Best way to redirect a .net domain to a .com

[Verbal]

When I get a good .com domain I like to also pick up the .net version, but I usually don't put anything on there. What is the proper (and SEO friendly) way to foward someone from blah.net to blah.com?

Currently I just do it by putting this on index.php:

PHP Code:

<?php
header("Location: http://www.blah.com/"); /* Redirect browser */

/* Make sure that code below does not get executed when we redirect. */
exit;
?>

[cd34]

If nothing is going there:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule .* http://domain.com/ [R=301,L]

Might confirm with a few SE gurus, but, my belief is that the 301 will not garner the scraping penalty.

[Greenguy]

I might actually know the answer to this one!

Sparky - would this work?

PHP Code:

Redirect / http://www.domain.com/ 


[Verbal]

Originally Posted by cd34

If nothing is going there:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule .* http://domain.com/ [R=301,L]

Might confirm with a few SE gurus, but, my belief is that the 301 will not garner the scraping penalty.

Yeah, I think this is probably a better way than what I'm doing. I'm also not really sure if the PHP redirect is a 301 or 302, etc. And from what I've read the 302 is the wrong way.

This article explains it pretty well: The rundown on 301 and 302 redirects

[H2ohNeil]

Hello Verbal,

You can park one domain on the other very easily through your Control Panel.

H2ohNeil

[cd34]

That would still send a 302 which my understanding is not what google prefers.

Somewhere I read that google prefers a 301 or 404 to a 302.

[Verbal]

From that article I posted above:

"Correctly setting up a “301 redirect” command can be a very fast and easy step for any web master or site owner if done correctly and if you know how to do it right. Don’t take chances of having your site banned like Business.com was earlier this year. A “302 redirect” command is an invitation for getting your site banned, since search engines don’t like temporary redirects."

Sparky is "That would still send a 302 which my understanding is not what google prefers." in response to me or H2ohNeil?

[cd34]

sorry, by the time I read and posted, a few people put responses in.

Results in 302

Redirect / http://www.domain.com/

Results in 302

<?php
  header("Location: http://newsite.com/");
?>

Results in 302

ErrorDocument 404 http://newsite.com

Results in 301

RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule .* http://domain.com/ [R=301,L]

h20neil's suggestion of parking a domain on another, or overlaying, will also work. The problem there is that google could see both domains serving the same content and knock one out for the dupe page penalty.

[Verbal]

Gotcha, thanks for the info!

[Greenguy]

Originally Posted by cd34

...The problem there is that google could see both domains serving the same content and knock one out for the dupe page penalty.

Been there, done that, got penalized