Sometimes when we register our domain names, we do some transformations on it, maybe on the Domain Name System information or even to the registered domain name hosting. Such case is so common for many people, and in fact, many experts have recommended that we really do some changes on the registered domain names.
Well, for that matter, I will be dealing mainly about how to change the registered Domain Name System information and some facts that go behind such transformations. It is just important to note some things about it since it is a common necessity for the domain name holders to change their registered domain name information.
According to some experts, when you register a domain name, you really need to specify your Domain Name Server or DNS information. However, there are some instances that you need to change such registered DNS information for certain purposes. Speaking of those purposes, one is noted that if you have a new web site or even an email account, your web hosting or the Internet Service Provider will ask you to change your registered Domain Name Server information in order to make your registered domain name to be connected to your web site and so your email account can be setup.
In changing registered Domain Name Server information for your registered domain name, you should note that in the first place the registered Domain Name Server information is provided by your host. Generally, such information is composed of a primary and a secondary name server. It is important to know then that you have both the primary and secondary name servers.
Giving much emphasis on the secondary name server, it is noted that the explanation for a secondary name server is not that it takes its information from the primary name server; instead it is its respective distinct Internet Protocol or IP address that do the process. As such, the primary and the secondary name server function to point the domain name that resolves to the Internet Protocol created by the host server. Therefore in changing registered Domain Name Server information, the domain name will resolve with the average of 50 percent of the period to the primary name server and also 50 percent of the period to the secondary name server.
There are further resources which state that if ever that you have an Internet Protocol address of your hosting server, it is better that in changing your registered domain name, you use the URL-forwarding service which is now offered by most domain name companies. Through the URL-forwarding, the registered domain name information then can be change smoothly for the reason that the URL-forwarding will resolve any hits on the registered domain name to the forwarding servers.
Today, there are so many companies that provide you to the opportunity to change you registered domain name, and some of those even offer the registered domain name change for free. So now that you have a new registered domain name, you have the opportunity to build a web site for whatever purposes, whether it is for corporate or personal use. And aside from that, you have also the chance to do some email forwarding and you can even resell you registered domain name to whomever you like.
If you own a web site AND you have multiple domain names registered, you might want to read this with your full attention. There are a great many web sites out there which, by inappropriate use of multiple domain names, effectively cripple their search engine rankings by blatantly breaching search engine guidelines!
Site owners often register more than one domain, and there are sound reasons for doing this, including;
- The main URL includes a keyword phrase but is?too long to type quickly, so a shorter, cryptic one is utilised and maybe is also used on business cards and letter heads.
- You take various versions of domains to prevent competitors from grabbing them - dot.com, dot.co.nz, dot.biz, dot.info etc, and point them all to the "main" site.
- You take various country versions - dot.co.nz, dot.com.au, dot.co.uk because you are going to expand into those markets - but in the interim you point them all to the "main" site.
There are also misguided reasons for doing this, including;
- Having multiple domains pointing to the same location in the hope that the search engines will be duped into indexing ALL of them as different content, giving you lots of top rankings under different domains.
Search engines hate duplicated content with a passion... but their automated spiders and bots cannot determine which category YOU fall into - uninformed and innocent of intent, or deliberately and knowingly manipulative. So all sites who transgress can expect to be treated equally. And yes, you can be banned from the SE indexes for getting it wrong!
The search engines do not give out many guidelines - in fact they are all very coy about giving too information much away. However, when they do make a statement by way of guidelines, regardless of how politely it is worded, you had best sit up and take notice because they are really, really serious about it!
Google Guidelines on Multiple Domains
In the case of Google, their Webmaster Guidelines are unambiguous! E.g. on this page; http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769 Google are quite clear on this; Quality Guidelines - Specific Guidelines - Don't employ cloaking or sneaky redirects. - Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content
What This Means to You
There is a clear and present danger in having multiple sites pointing to the same location'if they load exactly the SAME content -?this is a SERIOUS breach of Google's Webmaster Guidelines and is expressly FORBIDDEN because the search engines can only interpret this as a blatant attempt to generate duplicate content under different URL's.?Regardless of your actual intentions in this, its likely to result in a BAN from search engine indexes. :-) Not a good start to an online presence, right?
Ignorance of The Law is No Excuse
Ignorance of search engine guidelines is not a valid excuse either! Unfortunately, many web?designers and hosting companies are blissfully unaware of the?correct way to implement multiple domain names. The result is that many web site owners unknowingly jeopardise their site's inclusion in the search engine rankings.
My advice is that if you have more than one domain name, you check how its been set up. If your have two domains; www.domain-no1.com and www.domain-no2.com and BOTH load the same pages but with the different domains showing, then you have a problem. If you can also load the sites as http://domain-no1.com and http://domain-no2.com then totals 4 different ways of indexing the SAME content!
The Right Way to Do It?
That said, it IS permitted to have multiple domains pointing to the same content BUT it may only be done?via the use of a Permanent 301 Redirect being applied to the secondary domains, e.g. typing in?the URL for any of the secondary domains will redirect you to the main site. This change can easily be implemented, at no cost other than a few of minutes of time.
In this example, www.domain-no2.com is redirected to www.domain-no1.com and and neither visitors nor SE spiders ever "see" content under the secondary domain name. The same logic should also be applied to the non-www versions of both domain names to complete the process and to prevent potential conflicts with the search engines.
Both Larry Evans & Ben Kemp are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Larry Evans has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Computers and The Internet and Internet Marketing. At Last! You Can Make Money With … Without Having To Write One Word of Content! Active hyperlink must remain with article.. Larry Evans's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.
Ben Kemp has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, SEO Search Engine Optimization and Web Development. Ben Kemp is a free-lance consultant and offers free SEO articles & web design tips, see. Ben Kemp's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.