XF 1.2 vB4 -> xF migration and Seo effect

[giorgino]

Iv'e just migrated a forum from vB4 to xF 1.5 in april... and the indexed pages are decreased a lot.
The forum count 36.000+ users and 150.000 posts.

Any advice?

 

[AndyB]

In order to force www when it's missing in the URL, you want to add this to your .htaccess file.

RewriteEngine on
rewritecond %{http_host} ^propit.it [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.propit.it/$1 [r=301,nc]

 

[Weppa333]

There are multiple problems here. Getting out of this situation is not an easy task.
It all depends if you're relying on revenues or not... The damage is done.

If this was my site, I would switch back to www.propit for two reasons
1) google does not like change
2) google does not like change

Nah, joke apart, all external links to www.yourboard will be broken links if you don't, so you'll loose all the ranking power of those links. You could redirect them but this is a serious headache, and google does not like redirects ( /posts/ anyone ? ). None knows what they do with "serp power" from redirect, but probably nothing good either ( repeat in your head ; does not like change )
But again, if it's your DECISION to go for "propit.it without www" from now on, let's stick to it. But if it's not, and that you don't mind another 6 months of nightmare with rankings, switch back to WWW.propit, the way it used to be for years maybe, is the thing to do.

It's your decision, your site, your money...

 

[giorgino]

If this was my site, I would switch back to www.propit for two reasons

It's what I done
I really like your advices and - again - thank you very much

 

[AndyB]

It's what I done

I just tried it and I'm still able to navigate to http://propit.it/

Did you add the code to your .htaccess file?

 

[giorgino]

I just tried it and I'm still able to navigate to http://propit.it/

Did you add the code to your .htaccess file?

Nope. I've added the CNAME in my DNS records

 

[AndyB]

Nope. I've added the CNAME in my DNS records

I've never heard of CNAME until now. Is the DNS records you mention adding, is that in Google's Webmaster Tools?

 

[giorgino]

I've never heard of CNAME until now. Is the DNS records you mention adding, is that in Google's Webmaster Tools?

The CNAME is simply an alias...

 

[AndyB]

The CNAME is simply an alias...

I understand that, but where do you make this change?

 

[giorgino]

I understand that, but where do you make this change?

In DNS records... It simply redirect the www.domain.com to domain.com

 

[AndyB]

In DNS records... It simply redirect the www.domain.com to domain.com

What link did you go to to make this change? Is this something in the Google Webmaster Tools or somewhere else?

 

[giorgino]

What link did you go to to make this change? Is this something in the Google Webmaster Tools or somewhere else?

It's a server side preference, nothing to do with Google.

 

[Digital Doctor]

site.com vs www.site.com

How could this have been avoided from the beginning ?
Is there a xenforo setting that giorgino could have used to make sure his site was at www.propit.it (not at propit.it) ?

 

[giorgino]

How could this have been avoided from the beginning ?
Is there a xenforo setting that giorgino could have used to make sure his site was at www.propit.it (not at propit.it) ?

 

[AndyB]

It's a server side preference, nothing to do with Google.

I took a quick look on my dedicated server (I have Centos) but could not find this setting or file.

Is setting CNAME better than making a change in the .htaccess file? Or would the net effect be the same as far as SEO is concerned?

 

[Jeremy]

Its apart of the DNS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNAME_record

 

[AndyB]

So is the CNAME a setting one would set in the /etc/resolv.conf file?

 

[Jeremy]

If .htaccess is working for you Andy, I wouldn't suggest changing to a CNAME.

 

[AndyB]

If .htaccess is working for you Andy, I wouldn't suggest changing to a CNAME.

Hi Jeremy,

I've used .htaccess for about 10 years now so all my URL's have www in them, internal and external.

Sorry to be so dense regarding CNAME, but I have never heard of doing this and I'm curious to learn the advantages or possible disadvantages of using it over .htaccess file.

 

[Jeremy]

Its used to resolve to another domain name invisibly and is used extensively by my employers to hide the fact that content isn't being served by my clients. Your set up is fine, and will continue to be fine and won't hurt you and you won't gain anything by switching.

 

[giorgino]

This is the progress after less than 1 month...