Q&A: What’s the best way to forward my old website to my new domain?

Question: How Do I Forward My Old Website To My New Domain?

If your company is acquired or merges with another organization, often times you will need to migrate one website over to another. There are several options available, but they aren’t all equal.

1) Individual 301 URL Redirects

For best results, set up 301 redirects from each of your existing pages to their corresponding pages on the new website.

http://www.old-domain.com/microsoft_nav.htm

should be 301 redirected to

http://www.new-domain.com/microsoft-dynamics-nav.php

This will maximize SEO and the customer experience. Links pointing to your current NAV page will now point to the new website’s NAV page in the eyes of Google.

2) Wildcard 301 Redirects

The second best option is to  setup a wildcard 301 redirect which redirects all traffic (and links) from your old site to the new homepage.

Additional reading: http://www.stepforth.com/

3) Domain Registrar Redirection

A last resort is to redirect at the domain registrar, with either a 301 or a 302 redirect. You need a 301 redirect (permanent) in order to preserve link juice; a 302 redirect (temporary) will not provide the same results.

Additional reading: http://www.domaininform.net/forwarding.html

Question: Did I move my domain correctly?

You can use a tool to check the server headers after the redirect is in place.

If you did it correctly, when you look up any URL on your old server you should see this: SERVER RESPONSE: 301 Moved Permanently

If not, you could be losing out on SEO link juice.