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Re: Which way is better to change my domain name so it doesn't affect my search engine rankings?

  • Subject: Re: Which way is better to change my domain name so it doesn't affect my search engine rankings?
  • From: Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 09 Nov 2005 09:57:35 +0000
  • Newsgroups: alt.internet.search-engines
  • Organization: schestowitz.com / MCC / Manchester University
  • References: <1131524256.934366.258200@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
  • Reply-to: newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • User-agent: KNode/0.7.2
__/ [pm3009@xxxxxxxxx] on Wednesday 09 November 2005 08:17 \__

> Hi
> 
> I've searched this group, but haven't found an answer for exactly what
> I'm trying to figure out.
> 
> I have a website for my home business, that is ranked between #2 and #7
> on Yahoo's 1st page (depending on if you enter the singular or plural
> version of the keyword phrase), Altavista, and MSN....but these
> rankings are mainly for one keyword phrase.  I've been reading a lot
> about Search Engine Optimization, and decided to overhall my website.
> I decided to change my domain name, including keywords in it, to help
> even more with my search engine rankings.  I don't want to forward my
> new domain to my website, I want it to be the actual domain for my
> website, and forward the old domain to it.
> 
> I called my hosting company (godaddy), to see if they could just change
> the domain name, and they said they couldn't, that I'd have to set up a
> new hosting account, and delete the old one.
> 
> Ok....so which way would be best so that I don't hurt my search engine
> rankings on Yahoo, Altavista and MSN?   Should I leave my old website
> and old domain in place for a couple months until I see my new site and
> new domain name hign in the rankings? (will having two almost identical
> sites hurt me or get me blacklisted from these search engines)
> Or....should I just point my old domain name, to my new site?  Would
> the search engine bots follow the link from my old domain to my new
> site, and then update the search engine listing?  Am I just going to
> end up having to start from scratch with my search engine rankings?
> OR....should I just leave well enough alone and keep my old domain name
> and just work on editing my original website?
> 
> Google illudes me.  My site is no where to be found in Google, although
> Google does know about it... only 1/10 ranking though. Is the ONLY way
> to get listed in Google through links?   I have a different website
> that has excellent placing in almost every search engine, and it is
> listed in DMOZ,  but couldn't get that one into Google either....until
> I placed a paid listing on a popular website which has a google rating
> of 6/10, and THAT listing of mine shows up high in Google....but not my
> own site that is linked from my listing.
> 
> SEO sure is a Science!!!
> 
> Thanks so much!
> Pam


The  name of your domain (or "domain name") is inevitably the icon of your
site.  All links and all bookmarks in people's browsers (or Web  services)
bear  that name. Migration of sites can be difficult, even when done prop-
erly using permanent re-directions. You might have to request some Webmas-
ter  for modification of links, so it can be highly time-consuming and un-
productive.

GoDaddy  may have said something misleading. You don't have to delete your
old domain name. It can continue to exist in tandem, at least for a period
of  time.  To avoid penalties, you will have to redirect  pages  properly.
Follow the technical details carefully. You must inform the search engines
(spiders)  that one site is deprecated and it is only you who created  the
content, i.e. no mirrors. Re-directions implicitly do that.

As  regards  ranks, you may struggle to retain the same ranks for the  new
site.  As you re-direct from the existing sites, its rank will drop  while
the  new  site will not gain momentum quite as quickly as you would  hope.
The  PageRank  might not be preserved either. Unless the domain name  that
you  already have is appalling, I suggest that you stick to it and come to
accept  it  as a name that is here to stay. If you rely on few  backlinks,
however  or  still have low PageRank, it's a good opportunity to  migrate,
before it's too late.

Hope it helps,

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz      |    Useless fact: ~70% of organisms are bacteria
http://Schestowitz.com  |    SuSE Linux     |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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      http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms

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