301 redirects

[rack]

Hello, I hope this is in the correct place, if not someone please redirect me. :)

I have a website with the files in the root directory, it has a page rank of 5.
rackjite.com/
I have a blog with the files in a subdirectory, it has a page rank of 4.
rackjite.com/serendipity/
I want the existing external links to end up at the blog with the domain page rank of 5. Though at the point of frustration I am with this, I don't care about the page rank anymore! :)

I use the following 301 in the htaccess file of the root.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^rackjite\.com
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://rackjite.com/serendipity/$1 [R=permanent,L]

My problem is that the page rank does not carry over and I can no longer access the website which I want to do. I assume my problem is that the 301 not only redirects rackjite.com, but also rackjite.com/index.htm(l).

Anyone have the answer? Please?

RJ

[The_Magus]

Good morning:

Rather then using a .htaccess file I have been inserting the following code in the head of any page I want re-directed:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="3;url=http://www.xxxxxxxxxxxx.com/Real Estate/Apartment_Details.shtml">

I use this on pages for property that has been sold to re-direct the viewer to the current list of apartments for sale. I discovered that many search engines were sending viewers to pages for property that had been sold so rather then losing them to another site I am re-directing them as a means of keeping them on my site.

The number is the number of seconds before the re-direct happens - this gives the viewer a chance to read the text telling them what is/will happen.

Cheers

Jack
The Magus

[LeeU]

Actually, the 301 redirect is the proper way to do it. It's the most search engine friendly. After seeing the other redirect several times, the search engines may penalize or ban the page, as it is not seen as a permanent redirect. See this (http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34464&query=redirects&topic=&type=).

[The_Magus]

Dear Lee U:

Sorry for sticking my nose in with an inappropriate response.

Actually in my case, I don't mind if the search engines drop the page as it will be a useless page as it will relate to property that has been sold and therefore no longer valid and should be removed.

I found that search engines were sending viewers to pages which had been removed so I now leave the page on the site and use the above as a means of shifting them to my page which lists property currently for sale. I think this is what they were looking for in the first place so don't think viewers will mind as they are getting up-to-date information.

Cheers

Jack
The Magus

[LeeU]

I understood what you meant Jack. I just wanted to make sure rack understood also as he seems to be doing it for different reasons.