How to glue domains correctly

Domain gluing refers to the procedure of combining two or more domain names within the index bases of search engines. One domain will be the main one and all other domains will be its mirrors. More about what is a mirror site, and why it is needed, you can read in our other material.

This method provides preservation of attendance and positions in extradition in those cases where it is necessary to move the site to a new domain. This approach also  make sure that the link weight is preserved and, so that all the efforts invested in the promotion before the transfer will not be in vain.

What domain gluing is done for

We have already figured out that the main advantages of gluing is to save traffic, positions in search results and link weight. Now let's look at the reasons that make you resort to this method:

• changing the name of the site, rebranding;
• switching from the obsolete HTTP protocol to the more secure HTTPS with an encryption add-on;
• switching from a domain without the WWW to a domain with the WWW or vice versa;
• consolidation of several sites of similar orientation into a single large portal;
• improving the quality index of the site due to the assignment of indicators of mirror sites.

There are also cases where domain gluing is used to circumvent search engine filters. Sites that are created solely to sell links are often penalized by sanctions, which makes it impossible to sell links. Gluing with a "clean" domain allows you to bypass blocking.

Domain gluing: step-by-step instructions

The first thing to do is to check the new and old sites to see if they meet the requirements of search robots. They must be open for indexing, have identical content, etc. In general, they should be full-fledged mirrors of the main site by all criteria.

Next, go to the webmaster panel of the Google Search Console, and in "Settings" go to "Change Address". Here and set up a new domain:

• tick the checkboxes;
• сlick "send".

Thus you tell the search engine that you are moving to a new address forever.

After that, you need to set up a 301 server redirect from the old pages to the new, glued domain. 301 redirect provides redirection from one page to another with preservation of all link mass and behavioral factors, so it is ideal for the gluing. This is done through the file .htaccess – which is located at the root of the site. Open it in edit mode and find the following lines:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} old-domen.ru
RewriteRule (.*) http://new-domen.ru/$1 [R=301,L]

These need to be changed to match your domain names.

There is another, alternative way – gluing domains with the directive Host, by editing the file robots.txt. But this method works only for Yandex, so we will not consider it.

Conclusion

Remember that only an experienced administrator is able to correctly perform the gluing procedure, competently set up redirections, and all other related things. If you are not confident of your abilities, make sure to make backups before editing important files – this will allow you to roll back changes if needed. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our experts. We will answer any questions within our competence.