Moving to a new domain
-
Hi,
We are about to rebrand.
This means we need to move all of our content on to a new domain. I want to make sure this process is as smooth as possible and we don't lose too much by way of rankings.
I have read this page: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/best-practices-when-moving-your-site.html and plan on following the instructions to the letter, but was wondering if anyone had any additional tips? Also, the article linked above is OLD. From 2008, is there anything'new' that I should know?
Thank you (in advance) for any help you can offer, it is much appreciated!
Best wishes,
Amelia
EDIT: I forgot quite a big element when first posting this question!
We are merging two existing websites into the new URL. The two sites are for two different products we offer, but we'll now be offering both products under the same URL.
-
Hi Everett,
Thank you - this is great info.
Have a great day
Amelia
-
Hello Amelia,
Here's another Google piece about how to move to a new domain for rebranding:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/83105?hl=en
Also don't forget to use the change of address form in Google Webmaster Tools, as discussed here.
You can use an HTTP status code checker to make sure the response codes are correct (e.g. 301 instead of 302).
-
Thank you K. - Very useful and informative.
-
Hi Amelia -
One important thing here is the 301 forwarding. You should do this in two steps -
- On your web server for all the old URL (for the domain as a whole), please do a 301 forwarding of all old URLs to your new ones.
It's simpler if your URL structure is going to remain the same, because that ensure all credits for a given page from old domain goes to the same page on the new domain.
Here is a simple code for apache to pass a given URL on old domain to the new URL on the new domain
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.old_domain.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.new_domain.com$1 [L,R=301]- Go to google webmaster and do a 301 forwarding from old domain to new.
Regards,
K
-
Thank you Devanur
-
Hi Amelia, while the link you mentioned covers it all, here you go for more insights while moving a domain:
http://moz.com/webinars/domain-migrations-lessons-from-the-moz-transition
and
http://moz.com/blog/domain-migration-lessons
Hope they help.
Best,
Devanur Rafi
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What is the best way to market/raise awareness about new clothing products?
We are an Outdoor Clothing Company that designs our own range. We primarily sell through Retailers & distribution networks, but around 2 years ago went online. We update our collections twice a year, and we really struggle to get attention and awareness of our new designs. Can anyone recommend the best practice for getting newly launched products successfully "marketed"?
Branding | | Target-Dry0 -
Separate experience on the same domain?
So my company is interested in creating a scholarship for medical students as a way to create more brand awareness and earn some quality links from universities and colleges. The problem is, we are a little stuck on where to place the scholarship within the structure of our site. First of all, our idea is to make the scholarship application process interactive and social. Candidates will create a short video where they answer one of the scholarship questions. Those videos will be displayed in a Reddit-style feed (sort of like Inbound.org) allowing people to vote for the ones they like. Videos with more links will rise to the top. The popularity of the videos will factor into the decision of whom to award the scholarship, but it will not be the sole determining factor. To do this properly, the scholarship should be its own experience independent from our main site. There will be several pages (profile, application, about the scholarship, the Reddit-style feed, etc.) so it wouldn’t really fit within our existing site. BUT if we put the scholarship on a subdomain we miss out on the link juice. Could we keep the scholarship pages under the main domain (mainsite.com/scholarship), but have it be its own experience with its own navigation? Will that look bad in the eyes of the search engines? We’d essentially have two sites on the same domain. Any help would be much appreciated.
Branding | | ba_seomoz0 -
Marketing for a new alternative solution (general keywords) and for it to show up under specific keyword searches
Hi Moz Community! I've run into a marketing dilemma for one of our customers that we provide SEO and internet marketing services to. Therefore, I need the help of you clever people! The company is a high-tech innovative biotechnology company, so instead of using their product as an example which might be confusing, I will represent the problem with "DVDs" and a new technology similar to Netflix. Customer wants to buy 500 Days of Summer DVD online and isn't aware of the new technology called 'Netflix' where we can stream it online instead of ordering it online. Netflix marketing team wants their website to show up alongside search results so when people search for 'buy 500 Days of Summer DVD', you will see Amazon, blah blah and at some point also see 'Netflix: Stream Instantly Online!' What is the best way to approach this? Micro (macro) site? Can I target 'DVD' and make the microsite use a direct match? Do I have to create a page for every single popular DVD in order for it to effectively rank? Any other clever solutions to this problem? Thanks everyone! Sheldon
Branding | | swzhai0 -
Two domains for different countries? or one big domain with folders?
I know this might sound as a newbie question or maybe not, here it goes. I've had a client for the past 2 years, and we have accomplish many good things for his local website .com.ve (venezuela). It's been so good that he is opening a branch in Dominican republic .com.do. The content, strategy and even the services are exactly the same, but the owner wants to have different site for each country. Of course he only wants to pay for one domain. I do want to share our success ont the .com.ve with the other domains and he actually owns the "global" domain .com with his brand name. So, what should I reccomend... Develop a second site and start from scratch? Migrate my blog from the .com.ve site to the .com site and give each country a separate folder? /ve /do?. What it's the best scenario for me to have all the traffic we have earned transfer to the global brand and to have separate info for each country... Thank you so much for your answer that I kno would be great. Dan
Branding | | daniel.alvarez0 -
What is the weight of .pro domains? Will they rank?
.pro Domains have ben out there for a while but seem to as late started to be adopted. Thoughts and opinions welcome.
Branding | | bozzie3110 -
Blog - separate domain or current website?
I have created a business blog purely to gain higher rankings for particular keywords which then has links pointing to the product that I am trying to sell. My question... Is it better to have this blog hosted on the same domain or shall I move it to a separate domain which will help with backlinks? Any advice would be appreciated?
Branding | | petewinter0 -
I need to get my hands on some already registered domains?!?
Hi Guys & Gals, There are a couple of already registered domains i'd like to get my hands on, but i'm coming up against a brick wall. I have already tried contacting the domain owners directly if there contact info is available through whois and tried using a domain brokerage service from the likes of SEDO to try and acquire the domain on my behalf...but they seem to only work they have solid whois contact info to use. My problem is that where do I turn now after the above routes failing? Are there any good domain brokerage services you are aware off or any other approach I could try to aquire such domains?? Thanks James
Branding | | cewe0 -
Switching to a .travel domain - (recommendations and suggestions)
Hi, I am looking for an expert advise in terms of domain switching. I am in charge of a little colombian travel agency page "www.brandname.com" and i am thinking about switching to a .travel domain we purchased month ago. - "brandname.travel" I would like to share some thoughts and would appreciate any comment, suggestions or recommendations. "brandname.travel" url is shorter and more travel related I also think it is easier to remember than "www.brandname.com" we often use "brandname" in communications rather than "brandname travel" url within our site would be shorter i expect google to give more weight to .travel domains we also 301 redirect "brandname.travel" to "www.brandnametravel.com" Risks: we would loose positioning (for some important keywords we have top positions) less conversion less traffic customer not aware of .travel domains Question? how long does a recovery take? currently we 301 redirect "brandname".travel to www.brandname.com would this help repositioning our page? If we do this, when? Low search periods? -How strong do see a .travel domain compared to a non .travel domain? Any help is greatly appreciated
Branding | | cuchuco0