Recovery during domain migration

[ninjamarketer]

On average, how long does it takes to recover 80% of the rankings if two high authority domains are combined without chaging any content? I totally understand that each domain is different and search engines can treat them differently but if all the steps are followed to the T what are the chances?

[Lindsay]

You'd want to undo that old 301 and replace it with new ones.

[DonnieCooper]

Hey Lindsay,

How about if the 'new' domain has been a 301 to the 'old' one for years **(**and has the same DNS info) ?

[Lindsay]

If the migration is done perfectly, both domains are already very strong, all content is migrated (and no new keyword cannibalization issues are created), the move should be recognized in a matter of days.

Things to consider:

1. How does the to-be-moved site get crawled and how deeply? A key to successfully moving a site is ensuring that the search engines quickly find all of those 301 redirects.

2. XML Sitemaps can help with a speedy transition. Here is the trick, though. Be sure you have an up-to-date XML Sitemap of the to-be-moved domain just before the transition. Once the move is live, upload the old sitemap to webmaster tools to help get Google looking at those redirected pages.

3. SEO is a relative excercise. There are a lot of variables at play here is both domains show up in the SERPs for the same important keywords. Expect a lot of change as a result of the move. Look out for keyword cannibalization.

I hope this helps!

Lindsay