Migrating a website to a new domain, and associated google index problem

Question

Hi,

We currently have a website at "somedomain.net/codefest". We do not own this server (or this domain name).

Due to capacity problems, we are now moving to a new server. Since we do not own the old domain name, we are also moving to a new domain name.

Since we'll need to abandon the old server soon, we'll be redirecting all requests to "somedomain.net/codefest/anything" to "newdomain.net/anything".

My problem is, after a lot of effort, our website's page rank is now fairly significant. I'm sure moving our website to a new domain name will be drastically detrimental to our website's search engine rank.

Is there any way we can tell the search bots that we've moved the website? Perhaps, when I redirect from the old site, if I give a 302 redirect, search spiders will notice it?

Is there any other issue related to moving our website that I should be aware of?

Thanks,
jrh

Answer 1

Google recommend a 301 redirect. (301 indicates permanent change. 302 indicates a temporary change.)

They have other advice on their Moving Your Site FAQ page which should be more widely applicable than just Google.