Anchor Text / Redirecting Domains = WTF HELP!
  • SFCriticSFCritic
    Sssh don't tell my boss, but I'm actually not Web 2.0 savvy. I need your help fellow bloggers. I've made two big mistakes. First, I've been registering my blog with aggregators and catalogs under two URLs (http://sfcritic.blogspot.com) and (http://www.sfcritic.blogspot.com). Second, when I finally purchased my domain (www.sfcritic.com) and redirected my content--shit went bonkers. Not the good kind of bonkers like Jersey Shore (a personal favorite cultural reference of mine at the moment). Webmaster tools is clearly confused because I have several websites where my content is being published. For a while I was no longer receiving a list of keywords used to find my website or the top search queries. Great. F-U-2-Webmaster TOOL.

    I added anchor text after researching the issue (http://sfcritic.blogspot.com), but this is not good. Yes, I started getting my search queries back, but I need to be able to also use the data of those linking to my website as (www.sfcritic.com). Is there a way to have more than one anchor? Is there any easy solutions besides holding Google Customer Care hostage until they fix my issues (I don't just mean with my website)? Speaking of which, what is up with Google Customer care: "Here's a link that might help you...Was this link helpful?" No asshole it wasn't. I still have a problem, so give me another link to tell me how to calm the F-down.


    *sigh*
  • TimTim
    Google punishes duplicated content, so you really only want your blog available at one address (with and without the www. are not punished for being the same content, but one should really redirect to the other for SERPS).

    I'm not quite sure what you're doing with the anchor text. First thing would be to email everyone linking to and aggregating from SFCritic and getting them to update their links to your new domain. Then you need to start redirecting the old addresses.

    You've stayed with Blogger with your domain which means this isn't something I've done I'm afraid, as it ahs more to do with understanding Blogger than any web development stuff. I would normally say do a 301 redirect, and Google updates itself after a few weeks and drops your old address having successfully moved your links to the new domain in its index. How you do that within Blogger I do not know - If there isn't a way in settings then Google Customer Care may well be the way to go.
  • SFCriticSFCritic
    Thanks Tim for your thoughtful response. I knew the 301 redirect was the next step, but have no idea how to do it.
  • TimTim
    OK - so having a bit of a read - Google has already done a 301 redirect for you. All your links automatically forward to sfcritic.com

    All done then, apart from getting friends, bloggers, etc to update their links.
  • SFCriticSFCritic
    How did you figure that out? Should I change the canonical text that I put in?
  • TimTim
    Googling sfcritic only really shows your new domain (blogspot is at the bottom of the second page and not cached), and going to your blogspot redirects with no delay - all points towards a 301 but I can't be sure obviously.

    I'd leave the canonical text in just to make sure they pick the right URL (and in case I'm wrong and they've done the redirection another way and other search engines haven't worked it out) - for the moment at least.
  • TartTart
    hey Tim sweetie,

    I got the same sort of issue.... old posts are under my old domain (which I switched to be a subdomain) and which I *thought* was going to be automatically re-directed. But they're not :(
    See here: http://love.apt6d.com/2009/06/09/an-interview-with-an-horse-schubas-0607-with-telekinesis-and-a-lull/

    When you click the header for the home page you get re-directed but that post isn't re-directed itself. How do I make that happen?

    xo
  • TimTim
    None of that is on Blogger is it Tart? If all of this is on normal webspace it gets a lot easier...

    In http://love.apt6d.com/ you just need to add a file called .htaccess and in that file should be the following line



    That's it (hopefully).

    Good luck x
  • TartTart
    ah, wonderful, thanks :) you're our resident tech support, darling xo
  • SFCriticSFCritic
    I know Tart, we're lucky!
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