Change in domain name progress report, please review.

Hi

I was using my main domain : Sikhism (old) but have decided to migrate to Sikhism (new)

For this on June 15, 2008 what i have done is:

1. Copied all vbulletin files in my old domain account to another directory on the same old domain account.

2. Copied the old database into a new database.

3. Then, i modified my .htaccess file in old domain directory and entered :

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.sikhism\.us
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.sikhism.us/$1 [R=301,L]

4. What i have been able to achieve out of this is quite cool:

Now, if i click on the following link in the old domain:

Code:

http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/general/14349-anyone-here-from-paris-france.html

I am automatically taken to the link in new domain:

Code:

http://www.sikhism.us/general/14349-anyone-here-from-paris-france.html

This will help me save my linkbacks to my old domain and also there will be no "No Page Found" errors as everything can be found on the redirected link. This redirection even works for non-vbulletin files like:

Code:

http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/linkpartners.html

To

Code:

http://www.sikhism.us/linkpartners.html

My questions are:
1. While processing, did i miss something for which i may have to repent later on? Are these really permanent 301 redirects. Please confirm.

2. What i have done will redirect the permanently to the new domain. right?

3. Is there any chance of SE punishing me for this method of redirection?

4. Is there any better way to achieve this?


On side note, my members have not even noticed that old domain has been migrated to new more relevant domain name. which according to me means, i have achieved what i wanted to from onset.

Looking forward to a hardcore review.

Warm Regards

Looks like you have taken the right steps. Those 301s will stay in place as long as the old site is up with the htaccess lines present.

Once the engines update their index, they won't spend much time on the old site. Eventually you will be able to shut that site down permanently. For now, it will just act as a 301 redirection tool.

Today i checked my mail box for old site and there i find hundreds of Linkback to post (showpost link) email from new domain. Why are these not asking for thread linkback. Should i accept or reject this from old site? Please advice.

You should reject them and add your old domain to linkback blacklist

Done!! well, getting impatient here, when would i see the effect of the changeover... i meant when will this reflect in google

Day 6 - Just Googled : site:sikhism.us --> 3110 links indexed!!

Day 21 Results: site:sikhism.us

7,640 from sikhphilosophy.net
5,970 from sikhism.us

When I remove sikhphilosophy.net url redirection?

Not showing up in top 200 for my keyword: sikhism yet?

Another thing i have noticed is that i still rank at number one for keyword "sikh philosophy" where as i intend to achieve number one for "sikhism"... i am not even in top 1000 for this keyword.... Does that means that i will have to disassociate the old domain from the new one... i am puzzled.

More over, my traffic has hit a all time low after the changeover... i hope it is temporary... please advice for how long should i keep the old urls active?

You should keep that redirection in place as long as pages from the old URL are still indexed.

Day 22 : Sikhism.us dramatically surfaces at 110th position in google for my keyword "sikhism" The game starts...

Day 24 : 73rd in Google keyword ranking for "sikhism"

Day 32 : Ranked 50th in google keyword ranking for "sikhism"

321 from site:sikhphilosophy.net
2170 from site: sikhphilosophy.net


5600 from site:sikhism.us
2860 from site: sikhism.us

Day 34 : Ranked 36th in google keyword ranking for "sikhism", in five years sikhphilosophy.net could not go past rank 47th in google.com and here we are!!

238 from site:sikhphilosophy.net
2250 from site: sikhphilosophy.net ??? Increasing slightly.


23900 from site:sikhism.us !!!! How come so many link all of a sudden? Amazing!!
2850 from site: sikhism.us

Day 34 : Back to rank 48th in google keyword ranking for "sikhism". ???

238 from site:sikhphilosophy.net
2250 from site: sikhphilosophy.net ??? Increasing slightly.

5610 from site:sikhism.us
2860 from site: sikhism.us

Day 36; Time: IST 7:45: Rank 30th in google for keyword "sikhism". ???

5600 from site:sikhism.us
2850 from site: sikhism.us

240 from site:sikhphilosophy.net
2260 from site: sikhphilosophy.net ??? Increasing slightly.