Hello everyone. It's been a little bit, hasn't it? Well today I want to talk about our domain. If you aren't familiar with what I'm referring to, our domain is the name of the website you type into your web browser to reach this website. Currently, that is "community.playstarboundrp.com" and that's quite a mouthful, I'd say. I recently purchased the rights to "www. antaresroleplay.com" which (in my opinion) is a cleaner alternative to our current one. So I'd like to proposition a switch. Of course, if we do switch, our current domain will automatically lead you to the new one so you won't experience any interruption. Here's an organized list of the pros and cons of each domain: community.playstarboundrp.com Pros Increased Google SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Easy to switch between Chucklefish forums and ours Familiar with many of our player base Cons Unexplained technical phenomenon (weird backend/DNS issues) Unsightly (at least in my opinion) Utilizes a sub-domain which introduces more technical difficulties (don't ask, it's confusing) Cannot utilize HTTPS/SSL because CF forums don't use it (using it would break the easy switching) CloudFlare configuration is more of a headache with the community sub-domain www. antaresroleplay.com Pros Cleaner, looks nicer Easier CloudFlare configuration Better establishes our brand name Bypasses the technical phenomenon associated with our current domain (clean slate) Can utilize HTTPS/SSL for increased security and speed (better performance) Cons Decreased Google SEO (would have to get re-ranked, and likely wouldn't be as high) Cannot easily switch between CF forums and our own New browser cookies (you'd have to login again and some settings might be reset)
Question. Is there any reason why in the last year alone the site/domain have been switched so often? Is this going to cost you more money? I like the set up we have now, and would prefer not costing you more then what you have already have.
It was switched once, to antaresfrontier.com when we were attempting our growth phase to support more games than just Starbound. That didn't work out, so we switched back to playstarboundrp.com This switch isn't about growing, it's about lifting technical burdens and improving performance. Don't worry about cost. It won't cost much, and I'm invested either way. It's not like we really push for donations anymore, anyway.
Very well. Again I would prefer it not cost you anything but if you're already invested. I guess lets do it!
To be honest, I don't care either way. The functionality is there on the current site, at least as far as I'm concerned, so no change necessary. If it's causing grief 'behind the scenes' then by all means swap it out.
I vote antares. It feels less copy catty. And it sounds easier to maintain and better in almost every way. I don't know the google metrics, so I don't know how many people are actually guided here by google search instead of outside links and references from current players.
