Steve is correct - if done correctly, you should not lose any SE
standings.
As to the source, I am trying to locate it - Google's advice to
webmasters recommends using the "301 Moved Permanently" method but (1)
for many people this may not be an option, depending on their host, and
(2) I don't like it as much because it isn't as informative to visitors.
You can have a look at an example of how I've implemented the refresh
tag at
http://www.psychlinks.ca/psychlinks.htm - this has the advantage
of telling visitors what's happening and reminding them to change their
bookmarks and it provides the delay preferred by some search engines as
well.
There is a definitive source for the 10 - 30 second guideline (one of
the Search Engine gurus, a female I think, maybe Jill Whalen or Shari
Thurow...) but I'm having trouble locating it right now - in the
meantime, here is another article that make the point and gives the
rationale:
http://www.search-marketing.info/meta-tags/meta-refresh.htm
Also note that if the Refresh value is low (e.g., 1-4 seconds) it
effectively disables the back button which is going to annoy your
visitors - and annoying visitors is not usually the point of a website,
especially a commercial site!
MD Websunlimited said:
Hi David,
Is there an authoritative reference for this comment?
If you're moving your site from one domain name to another you've
hosed your search engine standings in the any case.
