How to transfer to a Domain site

Author: Harvey Segal

There are great benefits in having a web site with a domain name, such as

• Portability - you are free to move to a different web host or ISP and leave the name unchanged.
• A professional image for your company

Once you decide to make the move from a non-domain site to a domain site, typically with a new provider, you will be faced with the problem of retaining traffic currently visiting your old site.

Such traffic is coming from, for example

• Other sites linking to yours
• Existing articles or sales letters submitted to newsgroups or forums
• Existing ads at other web sites

Here are the steps to take:

1. Change the individual pages on your old site to point to the new site.

   For example,

   "We have now moved to another site. Click here to visit new site".

2. You can find which sites are linking to you, if they are registered in a given search engine, by searching for "link:old address".

   You will then need to make contact with these sites and inform them of the new name.

3. It is likely however that there will still be unidentified sources conveying visitors to your site. What you can do is to ask the visitor where he heard about your site prior to redirecting him. A free gift may provide the incentive which provides this information.
4. Ideally you should have counters to tell you how many times your old pages are being accessed. Once you feel that no more traffic is reaching your old site or that it does not justify the cost of maintaining it you can cancel the original site.

A final tip - depending on your relationship with your old provider there is no need to announce your intention to move until you are ready.

You are welcome to reprint this article as long as you include the credits at the end.

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