Help 301s etc Urgent

Changing URLs and blocking old URL

[hurlimann]

we have a domain that is high on nearly every search engine. We are to lose the domain: worse is that someone else will register it. ( long story!).
I reckon this will take 6/8 weeks or so.
What is our best option when we move site to new domain so we get the search engines moving with us and changing the url?
301/ take down and put a no index in robots
etc etc

TA

[Brett_Tabke]

Ya, put a 301 in the root now. (robots.txt won't really help at all).

Go back through your active inbound links and go request people update them now so that se's run into them a little later.

[brotherhood of LAN]

for sure...people dont mind half as much updating an old URL as to scrounging for the initial link :) make sure you get as many as poss, to make sure you rank even higher on the better domain name you are going to acquire :)

[hurlimann]

Thnax for the replies so far.
What effect does the 301 have on the se databases do the stop looking at the old domain and just look at the new.?

[hurlimann]

I asked my host ( the famous al...za) about putiing a 301 in the root. I got the anwser below. I doubt it would do.
If I can't put it in the root what is the next best alterantive. Thanks

Host Reply:
To redirect a reader to a special web page when they encounter an error, you can either modify the srm.conf file if you have the ability to do so, or to modify your .htaccess file. <br /><br />In the srm.conf file you will find a line that looks like this: <br /><br /><br />#ErrorDocument 404 /missing.html <br />To specify a special web page, simply remove the # mark and create a document called missing.html in your main HTML directory. <br /><br />ErrorDocument 404 /missing.html <br /><br />You can name the files whatever you wish, and you might consider placing all of them in a special directory. I have never tried running the ! server configured for URL redirect without first creating the error documents. Who knows what would happen if the missing file was itself- missing!