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301 redirect disaster

by Vcize
3 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I recently moved my site to a new domain. I read up about modrewrite and 301 redirects extensively, and thought I had everything figured out. However, after the redirect my site is completely gone from the google index, and webmaster tools shows 0 pages indexed (375,000 indexed on the old domain, the site is a large vbulletin forum).

Here were the goals in the redirect:
move mw3forum.com to cod247.com/forum
redirect cod247.com homepage to cod247.com/forum
redirect non-www to www

The code..

.htaccess file on old site:
Code:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.cod247.com/forum/$1 [R=301,L]
.htaccess file on new site (root directory):
Code:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.cod247.com$
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.cod247.com/$1 [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^(/)?$ forum [L]
Functionally, everything works correctly as described in the goals section above. Also, I used some 301 checker tests like Redirect Checker which all showed correct results.

However, as mentioned both sites are now gone from the google index.

Please help, I can't have this site disappear into oblivion like I've had when I botched 301 redirects in the past! What did I mess up?
#301 #disaster #redirect
  • Profile picture of the author Mkj
    Originally Posted by Vcize View Post

    I recently moved my site to a new domain. I read up about modrewrite and 301 redirects extensively, and thought I had everything figured out. However, after the redirect my site is completely gone from the google index, and webmaster tools shows 0 pages indexed (375,000 indexed on the old domain, the site is a large vbulletin forum).

    Here were the goals in the redirect:
    move mw3forum.com to cod247.com/forum
    redirect cod247.com homepage to cod247.com/forum
    redirect non-www to www

    The code..

    .htaccess file on old site:
    Code:
    RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.cod247.com/forum/$1 [R=301,L]
    .htaccess file on new site (root directory):
    Code:
    RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.cod247.com$
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.cod247.com/$1 [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^(/)?$ forum [L]
    Functionally, everything works correctly as described in the goals section above. Also, I used some 301 checker tests like Redirect Checker which all showed correct results.

    However, as mentioned both sites are now gone from the google index.

    Please help, I can't have this site disappear into oblivion like I've had when I botched 301 redirects in the past! What did I mess up?
    Dunno about that. Just did a search for your sites in Google:

    Old domain:

    site:http://mw3forum.com

    Over 400,000 results

    New domain

    site:Cod247 - Black Ops 2 and MW3 Community

    shows over 60,000 results.

    Don't look like much of a deindex to me. Not like a number of my own sites that have bit the dust lately.

    Your redirects are working ok too as I just tested a few from old to new.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    If you have no idea what you are doing, there's no
    reason to do anything like that.

    A better idea was to leave everything and just link.
    You have to pay for both site's domain and hosting anyway
    if you choose to do a 301 redirect.

    301 was not exactly intended for the purpose you are using
    it for. Unfortunately, it's been mishandled by so-called SEO
    experts. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

    You could eliminate the code, go back and do it in a way that
    actually helps, or at least in a correct way.

    Not knowing everything, I can only assume that your
    "instructions" made it seem as if cod247.com has been
    wiped out, leaving only cod247.com/forum. That's not
    a big deal unless your future customers are searching
    for cod247.com

    Again, it never should have been done that way.

    The problem also may be related to the CMS of the
    old or new site, and how databases are created and
    accessed.

    If you moved an entire forum, there is no guarantee that
    everything is going to move and work correctly.

    Paul
    Signature

    If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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    • Profile picture of the author Vcize
      Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

      If you have no idea what you are doing, there's no
      reason to do anything like that.

      A better idea was to leave everything and just link.
      You have to pay for both site's domain and hosting anyway
      if you choose to do a 301 redirect.

      301 was not exactly intended for the purpose you are using
      it for. Unfortunately, it's been mishandled by so-called SEO
      experts. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

      You could eliminate the code, go back and do it in a way that
      actually helps, or at least in a correct way.

      Not knowing everything, I can only assume that your
      "instructions" made it seem as if cod247.com has been
      wiped out, leaving only cod247.com/forum. That's not
      a big deal unless your future customers are searching
      for cod247.com

      Again, it never should have been done that way.

      The problem also may be related to the CMS of the
      old or new site, and how databases are created and
      accessed.

      If you moved an entire forum, there is no guarantee that
      everything is going to move and work correctly.

      Paul
      I'm not following you here at all.

      My old site was mw3forum.com, which was a vbulletin forum. I wanted to change the domain to cod247.com. To me that seems to be the exact purpose of a 301 redirect.

      The only difference is that, on the new site, I want to put the forum in the /forum directory (instead of the root) so I can add a wordpress homepage in the near future.

      As to what you meant about "just link it", I'm not sure I'm following. The forum contains 42,000 users and a million posts, I'm not just going to leave that behind and say "go to the new domain now". "MW3" is a specific game, and the site is shifting its focus to the entire Call of Duty franchise. Leaving the old domain behind is a must.
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