Discontinuing a site & Redirecting Traffic to an Internal Page

[TopFloor]

We are wondering the best way to redirect the traffic from a site that will no longer exist.

The Scenario:
Our client wants to discontinue this website http://www.animalcarepackaging.com/.  We’d like to redirect the traffic from this site to an internal page on our client's other website: http://www.glenroy.com/packaging/.  This internal page is the most appropriate to the content that appears on animalcarepackaging.com (as opposed to just the entire site glenroy.com).

Possible Options We Are Considering:
Option 1: Keep hosting animalcarepackaging.com and add a 301 redirect for all pages to glenroy.com/packaging/.     Our concern with this option is that Google/Bing will see animalcarepackaging.com as a gateway, which could hurt glenroy.com.

Option 2: Keep hosting animalcarepackaging.com and add a 301 redirect so all pages are sent to glenroy.com/packaging/; AND file a change of address with Google and Bing.  We believe this will allow people who have bookmarked animalcarepackaging.com to go to glenroy.com/packaging/; while people searching for animalcarepackaging.com will go to glenroy.com's home page.  We would augment this by posting a message on the homepage of animalcarepackaging.com notifiying users that the site will be discontinued and info will be found at glenroy.com/packaging.

Option 3: Do a change of address with Google/Bing and send all traffic to glenroy.com (rather than an internal page).  Post information on the homepage of animalcarepackaging.com that the site will be discontinued on X-date, and info about animalcarepackaging.com will be able to be found at glenroy.com/packaging.

Looking for feedback on our options and suggestions on how this can be handled.

[giasungoaithuong]

i have same problem with my site at http://giasu88.com/. How cant i move it to http://giasungoaithuong.net/news/trung-tam-gia-su-su-pham-ha-noi.d-348.aspx

[AlanMosley]

You do not have to keep hosting the retired site.

configure your dns so that both domain names point to the same ip number, configure your server to respond to both domain names, then create your 301's to capture the retired domain and redirect where you want them to go.

Using the google change of a address tool, is of little or no value. Maybe speeds things up, but in the end they will follow the links to where you send them.

[TopFloor]

Alan,

Thanks for the information.  When you say "create your 301s," do you mean to do it in the htaccess file (our client is on an apache server).  If so, wouldn’t the hosting need to be kept live for the 301s to work via the htaccess file?

[AlanMosley]

no, you don't need to keep the hosting alive

siteA is being retired, correct

You should now point the dns for siteA to siteB.

now do your 301 in the htaccess for siteB, redirecting requests with a http_host of siteA to the relevant page

[TopFloor]

That makes sense!  Thanks for the clarification!