Web guru's...

[Pap_sak]

When I started my online site I bought the domain sportdirect.co.za, but I really wanted sportsdirect.co.za -3-4 years on I now own sportsdirect.co.za - which I think is the slightly better name.

The site is still in it's infancy and have only started working seriously on it a few months back but have spent quite a few hours on it. There are not that many back links.

Should I:

Move the site to the new site and just have a redirect from the old site? What are the down sides with regards to google? Could my ISP move a php,sql website easily and have everthing as it was - this scares me the most.

Or play safe - just have a redirect from the new to the old -

Or did I just blow R1K

[dfsa]

Many people would argue about what I would suggest.

Firstly. sportdirect have already over 4600 pages indexed, so it will all depend on how many pages you already have on the first page. Direct searches per Month is only 75 for sport direct. The domain is 3 Years old.

Secondly. sportsdirect on the other hand is 8 Years old and is a PR1 domain. There are 720 direct searches for sports direct.

You don't need to move your site, but if you feel like you want to, then it is no problem. Your files and site will stay exactly the same. You only would need to change your header to Sports Direct.


Personally I would look at the long term benefit to point SportsDirect to the site and do a re-direct for sportdirect. Make sure you keep both domains. In the short term you will loose all indexed pages for sportdirect, but they will be quickly indexed again under sportsdirect. Just be patient and give it a couple Months.

To sum up. Sportsdirect is a much better and stronger proposition for the long term. Therefore do a re-direct on SportDirect to point to SportsDirect and then point your new domain SportsDirect to your site.

Your purchase of R1k was a good deal for sportsdirect.

I would also suggest you do a little back search on sportsdirect to just ensure the domain was not involved in any illegal activities. I don't think it would have been, because you most probably bought the domain from a domainer that just had the domain parked and the fact it is a PR1.

[Blurock]

If you buy a domain and hosting from X, is it possible to then move that domain to a new host if you can get a better deal?

[Dave A]

If you buy a domain and hosting from X, is it possible to then move that domain to a new host if you can get a better deal?

Yes, although just how easy it is does depend on your current hosting service provider and at times the compatability of the two hosting platforms.

[Pap_sak]

Many people would argue about what I would suggest.

Firstly. sportdirect have already over 4600 pages indexed, so it will all depend on how many pages you already have on the first page. Direct searches per Month is only 75 for sport direct. The domain is 3 Years old.

Secondly. sportsdirect on the other hand is 8 Years old and is a PR1 domain. There are 720 direct searches for sports direct.

You don't need to move your site, but if you feel like you want to, then it is no problem. Your files and site will stay exactly the same. You only would need to change your header to Sports Direct.


Personally I would look at the long term benefit to point SportsDirect to the site and do a re-direct for sportdirect. Make sure you keep both domains. In the short term you will loose all indexed pages for sportdirect, but they will be quickly indexed again under sportsdirect. Just be patient and give it a couple Months.

To sum up. Sportsdirect is a much better and stronger proposition for the long term. Therefore do a re-direct on SportDirect to point to SportsDirect and then point your new domain SportsDirect to your site.

Your purchase of R1k was a good deal for sportsdirect.

I would also suggest you do a little back search on sportsdirect to just ensure the domain was not involved in any illegal activities. I don't think it would have been, because you most probably bought the domain from a domainer that just had the domain parked and the fact it is a PR1.

Thank you very much for that - quite didn't actually see it had a pr of 1. It actually was used for bicycles for a few years. Sportsdirect.com of course is a huge overseas chain - but they did try break into the SA market with dismal results.

If I could pick your brain some more.

How would you go about copying the one site to the other with everything exactly the same? Would love to be able to do a domain "switch" - just change the domain names but I am guessing that's not a possibility?

[Mark Atkinson]

How would you go about copying the one site to the other with everything exactly the same? Would love to be able to do a domain "switch" - just change the domain names but I am guessing that's not a possibility?

What CMS is the site built on, Pap_sak? You'll likely be able to get a backup tool which backs up the database and website into a file which can be run on the new domain. I know both Wordpress and Joomla have extensions to do this, but you don't seem to be using either.

Also agree that you should move the site to the sportsdirect.co.za domain and 301 redirect the old one. Make sure that you have sportdirect.co.za in your Google Webmaster Tools account and request an address change once you've moved over, to ensure that Google recognises it's the same site. Also be sure to upload the new XML sitemap to your GWMTs account for speedier indexing.

[dfsa]

How would you go about copying the one site to the other with everything exactly the same? Would love to be able to do a domain "switch" - just change the domain names but I am guessing that's not a possibility?

That is exactly all you need to do. Just switch your domain. Leave your site and files just as it is and redirect your old domain to the new domain. All visitors to the old domain will then go to your new domain and site.

Do exactly as Mark explained here.

Also agree that you should move the site to the sportsdirect.co.za domain and 301 redirect the old one. Make sure that you have sportdirect.co.za in your Google Webmaster Tools account and request an address change once you've moved over, to ensure that Google recognises it's the same site. Also be sure to upload the new XML sitemap to your GWMTs account for speedier indexing.

[Pap_sak]

Cheers to DFSA and Mark

I am going to first approach my ISP - I am a reseller (mainly for my own sites) and am not using the main account (upthen7.com) and am thinking that might be be the best place for it as I have to pay for it every year.

Once moved will then see about copying the site - I would be happy to pay up to R1000 for a pro to do it....would ether of you be interested? It's an opencart site with template and some SEO tweaks and lots of data. I have WHM. Obviously I will need to change emails.

[Mark Atkinson]

Once moved will then see about copying the site - I would be happy to pay up to R1000 for a pro to do it....would ether of you be interested? It's an opencart site with template and some SEO tweaks and lots of data. I have WHM. Obviously I will need to change emails.

Yip, I'll shoot you a PM now Pap_sak.

We'll backup your database and your files and move across + test for you.

[Pap_sak]

Mark and partner did sterling work on my site - now just need google to re-index!