Setting up a domain for a future site

[Bozboz]

Hi there,

That may be a bit of a silly question to ask, but we've setup a new domain for an existing site.

While the site is in the making, the site owners wants to already start promoting the new URL on stationeries etc.

Hence, we need to setup the new URL so that it forwards to the site, but so that Google doesn't give it the history of a secondary (less important) domain. What is the best way to do this? Currently we've put in a 301 redirect, but will that bear no future consequences on the SEO of the site, when the site is moved to this new domain, and the old domain is 301 redirected.

Thanks,

SEOeclipse

[RobertFisher]

From what you are saying here, you have a site XYZ.com that the domain name will change for once a new site for XYZ.com is developed. You will not be running two sites once the new site XYZmodified.com is up. Your concern is that any low ranking from Google for XYZ will be visited upon XYZmodified.com?

Assuming that the old site has no real negative history with Google and your new site is going to be better optimized, etc. I would think you would want at least to start with some of the ranking of the old site as you build links to the new. You will want to insure that the canonical points to the correct url once the new site is up and the old is down. In the interim the 301 redirect should take your customers for the new domain to the current without a problem.

PS Based on what I have seen in the Q and A with SEOmoz, we are all learning daily, there are no silly questions.

[Dan-Petrovic]

If I understand the question correctly you want to temporarily point people to the old domain while you wait for the new domain site to be launched and stay there permanently.

If the above is correct then solution is:

pre-launch: setup 302 from newdomain.com to olddomain.com
post-launch: remove 302 and setup 301 from olddomain.com to newdomain.com

This way people who visit the new domain from stationery and printed material will go to the old domain and still get the content they expect while Google will be informed this change is only temporary. After the new site is launched you break the temporary redirect and setup a permanent redirect directive towards the new domain and new site.

[TellThemEverything]

I agree with Dejan SEO - I'd 302 the new to old right now, then 301 the old to new when launched