Change in domain name ?

ganesh177 · 02-18-2008, 07:16 AM

Hello there,

My website is a vb forum and one year old.Its Planetaryorbit - Powered by vBulletin. So now i need to renew the domain. But now i wish to change the domain. Is it a good idea to change the domain after one year? Basically is it possible? How will it affect the traffic to my site ? Any suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks

**bcmtouring** · 02-18-2008, 08:11 AM

My recommendation would be to stick to the current domain, else you will loose search engine rankings, back links and traffic.

However if you still wish to do it, renew the older domain name as well and do a 301 redirect from it to the new domain. That way search engine will eventually learn that your site has moved and you wont loose any traffic.

ganesh177 · 02-18-2008, 10:53 AM

The reason i am thinking of changing is that i get the feeling that my domain is not appropriate for my site. will choosing more appropriate domain make the traffic better. Not more than 50 unique visitors in a day.

**Ashley** · 02-18-2008, 03:17 PM

You could always renew the old domain and buy the new one. Forward links to the old domain to the new one - it's very easy in .htaccess to forward requests from www.site1.com/forum/page.html to www.site2.com/forum/page.html.

**momdom** · 02-18-2008, 04:19 PM

I know a gut who changed the domain and the site died rather quickly

ganesh177 · 02-18-2008, 05:30 PM

You guys are scaring me...
Whats your straight forward take on changing domain?
So say you can do it without hurting your site google links while some say its a big flop. But with my case as being not much database I can afford to take some risk if it benefits with appropriate good domain.

Does site having appropriate domain is good for site getting unique visitors or not? Whats your take on it?

**momdom** · 02-18-2008, 05:35 PM

If you are not worried about the risks, just get the new domain move everything over and have your old domain redirect to the new one. That is what I would do but I am not a pro

ganesh177 · 03-12-2008, 06:18 AM

I just changed the domain of my site.

After i setup the board on new domain, i just added this code in .htaaccess file of new board.

Code:

#  Enables or disables runtime rewriting engine 
RewriteEngine on
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteBase /
#  Site has permanently moved to new domain
#  old_domain.com to new_domain.com
RewriteCond   %{HTTP_HOST}   ^www.old_domain.com$   [NC]
RewriteRule   ^(.*)$   http://www.new_domain.com/$1   [R=301,L]

I am not sure if i am sucessfully done with the job of 301 redirect.
Or is there anything else i am supposed to do.
How do i know if it is working successfully for the board?

**Snowman** · 03-15-2008, 12:44 AM

Hi,

I think you might find this helpful............

Should you ever change your domain name? Online Community Building

02-18-2008, 07:16 AM	#1
ganesh177 Lurker Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 7	Change in domain name ? Hello there, My website is a vb forum and one year old.Its Planetaryorbit - Powered by vBulletin. So now i need to renew the domain. But now i wish to change the domain. Is it a good idea to change the domain after one year? Basically is it possible? How will it affect the traffic to my site ? Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks

02-18-2008, 08:11 AM	#2
bcmtouring Veteran Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New Delhi, India Posts: 585	My recommendation would be to stick to the current domain, else you will loose search engine rankings, back links and traffic. However if you still wish to do it, renew the older domain name as well and do a 301 redirect from it to the new domain. That way search engine will eventually learn that your site has moved and you wont loose any traffic. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

02-18-2008, 03:17 PM	#4
Ashley ... Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Devon, United Kingdom Posts: 1,017	You could always renew the old domain and buy the new one. Forward links to the old domain to the new one - it's very easy in .htaccess to forward requests from www.site1.com/forum/page.html to www.site2.com/forum/page.html. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

02-18-2008, 04:19 PM	#5
momdom Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: CA Posts: 135	I know a gut who changed the domain and the site died rather quickly __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

02-18-2008, 05:35 PM	#7
momdom Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: CA Posts: 135	If you are not worried about the risks, just get the new domain move everything over and have your old domain redirect to the new one. That is what I would do but I am not a pro __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

02-18-2008, 10:53 AM	#3
ganesh177 Lurker Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 7	The reason i am thinking of changing is that i get the feeling that my domain is not appropriate for my site. will choosing more appropriate domain make the traffic better. Not more than 50 unique visitors in a day.

02-18-2008, 05:30 PM	#6
ganesh177 Lurker Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 7	You guys are scaring me... Whats your straight forward take on changing domain? So say you can do it without hurting your site google links while some say its a big flop. But with my case as being not much database I can afford to take some risk if it benefits with appropriate good domain. Does site having appropriate domain is good for site getting unique visitors or not? Whats your take on it?

03-12-2008, 06:18 AM	#8
ganesh177 Lurker Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 7	I just changed the domain of my site. After i setup the board on new domain, i just added this code in .htaaccess file of new board. Code: # Enables or disables runtime rewriting engine RewriteEngine on Options +FollowSymlinks RewriteBase / # Site has permanently moved to new domain # old_domain.com to new_domain.com RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.old_domain.com$ [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.new_domain.com/$1 [R=301,L] I am not sure if i am sucessfully done with the job of 301 redirect. Or is there anything else i am supposed to do. How do i know if it is working successfully for the board?

03-15-2008, 12:44 AM	#9
Snowman Rookie Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Manchester, England Posts: 28	Hi, I think you might find this helpful............ Should you ever change your domain name? Online Community Building __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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