301 redirects on Windows server

[Houses]

Hi, We are soon moving www.ourumbrellaorganisationwebsite.co.uk/oldsubsidiaryname/index.aspx AND www.differentolddomainname.co.uk to just www.ourumbrellaorganisationwebsite.co.uk (an existing site which will no longer have the old subsidiary name sub section). How do we do the 301 redirects on a Windows server? Helicon has been suggested but I don't know it.

I know we need to 301 redirect 'old' pages to the equivalent new ones, but is it a problem to do all of the old pages (there are lots) or should we just just do a few? is there ever a downside to doing individual redirects for an entire old site?

Also, once the 301 redirects are in place from the old domain, is it possible to let the old domain expire and if so, at what point?

Thanks

[Houses]

Thanks.

We are using IIS6 - will take a look at the rewrite module you suggested.

The site is verified with GWT but thanks for reminder to notify ref change of address.

[SebastianCowie]

If you've got an older version of IIS - http://www.mcanerin.com/EN/articles/301-redirect-IIS.asp or if you've got IIS 7.0+ then install the URL rewrite module - http://www.iis.net/learn/extensions/url-rewrite-module then read - http://www.iis.net/learn/extensions/url-rewrite-module/creating-rewrite-rules-for-the-url-rewrite-module

If the site structure is the same, then you can write 1 rule to redirect all the old pages to your new domain including anything after the trailing slash. If not then you'll have to do it manually (not too difficult if you use excel).

The only downside to doing individual redirects would be the additional server load, and time to compose the rewrite but if the site has a lot of backlinks, then the benefits from taking the time to redirect the entire site far outweight the negatives.

I'd also recommend verifying your sites within GWT (if you haven't already done so) and notifying Google of a change of address as well.

Regarding expiration of old domains. I think 6-12 months is a safe bet.