I just purchased a webite that i plan to redesign. i do not like the current domain name .us (no revenue, little traffic), PR1 i want to use a domain name that have sitting around which is a .com new to all this so not sure what i need to do and where to start or if there is anything necessary that even needs to be done, other than set it up on the new domain and let the other one redirect to new domain name? since both site are new, no established traffic, i'd like to do this now rather than later. any feedback appreciated. thanks
I suppose that you can register .com domain that should be unique and catch and run your web site and getting as much as possible traffic. You should learn all possible steps on how generating traffic to your web site.. Forum signature can be useful to achieve this goal.
Just point the nameservers for your new domain to your hosting account and add the domain onto your hosting account as well and you are good to go. I would then forward the old domain to your new one.
301 redirect is the answer, not only root to root folders ( olddomain.us -> newdomain.com ), but also any sub folders and pages ( olddomain.us/subfolder/subpage.html -> newdomain.com/subfolder/subpage.html ). You can also notice Google about the change through their Webmaster Tools.