How to handle this situation (domain 301 redirect)

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I have 2 websites; website.net and website.xx (country specific domain and translated version) and I would like to 301 redirect domains like this:

I already own the site.com domain and the thing is that this domain is and has been set as "Website Alias" of .net domain, showing same content as on net, just under different domain. It's been set like this for almost 3 years now which is not good I know. In the near future we will also plan to do a redesign of our website and change some url structures and content as well.

So given all this I need to find the perfect strategy to make this transition as smooth as possible without loosing previous SEO work and rankings. How would you do this:
  • Do we need to do anything on the current .com version before moving forward with the process, given how it's set-up atm?
  • Should we do redirects first and redesign with some url rewriting later on or can we do it all-in-one ?
  • How and when would you apply 301's? On each page or wild redirect? Do we copy content first to new domains?
  • IP and DNS will remain the same but the WHOIS is different between site.xx and xx.site.com and can't be matched. I have read that his might be a big problem with 301 domain moving ?
  • Any other known concerns when moving a main domain to a subdomain?

Thank you for your answers!
#search engine optimization #301 #domain #handle #redirect #situation
  • Do we need to do anything on the current .com version before moving forward with the process, given how it's set-up atm?

    Yes, you would be better off implementing the redesign and changes in URL structure on the .com site and then redirect the .net site to the .com site

    Should we do redirects first and redesign with some url rewriting later on or can we do it all-in-one ?

    Do the redesign first and then do the redirects

    How and when would you apply 301's? On each page or wild redirect? Do we copy content first to new domains?

    Assuming you are hosting on a Linux server, you have to modify the .htaccess file. It is best to redirect each individual page on the .net site to the closest corresponding page on the .com site. It is best to have the content all finalized and optimised on the .com site after which you can do the redirects.


    IP and DNS will remain the same but the WHOIS is different between site.xx and xx.site.com and can't be matched. I have read that his might be a big problem with 301 domain moving ?

    Is it because someone else owns the site.xx domain? You have mentioned the site.xx is in another language. Assuming the .com site is in a different language, why would you want to move a different language site to a sub-domain of the .com site unless both the .com site and site.xx are in the same language?

    Any other known concerns when moving a main domain to a subdomain?

    A sub-domain is very much part and parcel of the original .com domain (as in a parent child relationship) and the sub-domain can benefit from the domain authority of a powerful domain. IMHO, it is best to redirect the site.xx to the .com domain itself unless you have strong reasons for retaining it, especially in the context of the site.xx language being different from the .com site language. Not sure
    • [1] reply
    • Are you sure? So far everything I've read on the internet says not to do both but only redirects first.

      Site is hosted on ruby and I understand there is no .htaccess for it. Would wild redirect be bad ?

      We need to move it due to the laws in .xx country and .xx can't be registered outside of this country. What would be the best way here?
      • [2] replies
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