There’s an easy way to tell whether your domain is set up correctly. Go to your website in a browser, then do View > Source. Or if you’re using Chrome, do View > Developer > View Source.
You should now be “under the hood” of your site and looking at the source code that’s actually read by browsers.
Domain Masking
If your domain has been correctly pointed to your site, you should be seeing a page full of code. If, however, you only see a very short bit of code that includes <frameset> HTML tags and looks something like the screen capture below, there’s a problem.
In this example, the Realtor’s® domain name is hiding or “masking” the actual domain name for the site. Let’s say the Realtor’s domain name is YourName.com, and that’s the domain name that appears in the visitor’s web browser. The source code shown above shows that the actual domain name of the site is MetroListPro.com, with the Realtor’s name used as a subdomain of MetroList.com.
Domain masking can create a number of problems, especially with search engine optimization. It creates the perception that are two different sites with the exact same content, aka “duplicate content,” and will result in only one of the two sites being indexed by Google.
If for some reason you want to forward one domain to another, a better way to do it is to ask your website host to set up a “310 redirect” for the domain you want forwarded.
Domain Forwarding
A second type of problem, domain forwarding, can be detected if, after you type your domain name in the browser’s location bar and your site opens in the browser, your site’s address defaults to a subdomain of your hosting company’s domain name, as shown in the location bar below:
The Correct Way to Point Your Domain
You should point your domain name to your site by changing the nameserver information in your domain registrar’s client admin area. The company that is hosting your site will give you domain name server information that looks something like this, which is actually the nameserver information for sites hosted by Point2agent (don’t use it unless you have a Point2agent site):
Primary Name Server – ns1.point2.com (If Required IP Address = 64.141.48.3)
Secondary Name Server – ns2.point2.com (If Required IP Address = IP 64.141.48.4)
Paste or type the nameserver information your hosting company has given you into your domain registrar’s client admin area.
The change may take several hours or days to go fully into effect.
Important Information for Users of 3rd Party Email Services: To continue using 3rd party email services after pointing your domain to your website, you will need to contact your email service provider to obtain MX and CNAME records for your current email account. These records give your website host with the ability to reroute email addressed to your domain name. Though they sound very technical, your email provider will know what you need and can give it to you so that you can provide it to your website hosting company.
Related posts:
- Where’s the Value in a Real Estate Website Domain Name?
- Thinking of Using “MLS” in Your Real Estate Domain Name? Think Again.
- Choosing a Domain Name for Your Real Estate Website
- How e-Pro® Led Many Realtors® to Choose the Wrong Domain Names for Their Real Estate Websites
- What Are True Integrated MLS Listings?
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