I checked with my hosting support and they confirmed the alias is a 301.   So I don't need to do anything. redirect-wise.

After the new site is in place. is it worth it to re-work our old .htaccess file so it points to the new site?

Stephen

We are rebranding our store with a new name. We have purchased a NewDomainName.  Can I just make the "Old Domain Name" an alias for the "NewDomainName"?

The site will not change in any other way than having a new logo.  This is an e-commerce site with over 100 categories of artisan made products.  So once we move the site, the old domain will be empty.

Thank you

Stephen

Thank you- just what I needed

I am getting alot of hits from blexhn30.webmeup.com.   My web host says it could be a web service. Is this part of moz local activity?  Otherwise I want to block it. Have you seen this before??

Some of my art object products have words and phrases  engraved on them. The words  relate to the images on the product. In the product descriptions, I have been putting quotes around the entire list. Would I get better long tail results if I didn't use the quotation marks?   In other words, do the quotes make everything between them an exact match phrase?

For example:
Current product description: 
The worlds around the edge of the lazy susan read, "Explore nature. Dream big. Take time to smell the flowers. Enjoy the changing seasons. Seize the day. Relish the night. Live life to the fullest."

Thank you for helping with this, all comments on how to present this kind of content are welcomed-

Stephen

kSOjt5a

Thank you very much for sharing those results.

On April 20, BOTW is having a 50% off day.  Anyone thinking of it might want to take a look:

Use Promo code SINCE94 starting at 12:01am EST on 4/20 and receive an instant 50% off discount on all directory submissions, local listings, bundles and sponsorships.

I use google analytics- Is there something special I should set up to track this?  Or is it something to do with filtering?

Or any ideas on where to learn to set it up to track conversions and traffic for this 1 group of terms would be a great help.

Thank you for your comments EGOL

Handcrafter

Thanks Charles- This is really really helpful.  The products I show on www.stowecraft.com do not have have brand names and they are all artisan-made & unique. So naming the products and their categories is crucial - and this compund name issue comes up over and over again.

Your suggestion about using the plural on the category page and the singular on the product page may work. But after reading Rands "singular vs plural"  I am thinking that keeping my focus on the singular will increase conversions. I'll try to test it with ppc ads.

Best wishes

Handcrafter

What is the best way to handle keywords like "switchplate covers"? The key word may be seen as either a 2 or 3 word phrase, depending how you handle the compound term: "switch plate" or "switchplate"

In google KW it shows different results for switch plate vs switchplate as well as using cover vs covers.

I've tried using all the variations in my descriptions, titles and H2s  but I think this is diluting them all.  Can anyone show me best practice guidelenes or examples of good solutions to these kinds of compound key words?

Thanks

Handcrafter

We are rebranding our store with a new name. We have purchased a NewDomainName.  Can I just make the "Old Domain Name" an alias for the "NewDomainName"?

The site will not change in any other way than having a new logo.  This is an e-commerce site with over 100 categories of artisan made products.  So once we move the site, the old domain will be empty.

Thank you

Stephen