Domain change - slow & easy, or rip off the bandaid?
-
We are laying the foundation for a domain change. I'm gathering all of the requirements listed from Google (301's, sign up the new domain with WMT, etc), customer communications, email system changes, social updates, etc. But through everything I've read, I'm not quite clear on one thing.
We have the option of keeping our current domain and the new domain running off the same eCommerce database at the same time. This means that we have the option of running two exact duplicates simultaneously.
The thought is that we would slowly, quietly turn on the new domain, start the link building and link domain changing processes, and generally give the new domain time to make sure it's not going to croak for some reason. Then, after a week or so, flip on a full 301 rewrite for the old domain.
There are no concerns regarding order databases, as both domains would be running off of the same system. The only concern I have in the user experience is making sure I have internal links all set to relative, so visitors to the new domain aren't flipped over and freaked out by an absolute URL.
I'm not confident that this co-existing strategy is the best approach, though. I'm wondering if it would be better from an SEO (and customer) perspective to
- Have the new domain active and performing a 302 redirect from the new domain to the corresponding page on the old domain
- When we're ready to flip the switch, implement the 301 redirect from old to new (removing the 302, of course) at switch time.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
-
Hi Goedekers,
I have to agree with Shane on this one. There may be legitamite reasons for wanting to run both websites at once, but the potential to send confusing signals to the search engines is so great that I would highly recommend to "rip the band aid."
The biggest risk is mass duplicate content - which might take a hit on your rankings for weeks or months. Yes, you can solve this with either canonical tags or meta robots or redirects, but usually the best solution is the simplest.
Sounds like you've done your homework. If you haven't already, I highly recommend the following articles. Whether you do everything by the book or not is up to you.
https://seogadget.co.uk/domain-migration/
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/web-site-migration-guide-tips-for-seos
Good luck!
-
Hi,
others may have a varying opinon, but of course a canonical could be used to clear up any dup content issues while you slowly do the transition, but I am not sure I see the value in this specific situation of keeping both up an running. But I may be neglecting to take something into consideration.
This kind of old, but may help with a few questions http://www.seomoz.org/blog/expectations-and-best-practices-for-moving-to-or-launching-a-new-domain
But personally i would just do everyting i could to make sure I was ready, then just "rip off the bandaid" Keeping both up and running seems it might be setting you up for some confusion in the longrun.
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
-
Canonical Issue On AMP
Hi everyone,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MuhammadQasimAttari
I have one issue about canonical. kindly guide me about it. I have a site example.com/abc and I convert it on an amp and know its URLs is example.com/abc=?amp. but the search console tells me to add the proper canonical URL but both pages are the same. kindly guide me about it. what will I do?0 -
Domain Authority
Hi Our website Domain Authority isn't as high and was wondering why it's not increasing. Compared to 1 or 2 competitors we're not scoring as high as them. Are rankings are good for all chosen keywords. Just trying to get a better handle where our site is falling short on.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Cocoonfxmedia1 -
Sub-domain or not???
Hi, We're setting up a forum for our users (our target audience responds extremely well to forums). I was wondering if it should be set up on a sub-domain or not. I'm leaning towards sub-domain, but our devs say this will impact how they approach it so I'd like to give them an answer asap so we can proceed with planning it! Thanks, Amelia
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | CommT0 -
Sub Domain
Hi everybody, My competition has started to use the sub-domains vastly. He has created one sub domain for every single city and keyword. Is it something that I should be worried of? Is it a good idea I start doing the same thing? Thanks for your help.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Armin6660 -
Recent Algo Change
I was wondering if anybody can shed some light on any recent changes to the Google algorithm in Australia. A competitor, www.manwithavan.com.au has always been number 1 for the most competitive search term in our industry "removalists melbourne". However, in the last week, they have fallen out of the the SERPS and are now (according to MOZ) ranking outside the top 50. As far as l can tell, they have a really well optimized site with good structure, great text and updated content. They are very active within social media circles and have some really good external links. Can anybody tell me why they would have been hit so badly. The reason l ask is that i want to make sure we don't make the same mistake. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RobSchofield1 -
301 Redirecting Multiple Domains
I have several complete websites with blogs setup for different geo locations and was considering forwarding them all to one domain directly would greatly benefit ranking. The blogs are all linked together and that is where most of the links come from. Would I benefit in 301 Redirecting the domains?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | WindshieldGuy-2762210 -
Should I Roll Back Domain Change?
A couple years ago I changed domain names and switched platforms for my site. The traffic dropped dramatically (80-90%). I've tried to get inbound links changed, clean up on-page stuff, but nothing is making a big change. I think most of the problem is loss of link juice with the 301 redirects from the old domain to the new one. Would I be risking bigger losses by switching back to the old domain name?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | iJeep0 -
Hosting / Redesign & Text Change
In the process of redesigning a clients site. The text and the design need to change to focus the site on conversions more than it is at present. The client is not happy with the current host, they want to change, my feeling is to either change a while before the site redesign is launched or a while after. Anyone got any opinions, experiences to share. Justin
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | GrouchyKids0