How to redirect in this situation?

Hey folks,

maybe some newbie question to most of you. Would appreciate a hint in the right direction!

OLDdomain.net is connected to an old hosting account.

NEWsite.com has been uploaded to a new hosting account.

Objective:

The client should be able to still enter OLDdomain.net into his browser, but should be delivered the contents of NEWsite.com PLUS he should still see OLDdomain.net as TLD in his address bar in the browser. - Everything should word in such a way that the internal links on NEWsite.com work properly, but the user always sees the beginning part of the address as OLDdomain.net/...

What would be the proper way to achieve this result?

Maybe you can point me to some place this is explained properly - Just want to make sure that i am not heading into the wrong direction!

Many thanks, Valli

 

I don't think there is any server tweak which would allow that to happen, Since it would be Cheating as Domain is different and the content shown is different, Other then having the same TLD you could implement everything else by using a Simple 301 Redirect. This way you can pass on the juice of your webpages as well.

 

I never heard of this before and I don't think it is possible. If the client want his old domain to be the address then why redirect to a new domain?

 

That is the correct answer. The best and recommended way to do this is via a 301 (permanent) redirect although they WILL see the new domain name.

If the web site at the new domain has exactly the same site structure as the web site at the old domain then you can "tell" the server to redirect the requested page to the same page on the new web site. If the web site at the new domain does not have the same structure as the web site at the old domain you are probably best redirecting to the default page of the web site on the new domain (or any other chosen page).

This redirect can be carried out by the web server directly, or else you could do it programatically within the web site itself or via URL re-write. Letting the web server take care of it is the easiest option.

If it's essential that the old domain is displayed, then why not set up the old domain on the new hosting account then change the DNS settings for the old domain? You can leave the old domain at the original hosting location for a few days while the DNS settings propogate, and after a couple of days shut the old hosting account down.

Another way to do it would be to set-up the site on the new hosting account and domain, add the old domain as an alias, and then change the DNS settings for the old domain so that they start to point to the new hosting account.

If you're long-term plan is to change the domain to the new one, then best just to let customers know, do the 301 redirect, and save yourself any hassle.

If you want to keep the old domain working indefinitely AND want the new domain to work too, then the alias suggestion is best.

If you don't really want to use the new domain and it's just a "transitional" thing while the old domain is sorted out, then setting up the site on the new hosting account and changing the DNS settings for the old domain would be best.

It all really depends upon what you're attempting to achieve and what the long-term plan is.

 

Completely agree with Rons advice here, At the end its Upto you and your plans regarding the website but your Idea is close to impossible to implement since it would be a con to display one websites content on another.