I would like the user to see for example:
page 1 -> www.domain.com/page1.htm
page X -> www.domain.com/pageX.htm
instead of:
page 1 -> www.domain.com
page X -> www.domain.com
OR:
page 1 -> 123.123.123.123/page1.htm
page X -> 123.123.123.123/pageX.htm
I was told by GoDaddy that they used a framed page to mask the IP, so this would definitely affect SEM. Have you encountered a similar problem? What could I do to resolve this?
Please let me know. Thank you.
The best solution is to get the domain name pointed to somewhere hosting their pages because then you have a perfectly good website which is not going to force you into using frames unless you want to.
If this is not possible (ie current host will not support adding extra domains) or perhaps not viable (ie self-hosting when their IP is too dynamic) then they might want to look at buying some regular hosting.
- Tony
How you achieve the DNS configuration is really immaterial as long as it is pointing at a machine which has a consistent IP address and which has a reasonable amount of uptime.
- Tony
Do you use a managed DNS service like ZoneEdit or do you set up your own domain name server? What do you use?
Are you familiar with SEM / SEO?
-Ben
However in your case they will be a total pain because when a search-engine hits the "masked" domain it will index the content from "123.123.123.123" and include it in the index in that form too, ie if it finds the URL "http;//123.123.123.123/page1.htm" on the "masked" page then that page will get included in the index as "http;//123.123.123.123/page1.htm" rather than "mymaskdomain.com/page1.htm".
Obviously from a marketing point-of-view this means you are wasting a perfectly good domain name in your SERPs.
My view of SEO/SEM is quite simplistic - if I create pages with good copy which people like reading/find useful and also make it easy for spiders to read them I'm happy. For my purposes this is a good enough strategy.
As for what I use for DNS... well I'm lazy, I know I should buy an improved DNS service but I still rely on the DNS configuration the hosting package came with as it does the job...
- Tony
[maskeddomain.com...]
instead of:
[123.123.123.123...] .
How would I be able to do this?
-Ben
You said the client already has an IP address they point the mask at... there are three possibilities as I see it;
1) They are doing this because they are on a connection without a static IP address - a service like GoDaddy's "masking" would allow that IP address to change as & when they needed it with immediate effect. If this is the case then you/they should look at buying a hosting package as it will pay for itself in the long term.
2) They are pointing it at some free webspace they are using to host their site - in this case you might want to try talking to this host and asking if they allow their sites to be assigned real domain names. If they are using only an IP address this is very unlikely because most free webspace is based around virtual domains (lots of sites on one server/IP, this works out a lot cheaper for them) which cannot operate without a domain name being used.
3) They are doing this because of some reason no-one really remembers anymore and for some reason they have also managed to set up another webserver and are simply pointing the "mask" to this machine. If this is the case then you could just point the domain name at that machine and everything should work perfectly.
- Tony
I noticed the problem with how my client has been using GoDaddy's domain masking tool, which adversely affects SEM. How can I fix this problem which is caused by GoDaddy using frames for their domain masking tool? Can I get domain name resolution using another DNS service instead of this masking tool?
Please advise.
-Ben
I noticed the problem with how my client has been using GoDaddy's domain masking tool, which adversely affects SEM. How can I fix this problem which is caused by GoDaddy using frames for their domain masking tool? Can I get domain name resolution using another DNS service instead of this masking tool?
Please advise.
-Ben
No offence but I have explained this several times now and I'm running out of different ways to say it...
You will need to get the domain name pointed to a webserver rather than GoDaddy's domain "masking" server.
That's all there is to it - there is no easier method I can suggest.
You just need to contact whomever deals with the DNS at the moment and ask them to either transfer it to your new host or to update it to point at your new IP address...
-Tony
Tony I appreciate your help but I don't think you understand the situation ... the domain name is pointing to GoDaddy's name server which resolves the name into an IP. However this name server has to point to their "masking" server to hide the IP. This is NOT a host issue as this is a custom server for colocation. Hope this helps clarifies my situation.
name server which resolves the name into an IP
I just want to make sure we are "reading from the same page" here - if you give a DNS server a domain name it will tell you the IP address assigned to it but this does not force the user's browser into displaying that IP address instead of the domain name.
Normally when you attempt to go to a website this happens;
1) Person asks for the www.example.com site
2) DNS resolves this to the correct server
3) Person sees see pages on www.example.com
the domain name is pointing to GoDaddy's name server which resolves the name into an IP. However this name server has to point to their "masking" server to hide the IP.
So if I understand correctly it's going like this for you at the moment;
1) Person asks for the www.example.com site
2) GoDaddy's DNS resolves this to their "masking" server
3) Masking server points the frames to your co-located server
4) Person sees pages from your co-located server inside the GoDaddy frameset
Is this what's happening at the moment?
- Tony
This is exactly what is happening. Their DNS server performs domain name resolution to an IP, but it does not hide the IP from the user's browsers. To do so, you have to use their IP masking tool which uses frames.
Do you know how I could get around this?
-Ben
If not then you'll want to get the DNS domain name pointed to the co-located server rather than the GoDaddy masking server and it will work "properly" (as in the 3 step example).
If it *is* co-located with GoDaddy then you need to tell them *exactly* what you want to happen - I'd be *very* surprised if they couldn't help you out.
- Tony
If not then you'll want to get the DNS server to point the domain name at the co-located server rather than the GoDaddy masking server and it will work "properly" (as in the 3 step example).
-Tony
