Redirecting a domain

[ritchie]

Picture a scenario where you have purchased a domain name (say weather.com) then after sometime, you realize that another domain name (say fweather.com) is better, would redirecting the old to your new domain work? I read somewhere that you'd have to wait for 180 days for this to work?

 

[domain investor]

I suppose that if the old domain got some traffic then it might be worth redirecting to the new one.

 

[Jeffrey]

Does this mean that you have own both domain names? If so then that might be more expensive than just owning one domain name unless both domain names have good traffic.

Which is better, redirecting the old domain name to a new one or closing the old domain name then create a new one?

 

[JackD]

Does this mean that you have own both domain names? If so then that might be more expensive than just owning one domain name unless both domain names have good traffic.

Which is better, redirecting the old domain name to a new one or closing the old domain name then create a new one?

You would need to own both domain names. Redirecting a domain that you own to a domain that you do not own doesn't make any sense. You cannot redirect a domain that you do not own so that question is mute.

Under your scenario, I would redirect the old domain to the new one. That way any traffic going to the old one would then go to the new one. At the registrar, make sure you choose a "permanent" redirection. I would also renew the old domain when the time came for another year just to make sure I catch all of the traffic. After that you could most likely drop the old name without and significant issues with missed traffic. I do not understand you question about the 180 days to work. A redirect becomes effective almost immediately. I have several domains redirected to one master domain and I have had them that way for years. An example would be ClickTheWeb(.)com. The reason being that this domain name was not available and I registered the master domain of KlickTheWeb(.)com as a close substitute. Later, when ClickTheWeb became available, KlickTheWeb was established with many customers and I did not want to cause issues with them so I purchased the second domain and redirect it for all who may mistype KlickTheWeb.

 

[Jeffrey]

Thanks for the answers Jack although the question about the 180 days is not my question but ritchie's.

I'm wondering if this is a good idea. I will still keep the first page of the old domain running but place a comment or explanation to why the person visiting the page will be redirected to the new domain. I saw some of these web-pages when there is a problem in the company.

 

[Foroux]

It can be a useful idea. Some people change their browser settings to stop automatic redirection. It would help steer these visitors in the right direction if you provide a quick explanation with a link to your new website.

 

[Connected]

I always viewed this as a way to phase out the old domain name. Some people do this for the purpose of ugrading their web presence by making a "new and improved" site, and directing old traffic to that while marketing the new site to potentially new traffic.

 

[JackD]

Some people change their browser settings to stop automatic redirection

I do my redirection at the registrar so the browser settings have no effect but that also means there is no explanation. It's a trade off as to which is better. It all depends on the reasoning for the redirection.