes and your done.

Rules of Redirecting

1. There are only so many redirects you should do before Google catches on.  For example;  if you redirect domain 1 to domain 2 then your safe. Redirecting domain 2 to domain 3 is starting to look a little shady. If you hop it once more you will most likely be flagged so one redirect is fine, two is pushing it, and three is just not smart.

2. I could see how it could be effective to buy up multiple expired domains and redirect them all to a money site but it easily detectable by search engines and you will probably be penalized or banned for doing so.

3. Buying an expired domain and redirecting it to a new domain is often less effective than just buying a new domain and expanding on it, so your better off building a website from scratch, but that’s just my experience, I don’t have any solid stats to support it.

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Nick Wilson is the owner, primary moderator, and main writer for SEO Journalist, which provides daily articles on website SEO and SMO performance. He is an experienced and versatile, professional SEO Consultant and Internet Marketer.

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