going from .com to .co.uk without lossing PR (inbound links)

[krisleech]

hi ya, i have made the desision to change from .com to .co.uk for an ecommerce site in order to show up in the google.co.uk results. For which you need either a uk domain or uk hosting, and im on :QTFQuest: based in US so the domain it is.

So what do i do?
Here is my theory:

1. register .co.uk,
2. transfer DNS to FQ
3. setup IRM to point it to my site (sub directory)
4. ask service desk to disable .com IRM
5. create 301 perm redirect from .com to .co.uk
6. cross fingers and watch google toolbar for a few weeks :blah:

Does this sound right? My main concern is keeping my PR 5.

Can anyone recommend a registar who will allow me to change or specify the DNS? (.co.uk)

Cheers K.

[cindik]

So what do i do?
Here is my theory:

1. register .co.uk,
2. transfer DNS to FQ
3. setup IRM to point it to my site (sub directory)
4. ask service desk to disable .com IRM
5. create 301 perm redirect from .com to .co.uk
6. cross fingers and watch google toolbar for a few weeks :blah:


I would think you'd want to:

register .co.uk
transfer DNS to FQ
set up IRM to point it to your site (subdirectory)
create 301 perm redirect from .com to .co.uk
cross fingers and watch google toolbar for a few weeks :blah:
When the .co.uk shows up in Google, ask service desk to disable .com IRM

[krisleech]

thanks cindik. good point about waiting for it in google before disabling the IRM.

Can anyone recommend somewhere to register a uk domain that allows the DNS to be changed...?

Cheers all, K.

[kitchin]

Why disable the IRM at all? It doesn't cost anything to keep it.

[krisleech]

Why disable the IRM at all? It doesn't cost anything to keep it.

Because i would have domain.com and domain.co.uk both pointing to the same website, which in the eyes of google is spamming (ie. two sites with the same content).
But if you use a 301 redirect, it would be ok i think as this indicate a perment redirect ie. the content has moved here, not that there are two copies.

Does that appear correct?

[kitchin]

That's interesting. Is two domain enough to upset Google? How much does the hisotry of your old links, and links form other sites to your old links count for? Anyway, I'm glad I asked, as I should consider it for some of my clients who use .org + .com.

[Snarpy]

I have a question about sites with the same content.

I have a client who is an authorized US distributor for two non-US companies. We have basically copied the product pages from these companies - the same basic page, the same text, mostly (with a little cleaning up of the English), the same images and links to identical pdf specs - but have formatted the layout and css of the pages differently.

This is not what Google means by "same content," is it?

Snarpy

[Snarpy]

I should consider it for some of my clients who use .org + .com. I'm 99% sure that IROs are not what we are talking about here. That is the case of one website, one set of files, having two names. I think "same content" refers to two different websites at two different IPs having the same content. Google seems intelligent in interpreting IROs. I was just recently searching for links to a site that has both a .com and a .org name, and the search showed links to both even though I was searching on the .org. (I didn't know they owned the .com).

Snarpy

[krisleech]

I think "same content" refers to two different websites at two different IPs having the same content.
Snarpy


You have a point, if the IP is the same then maybe it does not matter to google?!?

[krisleech]

Ok so i have registered my .co.uk and its DNS is set to FQ :)
I am next going to order an IRM to point the .co.uk to the sub-folder where the site is located.
What is best to do with the .com - it currently points to the same website using an IRM itself. Does this mean both domains point to the same or different IP?

Thanks, K.

[Arthur]

Does this mean both domains point to the same or different IP? IR domains (IRO, IRM) always have the same IP address as the domain they overlay. So, the two IRMs, the .com one and the .co.uk one, get the same IP address.

Arthur

[krisleech]

IR domains (IRO, IRM) always have the same IP address as the domain they overlay. So, the two IRMs, the .com one and the .co.uk one, get the same IP address.

Arthur

Quick reply :)
I think having the same IP is good from a search engine point of view. I am currently investigating.

[krisleech]

OK current state of play is: i have .com and .co.uk both pointing at the website using IRM's.

.com is showing up on page one of google for its search term again :yeah:

How do i do a 301 perm redirect so .com points at .co.uk?

If anyone has done this before and could supply the snippit of code for .htaccess that would save me lots of time reading up.



Thanks in advance, K.

[Bob]

These posts may help...

http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=119337#post119337
http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=110698#post110698

-Bob