I realize the subject of 301s/302s has been discussed to death, however, I would like to touch on the subject once again.

Go Daddy offers 301 and 302 re-directs. In my research, the general consensus is that a 301 is the best. What do you all think?

Next question involves masking. Go Daddy also gives the option of masking the redirect. Is this a good idea, or does Google look at this a dup content?

Appreciate your help!

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Hey Smuck,

301 Redirects
The 301 redirect should be used when you are looking to permanently redirect a domain name or a page to a set location. This means if you are buying domain names and wish to forever redirect them to a set domain name then you should do a 301 redirect.

Search engines will look at 301 redirects the same way. If any links are being pointed to the domain name that is being redirected then those links will count towards the domain name which they are being redirected to.

302 Redirects
302 redirects are temporary redirects which means if you are moving a page that's currently located on www.exampledomain.com/example-page.html to www.exampledomain.com/example-page-2.html temporarily and wish that search engines continue to look at the example-page.html and wish that they do NOT transfer the rank from that page to the example-page-2.html then you should use the 302 redirect.

Hope this helps.

Ado

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Back Link Checker - Canadian Agents - Free Real Estate Website

Ado Topuz
Real Estate Website Design

Website: www.agent-server.com

Thanks, you confirmed what I was thinking.

But what about masking? Would I want to mask the re-direct?

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I'm not too sure what masking does. Can you show me an example of a domain name you might be doing on? Or a link to GoDaddy's page that talks about their masking?

One thing that comes to mind is that they are hiding the page which they are redirecting too. If that's the case then Masking would not be a very good idea for search engines as then you are not passing your link value to your desired location bur rather passing it to the page which is masking it.

Ado

__________________
Back Link Checker - Canadian Agents - Free Real Estate Website

Ado Topuz
Real Estate Website Design

Website: www.agent-server.com

Here is how Go Daddy explains masking:

"Masking works with domain name forwarding, which redirects all Web traffic for a domain to a specified URL. When someone enters your domain name into a browser, our system automatically forwards or redirects them to the URL. However, with masking, the domain name displayed in the address bar does not change.

Forwarding with Masking prevents visitors from knowing that they have been redirected by retaining your domain name in their Web browser's address bar. You can also add a title and meta tags to your masked domain. Title and meta tag information is important to a Web site’s search engine ranking, but it does not change the look of your Web site."

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Hmmm, that's interesting. I'd love to see a domain name which works that way on a 301 redirect. The headers will tell us how the search engines will look at it.

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Back Link Checker - Canadian Agents - Free Real Estate Website

Ado Topuz
Real Estate Website Design

Website: www.agent-server.com

Keep in mind, that was a quote from GoDaddy. GoDaddy doen'st lie. And, everything written is true. Yup, it is!

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I used to have a site that worked with a mask. Godaddy did it just fine. Basically the website link in browser stays the same regardless of what page you are on on the site, but it could be going to a totally different URL. I don't know much beyond that.

Are you looking to get into stealth sites?

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Steve Castaneda, Realtor
Keller Williams Realty
The MyHomeHouston Team

Specializing in Houston Real Estate. Feel free to visit my Houston Real Estate Blog or read about Real Estate Technology for agents.