URL pointing

[Stevie]

I have a few domain names and like to keep them at one registrar for ease of management. I then either leave the domain parked until I need it or point it to the server where the site is hosted.

Are there any views here on whether 'pointing' has an disadvantages from a Search Engine point of view?

PS I think the term pointing might be incorrect, but I didn't know what to call it. (BTW I think SEOs need a Glossary that all can follow).

[Blue]

Pointing is fine as long as the related domain names are all pointing to a SINGLE site. In other words, If you have 6 domain names related to "blue widgets" and they are all pointing to a single site about blue widgets, that's fine. If they are pointing to duplicate/mirror/doorway sites, that's no good and is considered spam.

The other part of this equation is to ensure that you are only promoting the one main blue widgets site's domain name.

Many people use more than one domain name, each pointing to a single site.

[Stevie]

Thanks Blue,

no in this case, it's just one domain pointing to one server at the hosing company.

I guess the hosters prefer you register the domain with them (if they are also registrars). That way they get the annual fee.

I prefer to keep all daomains at the same registrar.

[Advisor]

Hi Stevie,

That's a common practice, and it's not a problem with the search engines.

Jill

[excell]

I have seen it be a problem with folks linking to these domains.. if that happens it is best to go by the prescribed method as publicly stated in the search engine's guidelines.

[Advisor]

if that happens it is best to go by the prescribed method as publicly stated in the search engine's guidelines. Which is...?

J

[ihelpyou]

LOL. And that is the crutch and prob that even pointers can have. We have had many a long discussion about them. I'm in agreement with excell on this as I have seen probs come up even if you are only promoting One main url and have multiple pointers leading to the main url. Google does/can get confused and drop the wrong url if they find more than one. It does happen. It can happen. It's the little risk you take with multiple pointers. You can do everything right and still run into a problem. Not a darn thing you can do about it though. :)

[Advisor]

From what I understand, a permanent redirect (that tells the engines a site has permanetly moved) at the server level, is your best bet at not causing SE problems.

I forget the redirect code number for this, but server admins should know what it is and how to implement it.

Jill

[Stevie]

Hi Jill,

No that is not what I meant at all. (Or did I? This is where we need a glossary). I hear so many SEOs using different expressions for the same thing.

When you register a URL at a Registrar you can log in to your account and tell it where your site is hosted. The default is usually the Registrar's own server and when you type the domain you get a default "Site under Construction" page or similar.

Now if the Registrar also offers a hosting service, then I guess everything is fine. BUT (my question) if you buy and administer your domains at godaddy and host them at various hosting services, then what goes? Is that disadvantageous or not?

Regards

[Blue]

Hi Stevie,

I think you've got it right but just so we're not mixing apples and oranges:

A domain name is just that. It gets "parked" on a "nameserver". Until you tell the nameserver it's parked at where (which hosts nameserver) you are "pointing" it to, it will resolve to nowhere (given that you are not hosting with the registrar, nor using the registrars nameserver info). So - the domain name itself has nothing to do with hosting.

A nameserver resolves domain names to IP addresses.

So, in your case, as long as you have your godaddy domain names (as many as you wish, heeding Dougs warning above) pointed to your real host's nameservers (where your single main site is hosted), you'll be fine.

[Advisor]

Yes, I believe we were talking about the same thing. Parked domain...pointing to same DNS server...also known as a domain alias.

[DLSWeb]

I think that Stevie asked about apples and we have tried to tell him how to make an apple pie.

A domain name is always "pointed" to a Domain Name Server. You set your Domain Name Server within your account at the registrar where your domain in registered.
This information is then shared with ISP's across the Internet.
Then when someone tries to go to your domain name, that person's ISP tells their browser where to go to see the domain.

That is why it takes a couple of days for your browser to go to your new site with a new hosting provider because you changed the DNS.

If the registrar also has a hosting business, then the default DNS (Domain Name Server) will always be their own.
So when you host with another service, you would SET your DNS to the ones that your hosting provider has given you.

The short answer to your original question - It makes no difference at all.

[Stevie]

Thanks DSLweb,

That pretty much sums it up and is what I needed to know.

[themightyshrimp]

I have registered a domain name:- www.damagedgoods.org, at a registrar who neither has hosting nor a url pointing facility - what does this mean?

i have webspace of the form http://myspace.generic.com and two nameservers at the registrar called ns1.thingy.com and ns2.thingy.com. Despite feeling like i have no real grasp of what they are for, I've tried to change the first nameserver to correlate with my webspace to no avail, and have also tried using a third party url pointing service (www.mydomain.com) to forward the url to the webpage this way. Again, explorer doesn't recognise the url and punts it to msn search.

the WHOis account does exist (of that much i am sure); the money's out of my bank account (i'm doubly sure of that:). Looking thru the internet i can only find reams of information that i'm not quite sure is relevant to my basic village idiot's question; can anyone help me??


thanks,
r watt

[Advisor]

Log into your account at your registrar and change the dns lines to:

ns1.thingy.com
ns2.thingy.com

Then at your server/host, make sure you open up an account for that particular domain name.

It will take a few days for the DNS to propagate, so if you don't see anything happen right away that's normal.

Good luck!

Jill