Changing Domain Names & SEO: Tips to Keep Your Rankings

Does Changing Domain Names Affect Your SEO?

Changing domain names tin impact your website’s authority, rankings, and traffic. In immoderate cases, it tin consciousness for illustration starting complete from an SEO perspective. 

One of nan main reasons why is that backlinks (links from different sites that constituent to yours) to your aged website won’t automatically constituent to your caller site. And those are important factors hunt engines for illustration Google return into relationship erstwhile ranking your content.

Think of it this way:

Changing your domain sanction changes nan URL of each page connected your website. So, each nan backlinks you had pointing to your aged domain nary longer constituent to your website. 

That said, it’s difficult to foretell nan nonstop SEO effect of changing domain names. And you don’t needfully person to suffer your backlinks.

There are besides different things to consider.

So, let’s look astatine immoderate scenarios erstwhile switching domains mightiness beryllium a bully idea. And immoderate scenarios erstwhile it mightiness not be.

When You Might Want to Change your Domain Name

There are a fewer reasons why you mightiness want to alteration your domain name:

• Rebranding aliases changing your institution name: If your business undergoes a rebrand aliases sanction change, updating your domain to lucifer tin guarantee consistency and debar causing confusion 
• Choosing a better-known top-level domain: Moving from a little communal top-level domain (TLD) for illustration “.net” to a much recognized 1 for illustration “.com” tin summation credibility and memorability
• Picking a simpler domain: This tin summation nonstop postulation and make your marque much memorable
• Expanding to caller markets aliases merchandise lines: A caller domain mightiness amended bespeak your expanded offerings aliases target audience
• Overcoming antagonistic associations: If your domain has been associated pinch antagonistic press, a caller 1 whitethorn connection a caller start

When You Might Not Want to Change Your Domain Name

Changing your domain sanction isn’t ever a bully idea. 

It’s champion to debar making a alteration if:

• You person established marque recognition: If your existent domain is well-known and associated pinch your brand, changing it could confuse customers and prospects. And costs you your hard-earned awareness.
• You precocious invested successful marketing: If you've conscionable spent a important magnitude connected trading materials aliases campaigns featuring your existent domain, changing it correct now intends that clip and money was wasted
• You’re successful nan mediate of a highest business period: Changing domains during your busiest play could disrupt sales. It’s often amended to hold for a quieter clip erstwhile little gross is astatine risk.
• You don’t person capable budget: Domain changes tin beryllium costly erstwhile factoring successful caller branding, marketing, and imaginable method issues
• Your squad lacks method expertise: A domain sanction alteration is simply a type of website migration, truthful it’s not ever feasible for smaller companies without improvement resources

An Overview of How to Migrate to a New Domain

Here’s a wide overview of what goes into migrating to a caller domain name:

1. Do Preliminary Work

Take your clip to hole for nan migration. To guarantee you enactment organized and don’t make mistakes. 

It’s a bully thought to cod immoderate benchmark data, found clear goals, and create a elaborate timeline. 

And for a domain change, you’ll want to acquisition a caller domain and besides configure nan domain sanction strategy (DNS) settings. These make your tract accessible and effect performance.

2. Create a New Site and Block Access to It

The simplest measurement to create a caller website for a domain sanction alteration is to create a transcript of your existing site. Which you tin past usage arsenic a staging tract to make changes and tally tests.

This is alternatively technical, truthful activity pinch a developer who understands nan process.

Then, make judge to artifact entree to nan staging site. 

There are a fewer ways you tin do this, but see utilizing password protection. Which displays a login surface for illustration this:

This prevents some web crawlers and users from accessing your caller tract earlier it’s ready.

And see adding a noindex tag to each page—which tells crawlers not to see them successful hunt results. Especially if you scheme to tally tests to verify that your caller tract tin beryllium decently crawled earlier pushing it live.

3. Prepare nan New Site

Migrations focused connected changing domains don’t often require important changes. But if you do request to make any, now’s nan clip to do it.

That mightiness see adjusting your navigation, updating your logo, etc.

Just cognize that it’s typically champion to support changes arsenic minimal arsenic possible. To debar disruptions and find what causes immoderate issues that arise. 

4. Map Old URLs to New URLs

Next, build a database of your existent website’s pages. Because you’ll request to instrumentality redirects from each of nan aged pages to their caller locations connected nan caller domain.

You’ll do this utilizing 301 redirects. Which are imperishable redirects that show hunt engines and browsers that your original URLs person been permanently replaced pinch caller ones.

To create your list, usage Semrush’s Site Audit tool.

Enter your aged domain and click “Start Audit.”

Follow nan prompts to configure nan audit. And beryllium judge to group nan limit to higher than nan full number of pages you person connected your site. To guarantee thing is missed.

Once nan crawl is complete, click nan “Crawled Pages” tab to spot a afloat database of your URLs. 

In nan apical correct corner, click “Export” and take either “Export to XLSX” for Excel aliases “Export to CSV.”

You tin now representation each of your erstwhile URLs to nan caller URL wherever nan aforesaid contented will unrecorded connected nan caller site.

For example:

If nan URLs of your contented are staying nan aforesaid too nan domain name, things will beryllium beautiful easy. Your caller URL will simply beryllium nan aforesaid arsenic nan aged url but pinch nan domain switched out. 

If you’re besides changing nan subfolders aliases URL slugs of pages connected your site, past you’ll request to beryllium observant erstwhile mapping aged URLs to nan caller ones.

For example, if you’re changing from “old-domain.com/about-us/” to “new-domain.com/about/.”

If location are immoderate pages connected your aged tract that you don’t want to keep, don’t group a caller destination for them. But group them to service a 410 position code—this indicates nan page has been permanently deleted. 

5. Update nan URLs connected Your New Site

You tin now statesman nan process of updating each nan soul links connected your caller website. So you’re not utilizing unnecessary redirects that tin slow down your tract and perchance wounded your SEO performance. 

Relying solely connected redirects could besides lead to redirect chains—when aggregate redirects hap betwixt an first URL that’s requested and nan last destination URL. 

This tin beryllium confusing for users and besides effect really hunt engines crawl your website.

So, spell done each page and update each nan soul links to constituent to nan due URL connected your caller site. 

This includes links that look successful your website’s code, your XML sitemap (the record that lists each nan URLs you want hunt engines to index), and your robots.txt record (which specifies nan URLs you want to block).

6. Back Up Your Old Website

Before you commencement nan migration, backmost up your website. So you tin revert to it successful lawsuit thing goes incorrect during nan transfer.

It tin besides supply a useful comparison instrumentality to cheque that each contented and features person been successfully migrated to nan caller domain.

The process depends connected really your site’s hosted. A fewer options are to do it done your tract host’s power sheet aliases a contented guidance strategy (CMS) plugin.

There are besides third-party services for illustration CodeGuard aliases Sucuri that will do it for you.

7. Migrate Your Site and Remove Blocks

Next, make nan caller tract live. And effort to do it during low-traffic times if possible.

It’s champion to move successful stages to trim nan consequence of making a mistake. So see moving conscionable 1 conception astatine a time.

Once your caller tract is live, region nan blocks (password protection and/or noindex tags) you added earlier. So some hunt engines and users tin entree your site. 

At this point, we urge moving Site Audit connected your caller website. So you tin spot whether location are immoderate issues successful nan “Crawlability” study that request to beryllium addressed.

8. Enable Redirects and Page Removals

Once your caller domain is unrecorded pinch each of your content, you request to instrumentality your 301 redirects. So users and hunt engines spot your caller contented alternatively than correction messages. 

If you person a WordPress site, you tin usage plugins for illustration Yoast, RankMath, aliases Redirection. 

Just make judge that nan plugin you usage allows you to redirect utilizing absolute URLs (the full page addresses)—not conscionable comparative URLs. 

If nan plugin only supports comparative URL redirects, you won’t beryllium capable to redirect your aged domain’s URLs to nan caller one. 

If you’re not utilizing WordPress aliases you person galore pages connected your site, you whitethorn request to usage a much precocious method for implementing redirects successful bulk. Like adding redirects done your .htaccess file.

9. Monitor Results

To find whether your domain migration has been successful, periodically show your capacity data.

When you first alteration your domain, your integrated hunt postulation will almost surely drop. You should spot your postulation rebound successful a fewer weeks. 

But it tin vary. So, proceed to comparison nan information from your caller tract against nan information you collected from your aged site.

If you don’t spot improvements aft a fewer weeks, see utilizing nan Site Audit instrumentality to cheque for method and on-page issues that could beryllium getting successful nan way.

Tips for Changing Your Domain nan Right Way

Now that you person a amended knowing of what goes into a migration, let’s spell complete immoderate tips that tin make changing domain names moreover smoother.

Choose an Appropriate Domain Name

Your site’s domain sanction mightiness not beryllium a ranking facet for you, but it tin effect your visibility and click-through rates.

For example, group who don’t cognize your domain but cognize your marque are apt to usage Google to hunt your marque name. And if they spot a URL that matches nan marque sanction successful nan hunt motor results page (SERP), they’re going to beryllium much apt to click.

When choosing a caller domain name, location are 2 parts to consider:

1. Second-level domain: The unsocial identifier of your website (e.g., nan “semrush” successful “semrush.com”). This should lucifer (or astir match) your marque name.
2. Top-level domain: The portion that comes aft second-level domain (e.g., nan “.com” successful “semrush.com”)

It’s usually (but not always) champion to opt for a domain sanction that ends successful “.com.”

If you can’t get a “.com” domain sanction that makes sense, see “.co,” aliases “.net.” These are besides memorable options. 

Or deliberation astir replacement TLDs that are much applicable to your business.

For example, “.io” is simply a bully prime for companies that want to beryllium powerfully associated pinch technology.

But don’t unreserved into choosing a caller domain name.

Make judge nan domain you want is available. And past cheque whether it was antecedently owned. 

If it was, you mightiness want to verify that it doesn’t person a batch of toxic backlinks (bad links that tin sometimes inhibit SEO performance). 

You tin cheque a domain’s backlinks utilizing Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool.

Export Your Backlinks & Ask Those Sites to Update nan Links

Before changing domains, it’s captious to return banal of your website’s backlinks. So you tin return steps to reclaim them alternatively than relying solely connected your redirects. 

Using Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool, you tin easy spot each of nan links pointing to your aged site.

Input your aged domain and click “Analyze.”

Click connected nan “Backlinks” tab. Then, click “Export” and prevention nan database arsenic either an Excel spreadsheet aliases a CSV file. 

Use this database to place immoderate relevant, high-authority websites that nexus to your aged domain. Then, see contacting them to inquire them to update their links to your caller site.

Outreach involves contacting nan website owners and asking them to make updates to existing links connected your behalf.

For each nexus you want to address:

1. Identify nan correct contact: Determine nan champion personification to contact
2. Craft an outreach message: Write an email explaining that you changed domains and petition that they update nan nexus successful question
3. Be specific: In nan message, beryllium judge to bespeak precisely wherever nan nexus is connected their website, which page it links to, and nan caller URL you want them to use

Outreach campaigns for illustration this tin return a batch of time. And you apt won’t win pinch each message.

So, prioritize nan astir important links to debar wasting clip and resources.

Verify Your New Website pinch Google Search Console

Verifying your caller domain pinch Google Search Console (GSC) informs Google astir nan domain sanction change. 

You’ll request to do 2 things here:

1. Create a spot for your caller domain
2. Use Google Search Console’s Change of Address tool

To get started, log successful to Search Console.

Click connected nan spot drop-down astatine nan apical and take “+ Add property.”

This will return you done nan process of mounting up GSC for your caller domain.

Once you’ve group up nan spot for your caller domain, spell backmost to nan spot for your aged domain.

Then, click “Settings” and prime “Change of address.”

Under “Update Google,” click nan “Select caller site” drop-down and take nan domain spot that you conscionable group up for your caller website.

When you’re done, click “Validate & Update.” 

Google will past effort to validate that you’ve implemented nan basal redirects earlier indicating a alteration of address. 

Once successful, a notification will look connected some nan aged and caller domain properties.

Search Console will statesman populating information for your caller domain (this could return a fewer days), and notify you of immoderate related errors.

Announce nan Domain Change

After you’ve successfully changed your domain, fto everyone know. To promote postulation to nan caller tract and thief debar immoderate confusion. 

Let group cognize via:

• Social media 
• Email
• Blog post
• Press release

You could besides adhd a statement connected nan website itself. So, if group scope nan caller domain done a redirect, they’ll cognize to spell consecutive to nan correct domain adjacent time.

Verify That Your Internal Links All Got Updated

Use Semrush’s Backlink Analytics instrumentality to make judge each your soul links are now pointing to your caller domain.

Enter your caller domain and click “Analyze.”

Then, click nan “Outbound Domains” tab to spot a database of nan domains that your caller tract links to. 

Look for instances of your aged domain connected nan list. And click nan arrow adjacent to nan number of outbound links to grow nan list. 

This shows each of nan pages connected your caller domain that incorporate a nexus to your aged domain. 

Next, spell done each page and alteration nan links truthful they constituent to your caller domain.

FAQs

How Many 301 Redirects Can You Have?

There’s nary limit to nan number of 301 redirects you tin have. 

But it’s still champion believe to minimize nan number of redirects connected your site. Because having tons of them tin impact your website’s performance.

How Long Should Redirects Stay successful Place?

Your 301 redirects are classed arsenic imperishable redirects and should enactment successful spot for arsenic agelong arsenic you usage your caller domain name. 

If you request a impermanent redirect for immoderate reason, usage 302 redirects. But retrieve to yet update them.

How Long Will It Take for Google to Index Your New Domain?

Google doesn’t supply a group clip framework for really agelong it takes to scale your caller URLs. This process tin return respective weeks successful immoderate cases. 

You tin way your caller domain’s hunt rankings and visibility utilizing nan Project Dashboard successful Semrush. 

Access this and galore much integer trading devices pinch a free Semrush trial.