Forum Moderators: open
I have several domain names which are now being redirected to another site using 301 permanent redirects, How long before I can stop redirecting these names and start using them for something else.. It's been about 6 mths now, and I would really like to start using some of these other domain names for other purposes, hopefully I have not damaged these names by redirecting them. The only reason being that I found a better more suited domain for my purposes but still really like my old dimains and would like to start doing something else with them
Thanks
How long before I can stop redirecting these names and start using them for something else.. It's been about 6 mths now
If the SE's have listed the new URL's, you no longer have a need for the 301's - so dump them. It doesn't seem to be clear in your post though - do the SE's have the new site/pages listed in their indexes rather than the old ones?
hopefully I have not damaged these names by redirecting them.
Only one way to find out, eh ;-) Put some new pages up, get some fresh links, and see what happens.
[I assume the 302 in the Subject is a typo).
Yes 302 in the subject was a typo..
Sorry forgot to clarify your first response..
Yes the search engines have my new pages listed, however they also still have some of my old pages listed, Also NONE of my page rank transfered over to my new pages..
Yes the search engines have my new pages listed, however they also still have some of my old pages listed, Also NONE of my page rank transfered over to my new pages..
Hmm. Are you sure the redirects are 301's, not 302's? Have there been PR updates since you did them?
If the SE's have listed the new URL's, you no longer have a need for the 301's - so dump them.
That's not correct. The engines don't keep these things on file permanently because they're called "permanent redirects."
We're talking here, I assume, about a bunch of old domains being redirected to a main domain. I can only think of two good reasons for doing this....
a) the old domains been promoted before, and there are existing links to them on the web...
b) or, these redirects were done for type-in purposes.
If (a) and the domains were promoted before and there are old links existing to them on the web, if you value those links, then you need to keep the redirects in place until those links are changed. Once all the existing links you care about are changed, you can drop the redirects.
If (b) and the redirects are for type-in purposes, you need to keep the redirects in place for as long as you desire the type-ins.
I would really like to start using some of these other domain names for other purposes
I took it that he wanted to get rid of the redirects entirely on the old sites. If there are existing links to the old pages that are getting redirected, etc, then yes they should be left in place. But if that's the case, he wouldn't be thinking of dumping them in the first place, eh? (This assumes he's checked everything out, wrt SE's having picked up the new pages, etc - in his case, it now seems this might not have happened yet).
Imho, once you have new pages listed in the SE's via the 301's, and you've asked/gotten inbound link changes to the new URL's, then at some point the 301's are of no more use. There's no need to keep them there forever.
That's not correct. The engines don't keep these things on file permanently because they're called "permanent redirects."
Those 301's can interfere with things for ages, and not just in G. The old URL's will be kept in the index one way or another, and will come sneaking back into the serps at times. I've come to the conclusion that when 301's seem to have served their purpose, it's time to get rid of them.
I still wonder if he did his redirects through a cPanel and has 302's instead.
The reason I am doing redirects is because I have a whole bunch of domains with links that I don't wish to lose, so I'm hoping that the search engines will take notice of the redirection.
I checked with a server header tool and this is what its telling me:
HTTP Status Code: HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Also I'm using iis6 as my web server as my site is asp.net.
Thanks,
The reason I am doing redirects is because I have a whole bunch of domains with links that I don't wish to lose, so I'm hoping that the search engines will take notice of the redirection.
wannlearn - Then you're stuck keeping these redirects in place until the links to your old domains have been physically changed to link to the new main domain. Once the links have been changed, I'd give it a couple of months and then drop the 301s.
Chances are you'll never get all of the links changed unless you control the link sources. It's your call about which is more valuable... the remaining links or the re-use of the old domains.
Chances are also that if you do control the link sources, Google may have already spotted this as an incestuous network, and your linking benefits from it may not be that great. Google looks with suspicion upon contrived linking schemes and is getting good at spotting them.
For this reason, if you want to re-use your old domains to build networks of related sites, you might want to do a lot of reading in the forums first and perhaps reconsider. IMO, as a long term strategy, you're much better off building and promoting one site on a topic than many similar sites. This is particularly true if you're new at this.
