How do you set up a virtual domain

[fom2001uk]

Lets say a client wants a new domain name for a new sub-section of a site (very large site with subdomains, etc).

This domain will effectively point to the new section of the site (different URL). The reason they want a separate domain name is branding, nothing to do with keywords, although that's a nice bonus.

My question is how best to set up this new domain. I don't want to upset the search engines (e.g Google) and I know there are different ways of doing it.

Now I'm not a webmaster and I'm not a techie so if someone can explain in simple terms, the options available, I'd be very glad.

Thanks
Fom

[littleman]

Fom2001uk, do you want to go over the mechanics, or the layout? If you want to go over the mechanics give us a little detail on what type of hosting you are using.

If you are looking for ideas on how to build the new domain there are a few different approaches available. Many are keen on third level domains. (e.g. keyword.domain.com), but the third level strategy seems to be falling out of vogue these days do to spammers (people like me) abusing this approach over the years. Yet I think this approach is still ok if you play it safe in other respects. You could also use a domain like brandname-keyword.com if you are more comfortable. If branding isn't that important just go for an entirely different domain name.

As far as the search engines go, make sure you have no duplicate content and that each domain has a separate focus.

[oilman]

The actual setup of the domain is pretty straight forward. You simply have your host map the domain to a the folder that holds the documents for the new section. It's not a whole lot different than setting up a subdomain really.

Is this subsection already up and running? has it been indexed by google? If not it's simply a matter of setting up the new domain and linking to normally - nothing to worry about.

If it's already been indexed one option would be to setup a 301 redirect in your htaccess (assuming you're on unix) to let the spiders know that the section has moved.

[fom2001uk]

No question of duplicating content. It's just going to point to the existing domain, but the user won't see this. They'll just think they're visiting "newdomain.com".

The subsection hasn't been built yet (in development) but it will be part of an existing site. This site has a domain somthing like "sitename.suffix1.suffix2.uk"

Does that make it any clearer ?