Domain Redirect and SEO Questions

[DBB1]

General question here:

I installed ZenCart to www.domain.com/folder, as per the instructions, always with the intent of setting up a domain redirect upon go-live, so that anyone going to (the more desirable) www.domain.com would get to the /folder cart.

I used my host providers cpanel domain domain tool to create the redirect, and everything works fine in this manner. Or so I thought...

Also in the host's cpanel are some SEO tools for Google, scorecards, etc. However, the tools detect that a redirect is in play, and so will not let me install them.

How is this typically handled? I think most would prefer that any adverts for their site simply be www.domain.com, without the /folder store tacked on after it.

I thought about moving my installation to the root of the domain, but I prefer to keep that space clean uncluttered.

So right now, I've removed my redirect, but am hesitant to install the tools until I get a better understanding of best practices.

Thoughts or comments?

Thanks,
-DBB

[DrByte]

Redirects are generally bad practice, as confirmed by those tools frowning on their use.
If your root folder has no content, move your content into it. No magic required, since that's the way it's intended to be used. That *is* the best-practice.

Usually if one is choosing to serve their site from a subfolder they completely redefine the domain so that it actually changes the root to be that subfolder. Again, that's because the root is the right place to serve your content from. Of course, this means that the original "root" is completely useless. Now, if you want to have a useless root to "keep clean", that's up to you. It just seems rather odd to go to all that trouble when you already possess the tools you need if you simply move your site content to your existing root.

[DBB1]

Redirects are generally bad practice, as confirmed by those tools frowning on their use.
If your root folder has no content, move your content into it. No magic required, since that's the way it's intended to be used. That *is* the best-practice.

Thanks, DrByte, that's what I figured... I think most newbies like me install to a folder under the public html root (i.e. /zencart, /catalog, /store, etc.), as that's what the install instructions suggest one is to do.

One other thing... My host (one of the ZC certified hosts recommended here) allows me to host other domains on my account. Thing is, an additional domain has to point to a folder in the root public html directory, which now means it will be smack in the middle of my Zencart store structure. Will this pose any problems down the road? Or would this be a valid reason for "redefining the domain" (via the .htaccess file, I'm guessing?).

At any rate, it looks like I have some work to do to relocate my store. I hope I don't break it...

Thanks again,
-DBB1

[DrByte]

There's a FAQ for that: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?article=122

[DBB1]

There's a FAQ for that: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?article=122

Yes, I knew I saw it somewhere. Thanks for saving me the search!

You rock!

-DBB1

[DBB1]

Thanks, DrByte, that's what I figured... I think most newbies like me install to a folder under the public html root (i.e. /zencart, /catalog, /store, etc.), as that's what the install instructions suggest one is to do.

Plan on doing this over the weekend... So to be clear, all my ZenCart files should be moved to the public_html folder, not the public_html/store folder, where they are now?

-DBB1

[DrByte]

Correct.