How to Change Your Website’s Domain Name (Without Hurting SEO)
Sometimes a big business might need to variation its website’s domain reputation. There are a hardly any reasons why you might need to sort out this.
Maybe you’ve realized your current domain isn’t eminent. Maybe it’s too long used for nation to remember precisely. Maybe there’s something besides offend with it, like a combination of terminology to facilitate creates an not deliberate inappropriate word.
Or maybe you right be after to rebrand. Perhaps your big business used to partake of a narrower focus that’s still represented in your domain reputation. You could be after to bring up to date it to display your new to the job direction. Or maybe your big business reputation has tainted entirely.
No be significant why you be after to variation your domain, at hand are steps you must hunt to get to absolutely it goes smoothly. This article will explain what did you say? You need to sort out.
Table of Contents
>>Common Problems When Changing Domain Names
>> 1. Check the History of Your New Domain
>> 2. Check the SEO Performance and Status of Your Current Site
>> 3. Narrate Customers About the Move
>> 4. Migrate Your Website to the New Domain
>> 5. Update and Redirect Links
>> 6. Inform Google About Your Domain Change
>> 7. Get a New SSL Certificate
>>Wrapping Up
Common Problems When Changing Domain Names
If you’re not thorough while changing your domain reputation, you can bring to an end up with a total host of problems. These issues can inflexible you back ruthlessly.
This is solitary purpose it’s key to desire the respectable domain reputation ahead of schedule on. But you can’t for all time duck changing it, even if you were thorough while you twisted it. If you’re rebranding your big business, it would in reality be worse to keep the old domain reputation. So don’t be frightened to variation it if you need to!
However, you must be thorough how you sound out the process. Otherwise, you can bring to an end up with problems like these:
Loss of SEO authority
Being mistaken used for a place to facilitate has produced spam emails
Loss of customer trust
Loss of customers altogether (they can rejection longer discover your business)
Site security failure (loss of SSL certificate)
Now let’s dive into the steps you must take to duck these problems.
1. Check the History of Your New Domain
This step is individual needed if you’re exchange a domain reputation to facilitate already has a history. For case, if you’re exchange a domain next to Dutch auction.
If your new to the job domain has been used by someone besides, its history can display poorly on you. Unfortunately, poor-quality content on an old place can be interpreted as the liability of the new to the job domain reputation vendor.
If you’re re to swallow a used domain reputation, the to begin with craze you must sort out is to check it on the Wayback Machine. This is an internet archive which displays old versions of snarl pages. Check if you can visit an old version of a snarl summon using the domain reputation you’re on offer to swallow.
Does the summon partake of content to facilitate looks like spam? Or is it otherwise low quality? If so, keep in mind to facilitate the reputation of this summon can conduct terminated even following you swallow the domain.
To run an even more thorough investigation, practice Ahrefs’ Backlink Checker Tool. You can practice the boundless version of this tool to visit a selection of backlinks used for the domain.
Backlinks are other sites to facilitate link to the domain in question. So, if you’re individual bearing in mind very low-quality backlinks, it’s a sign to facilitate the domain could partake of been part of a personal blog complex (PBN) or other black-hat SEO scheme. If this is the litigation, there’s a casual to facilitate Google already has a low estimation of it.
After exchange the domain, you can cause a closer impression of Google’s current landscape of it. Try tally it to Google Search Console. You’ll be able to visit how Google has indexed it so far. The for the most part key craze is to look used for instruction manual trial. These stand for authentic punishments Google has forced ahead the domain reputation. If you be after to practice this domain used for your big business, you’ll need to switch these to begin with.
If you don’t cause purge of existing Google penalties, the same penalties will apply to your new to the job website under to facilitate domain reputation. Yes — even if you’ve not at all through something offend. Google simply won’t know respectable away to facilitate the domain reputation has tainted hands. So, the bad reputation (and penalties) of the preceding vendor will cause transferred to your place!
To remove Google’s instruction manual trial (penalties), submit a review demand. This will help Google to understand to facilitate the domain is under new to the job ownership and must rejection longer be judged by the trial of the earlier vendor.
2. Check the SEO Performance and Status of Your Current Site
Once you move your website, you’ll be after to be absolutely you can tell how it affects its performance. So, take reserve of the setting previous to you move it.
You can cause a ton of in a row on your current place by using Google Search Console. Take thorough clarification of all the results you visit now. Remember to facilitate heartrending your place to a new to the job domain is understood to be an increase. So, you’ll be after to compare your old results (on your old domain) to the new to the job solitary.
Google Search Console provides several reports to facilitate can give out you all the critical in a row you need. The Performance show up tells you how your place is performing in search results. Index Coverage and Sitemaps tell you how Google is indexing your website’s pages. The itinerant Usability show up shows which pages (if any) are intense to practice on mobile strategy (tablets and smartphones). Lastly, the Links show up shows backlinks to your place from other sites. (You can moreover check backlinks through Ahrefs.)
Remember to keep thorough track of the results you visit for the period of this step. Once you move your place to the new to the job domain, you be after results equally as enjoyable, and optimistically better. Remember to facilitate it could take clock used for your place to catch back up to its old status, though. This is customary and nothing to be concerned re if not your place not at all seems to recover its old SEO rankings.
3. Narrate Customers About the Move
You’re almost immediate to start heartrending your website to your new to the job domain reputation. But to begin with, at hand are a fasten more steps to get to absolutely it goes smoothly.
Inform your customers re your pending domain reputation variation. Sure, you’re on offer to inflexible up redirects so somebody visiting the old domain will be sent unthinkingly to the new to the job solitary. But you be after to get to absolutely your customers know what’s occurrence.
Customers who discover themselves unexpectedly sent to a new to the job domain reputation could not understand. They might think your place has been hacked, and to facilitate their in a row is rejection longer safe. So, slacken off their concerns with notifications.
Send revealed an email to all your registered customers and newsletter subscribers. Narrate them re your new to the job domain reputation. If you be after to humanize it a speck, you can tell a speck of the story of why you’re changing domains. If you know you’re on offer to be able to support it, offer them a finicky token to give confidence them to supermarket with you again.
It’s up to you how many epoch you email your customer and subscriber station re the domain variation. However, you probably shouldn’t sort out it more than twice. Try emailing them 3 weeks in advance, and afterward 1 week in advance. The exception to this guideline would be if you wanted to spin your rebranding into a enormous event.
How sort out you spin a rebranding into an event? Just acquaint with it to your customers as an exciting occasion that’s on offer to end result in a better shopping experience used for them. Base this on the purpose used for your rebranding. If it’s a tighter focus on evident products, partake of a auction on persons products. If it’s right a undemanding renaming of your big business, assemble a storewide auction and call it something like “the Fresh Start Sale.” happen creative as to how you switch it!
Whether or not you’re making your new to the job domain reputation into an event, you must update visitors on your website itself, not right through email. Add a notification to your website to facilitate you’re heartrending to a new to the job domain reputation. This can be a small banner across all summon of the place, displaying the new to the job domain and the court of the move. You can moreover add popups to your website to tell customers re the new to the job domain.
4. Migrate Your Website to the New Domain
When your customers partake of had sufficient notice, it’s clock to migrate your place. This can be either undemanding or complicated depending on your setting. The difference is whether you need to variation snarl hosts.
If You Need to Change Web Hosts
Your snarl host is the contributor of the wine waiter wherever your website’s documents reside. If you cause a new to the job domain reputation that’s completely fixed to a not the same snarl host, you’re on offer to need to move all your site’s documents to your checking account on the new to the job host’s wine waiter outer space.
Not all snarl hosts job the same way, so in this litigation, you’ll need to spin to your new to the job snarl host used for detailed information. Thankfully, services exist to help you migrate your website.
This basically installation like repetition your complete website terminated to the new to the job host and domain. If this is the route you need to take, at hand will be 2 copies of your place offered next to one time, used for a sharp while. Eventually, you’ll take the old solitary down. But to begin with, check to get to absolutely the new to the job clone is exactly the same as the inventive. Or next to slightest, as close as workable!
If You Don’t Need to Change Web Hosts
Many snarl hosts are individual of domain reputation changes. Inwards this litigation, all you partake of to sort out is thing your new to the job domain next to your website. You can sort out this by changing the nameservers in your domain registrar’s settings.
You’ll need to discover the nameservers as listed by your snarl host. Then variation the nameservers in your domain settings to match them. Each snarl host has its own location used for nameservers, so you could need to check your host’s support possessions. The same goes used for your domain registration: Every one registrar has their own way of charter you access this setting. But rejection be significant what did you say?, you’re on offer to be repetition the nameservers from your snarl host and pasting them into your domain registrar.
Once you’ve through this, your place will provisionally be offered next to both its old and new to the job domains. However, the documents will still reside on the same wine waiter, more exactly than having 2 copies.
5. Update and Redirect Links
The content on your website could contain inside relatives to facilitate still refer to your old URL. If so, get to absolutely they’re all updated with your new to the job domain reputation. This can be a unmanageable task if you partake of hundreds of relatives. Many CMS (Content Management Systems) like WordPress partake of plugins offered to help you discover and take the place of these relatives. Other CMS providers offer services or other options to help you get to this transition.
Next, you’ll be after to inflexible up redirects so to facilitate somebody visiting pages based on your old domain will be sent to the new to the job URL used for the correct summon. This is why you must arrangement to keep your old domain used for a punctuation mark of clock, or next to slightest hang on to sufficient control of it to allow you to inflexible up these redirects.
A redirect is right what did you say? It sounds like: It directs a visitor to a new to the job URL while they visit an old solitary to facilitate has the redirect useful to it. There are a hardly any types of redirects, but the solitary you need to inflexible up used for every one summon is a 301 redirect. These are the type to facilitate signals to facilitate the redirect is lasting.
Remember to facilitate the point of the redirect is to convey visitors from your old domain to the new to the job solitary. But you need to get to absolutely all summon on the old domain redirects to its corresponding summon on the new to the job domain.
Some snarl hosts and CMS provide tools to help you inflexible up redirects. But with certain, you’ll need to sort out it manually. If this is the litigation used for you, you’ll need to sort out so in your .Htaccess sand. This is a sand to facilitate controls configuration used for your website. This can cause pretty technical, but your snarl host will partake of complete in a row re how to access this sand and get to the changes.
Once you’ve inflexible up your redirects, practice a 301 redirect regulator tool like Redirect Checker (or an added of your alternative. Google Search Console moreover has a built-in redirect checker). This will help you confirm to facilitate your redirects are working right.
6. Inform Google About Your Domain Change
Google does not be after enjoyable, established websites to fall behind in SEO right since of a domain variation. Their Change of Address tool is crucial used for portion you preserve your search engine authority.
The Change of Address tool, between many others, is found contained by the Google Search Console. You can submit a notification to Google to facilitate your place is changing domain names. Once you sort out this, you’ll visit a reminder in the console to facilitate the place is at this time heartrending. Please sort out hint to facilitate it can take up to 180 days used for this to be finalized.
You must moreover add your new to the job domain as a website property in your Google Search Console. This will ensure you can cause the same insights used for your new to the job domain as used for the old solitary.
7. Get a New SSL Certificate
Your SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate encrypts data dying flanked by your website and its users, like status license in a row. If you’re running an online pile up, you already know the magnitude of SSL certificates and PCI compliance. But did you know your new to the job domain reputation will need a new to the job certificate?
This is since an SSL certificate is connected to the domain to facilitate uses it. This is needed to ensure to facilitate it remains secure. So, SSL certificates are not transferrable flanked by domain names, as this can allow a breach in security.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll partake of to recompense used for your SSL all terminated again. Many SSL providers consent to you re-key your certificate to job with the new to the job domain. Check with your SSL contributor used for more in a row on this process.
Wrapping Up
Equally long as you take the respectable trial, you can variation your domain reputation with little crash to your SEO.
Remember to:
Check the history of your new to the job domain
Check the SEO performance and status of your current place
Narrate customers re the move
Migrate your website to the new to the job domain
Update and redirect relatives
Inform Google re your domain variation
Get a new to the job SSL certificate
Also keep in mind to facilitate your website will likely suffer a small disruption to SEO next to the instigation, but this must be temporary. Keep a close eye on your site’s performance following the move, and compare it to your metrics next to the old domain. If your new to the job domain is much better than the old solitary (whether keyword- or branding-wise), you’re likely to visit an increase along the line.
Moving your website to a new to the job domain reputation can be an SEO failure. Or, it can be a smooth, relatively painless process.
