We currently have several addresses that lead to our site. The one you
have listed in you directory goes to our site however it is not the
URL we would like for people to see. We are building a "brand
identity" and advertising this new URL. We want to make sure that 100%
of site visitors come from the correct URL. How should we go about
changing the Google listing to permanently reflect the advertised URL
that we prefer without disrupting our google listing and service?
Also, in this process, is there any way to change our site title and
description?

---

Request for Question Clarification by serenata-ga on 06 Jun 2003 12:47 PDT

Hi Circlesthree ~

Before I try to answer your question for you, I want to make sure I
understand what you're asking.

1. As I understand your question, you have several URLs which redirect
to one site which is listed in Google's index. Is that correct?

2. You have a new URL you want to list which you are advertising. Does
this URL have its own content or is this, too, a redirect to the URL
listed on Google?

3. You say "We want to make sure that 100% of site visitors come from
the correct URL." ... what do you mean come "from" the correct URL? Do
you mean you don't want them to go directly TO the "correct" URL?

4. As for the changing the advertised URL, have you added content to
that site? Or is that a redirect?

5. With regard to changing the site title and description, that is
easy enough to address, as you can change the site content with the
title and description you prefer - with no guarantee there won't be a
disruption or change in Google's listing and service.

Providing us with the actual URLs you are talking about would help in
understanding and addressing your questions.

Or rewording your question with the information/clarifications
requested would also help to get you started in the right direction.

Thanks,
Serenata

---

Clarification of Question by circlesthree-ga on 06 Jun 2003 15:21 PDT

Hello Sernata,

Here is my clarification. I have seperately answered each of your
points.

1. As I understand your question, you have several URLs which redirect
to one site which is listed in Google's index. Is that correct?

Answer: Yes this is correct. The site is TruthBook.com but two other
URLs go there too. Truthlover.com and Truthbook.org.
 
2. You have a new URL you want to list which you are advertising. Does
this URL have its own content or is this, too, a redirect to the URL
listed on Google?

Answer: Yes, we originally listed the site with Google as
Truthlover.com but two months later changed the URL to Truthbook.com.
Since Truthbook.com is the main URL we advertise and promote we want
it to show up in the Google listing. We don't want to lose our ranking
though.
 
3. You say "We want to make sure that 100% of site visitors come from
the correct URL." ... what do you mean come "from" the correct URL? Do
you mean you don't want them to go directly TO the "correct" URL?

Answer: We merely want them to SEE the correct URL when they click
through from the Google listing and also should they decide to
bookmark the site we want them to have Truthbook.com as the bookmark
rather than Truthlover.com.
 
4. As for the changing the advertised URL, have you added content to
that site? Or is that a redirect?

Answer: I guess you would call it a redirect since both URLs go to the
exact same site. We have advertised TruthBook.com and are trying to
create a brand identity with that. We only keep Truthlover.com because
we perceive that many people still have it bookmarked and/or linked.
We understand that we need to write to sites that link to us using the
Truthlover.com URL and tell them to change it.
 
5. With regard to changing the site title and description, that is
easy enough to address, as you can change the site content with the
title and description you prefer - with no guarantee there won't be a
disruption or change in Google's listing and service.

Answer:  OK, I assume you will explain how that is done.

Providing us with the actual URLs you are talking about would help in
understanding and addressing your questions.

Answer: I have done this above.
 
Or rewording your question with the information/clarifications
requested would also help to get you started in the right direction.

Answer: I hope my answers to your question will suffice to clarify.
 
Thanks, 
Serenata

Answer: Thank You Seranata!

Hi there,

Google gets its directory listings from Open Directory. To change the
URL, title and description, you need to:

1) Go the appropriate category at Open Directory:

Society: Religion and Spirituality: New Age: Urantia Book
http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/New_Age/Urantia_Book/

2) Click on the link at the top of the page that says "update URL"

3) Fill in the forms, they are very straightforward.

The URL will be changed when an editor attends to the category next.
This sometimes takes months, sometimes days.

Ask for the title to be changed. I suggest asking for "Jesus Christ:
The Urantia Book".

Getting the description changed is extremely difficult, unless the
content of the site has changed, and the current description is
inaccurate. Rewriting the description so that it sounds more appealing
is unlikely to be received well by an editor - Open Directory editors
are supposed to provide bland, accurate descriptions of the site's
contents. Suggesting a change is akin to telling the editor that they
aren't good at their job!

I'm pleased to see that truthbook.org and truthlover.com are no longer
redirecting to the main site. With search engines it is best to keep
it simple: one URL, one website. Having redirects, or multiple
websites with the same content, just heightens the chances of being
penalized. A single URL enhances PageRank, because all the backward
links will be pointing to the same place, instead of being divided
between several.

It would be a good idea to ask any site linking to truthlover.com to
change the link to the new URL:
http://www.alltheweb.com/search?q=%2Blink.all%3Atruthlover.com+-site%3Atruthlover.com&c=web&cs=utf-8&co=1&no=off&l=any

and this site that links to truthlover.org:
http://www.lightandlife.com/partners/default.htm



Search strategy - many years experience as an Open Directory editor.


Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga