Domains

[ibaker]

My site uses the .com extension as in mysite.com however I also own many domains using different extensions of "mysite" like .net, .org, .com.au, .co.uk, .us, .co, .co.nz etc etc etc

What I currently have is an empty site on my server that uses the .net extension (i.e. mysite.net) and parked all the other domains in that. The .net site contains no files except for a .htaccess file that contains redirect code to redirect all those parked domains (plus the .net) to my main .com site where my forums are.

I found that by parking the domains on my main site any user going to one of these other domains would see my site but their browser doesn't show the .com so it was confusing.

My question is...what is the best way for me to manage my domains ensuring they all go to mysite.com without confusing anyone and maximising anything to do with search engines etc...thanks

 

[TPerry]

My question is...what is the best way for me to manage my domains ensuring they all go to mysite.com without confusing anyone and maximising anything to do with search engines etc...thanks

I just use a simple re-write in nginx that redirects all the .net/.org/.us extensions I have (and strips the www) to my main .com one. It is defined in the master for my main forum domain so no need to "park" a domain.

 

[Sim]

I found that by parking the domains on my main site any user going to one of these other domains would see my site but their browser doesn't show the .com so it was confusing.

Can you share the htaccess code you are using for the redirect? If done correctly, it should change the browser to show the .com domain you are redirecting to.

 

[ibaker]

Can you share the htaccess code you are using for the redirect? If done correctly, it should change the browser to show the .com domain you are redirecting to.

What I am using on the .net site to redirect is:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.recreationalflying.com/$1 [R=301,L]

This is redirecting ALL the parked domains on .net to the .com where my site web site is

As I mentioned, if I parked the domains on the .com, where my site is instead of using .net, the user sees the domain they went to like .org or .com.au in their browser address bar after they are redirected instead of .com...this is why I parked ALL the extra domains on .net because after they are redirected by that .htaccess code they are then on .com and their browser address bar also shows .com

 

[Sim]

WAs I mentioned, if I parked the domains on the .com, where my site is instead of using .net, the user sees the domain they went to like .org or .com.au in their browser address bar after they are redirected instead of .com

... right, now I understand the problem.

Try going back to parking the domains on the .com and then use a rewrite like this:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.recreationalflying\.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.recreationalflying.com/$1 [R=301,L]

... this should redirect recreationalflying.com, recreationalflying.net, www.recreationalflying.net, etc, all to www.recreationalflying.com

 

[ibaker]

So please correct me if I am wrong but I go into cPanel and just simply park these domains:
recfly.com.au
recflying.com.au
recreationalflying.co
recreationalflying.co.nz
recreationalflying.co.uk
recreationalflying.co.za
recreationalflying.com.au
recreationalflying.net
recreationalflying.net.au
recreationalflying.org
recreationalflying.us
but don't set a redirect for each one so it looks like this:


and then edit the .com .htaccess file and include this:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.recreationalflying\.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.recreationalflying.com/$1 [R=301,L]

and now anyone going to say .com.au will be on the .com site and .com will be in their browser web address bar???

Note...I have a dedicated server and all my domains at my registrar point to my ns1 and ns2 of my server