optimizing web traffic

[John Dirks Jr]

I am working with the tools provided by my host. I own two domain names. They are:

arundelhomeinspection.com

and

arundelhomeinspection.net

I am setting it up so the .net gets automatically forwarded to the .com. My tools are asking me to select permanent or temporary redirect. The two are explained below.

What I want to know is, will the choice of either effect search engine ratings in any way? If so, how? I know it sounds like a petty question but I want to make sure I do things the better way the first time around.

301 Redirect

Redirects to the site you specified in the Forward To field using a "301 Moved Permanently" HTTP response. The HTTP 301 response code tells user-agents (including search engines) that the location has permanently moved.

302 Redirect

Redirects to the site you specified in the Forward To field using a "302 Moved Temporarily" HTTP response. The HTTP 302 response code tells user-agents (including search engines) that the location has temporarily moved.

[ozofprev]

You want the 301, but go here to get a better understanding.

[sepefrio]

Kind of on subject, but not really, then again we could hijack this thread and make it an overall web tips page.

In response to my web page, some have suggested taking down the site until it is optimized. The reasoning behind this is so Google or others doesn't find the page, with errors, then ranks it to page 13,874. Once ranked, it is a lot harder to improve the ranking, so it is critical to et the best initial ranking you can.

But my problem is simple. First I use Notepad to work on my page. Second, I use the inputs of others, TIJ, family and friends to make improvement. If i took the site down no one would be able to see it to help out.

Well I found a way to do both. You need to make a robots.txt file and put it in the root directory. In the file put the below code. This will tell all spiders to skip your page. Not broken link or other negative item, just skip over. So my page is up for everyone except spiders to see.

User-agent: *

Disallow: /

If you want more info on this goto:

http://www.robotstxt.org/robotstxt.html

[Michael Brown]

RE: AHI 301 is what you want. Otherwise the search engine sees duplicate content.

Re: sepefrio you've already been spidered by Google! (Jan If you put a link on TIJ to your site you are going to get hit. (had to remove the dot to display the link below)

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www familyhomeinspection.com

Better template but I still think you need to lose the paper background... asking for head aches... maybe you noticed already?

Michael Brown

DevWave Software Inc.

[John Dirks Jr]

sepefrio,

I am sure you know this but I'll run my mouth anyway.

What one person thinks is good, another thinks is bad. I think it's a good idea to get opinions from a broad spectrum.

With that in mind, be ready to toss out half of the opinions you get. Making yourself comfortable with what you present is the most important thing.

Good luck getting your business going.

[John Dirks Jr]

Now tell me if you think this would help:

I set up a single page with a free host for the .net domain. On this page I would type the top search querys or other stuff to attract the specific traffic I want.

Since the .net domain gets forwarded to the .com domain, all of the attention grabbed by the .net would be funneled to the .com.

Do you see what I'm thinking? Is there another way to approach this? Tips? Are there any places that would host my .net domain free?

[Bill Kibbel]

For that to work, I would avoid a 301 or 302 redirect.

I use a JavaScript that auto-forwards after a delay.

Both domains get indexed nicely.

[John Dirks Jr]

I have not yet done either 301 or 302. I held off to ask how to best do things. On your Java re-direct, does the second site ever show up at all? I dont want my .net to ever load. I just want it to attract attention and then forward any hits to the .com.

Whats the best way to do this?

[ozofprev]

I like Bill's approach, but your page has to load in order for the script to run. Why don't you want it to load? Did you go to the site I linked above? It explains the redirects pretty well.

[John Dirks Jr]

I read the page. Thanks for posting the link. I have so much to do to improve things. I will just go with a 301 for now. With so much to do, there is no need to get more complicated just yet.

I have a question about keyword entries. My host, GoDaddy, has a place on the settings page that allows me to enter keywords that are supposed to help increase site traffic.

Should I try to minimize the number of entries to just the top quality words? In other words, will it hurt to have many many keywords of varying degree of quality?

[ozofprev]

Originally posted by AHI

Should I try to minimize the number of entries to just the top quality words? In other words, will it hurt to have many many keywords of varying degree of quality?

In today's world, it is best to stick with quality tags, moderate in number. It used to be good to put every combination of words that might possibly appear in a search, but search engines continually evolve and currently use a more dynamic model [text of the actual page, quality links to the page (not the NACHI type), history of the page, and lack of tricks.]

[aclhi]

Here is a good tool to help analyze your website. Goto http://www.websitegrader.com and input your website address. Then type in a few searches that you want your website to be listed for (i.e. home inspectors in New York, NY). Optionally, you can add the web addresses of a few competitor sites. Click run report and wait a few minutes and it will return a score card. You will get a grade (like 65 out of 100) and then it will go through a few sections that will give you tips on how to imrpove your ranking. Then at the bottom (important), type in your address and click send email. It will eamil you a permanent link to this report and will update it every ~month so you can keep up on changes.

I have found it to be an easy to use and very helpful tool to optimize your website.

[Brian G]

Very interesting. I wish they would say more about what some of that means though. They tell you how many pages Google has stored on you, but not whether that number is high or low (a few other things are that way too). Still, I definitely got a few nuggets out of that. Mucho Gracias Sean.

Brian G.

It's a Web-Lovin' World [:-glasses

[sepefrio]

OK since this thread started on 3-1's and had a site grader. I'll combine the two and ask a question. I got this error, but I have no clue about 301's. Where is this code placed? On which page?

Permanent Redirect Not Found

Search engines may think www.familyhomeinspection.com and familyhomeinspection.com are two different sites.

You should set up a permanent redirect (technically called a "301 redirect") between these sites. Once you do that, you will get full search engine credit for your work on these sites.