Changing your website domain can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to maintaining your hard-earned organic ranking and traffic. The changing domain name SEO impact is real and often underestimated. With careful planning and execution, it is possible to transition with minimal impact on your site’s performance in search engine results. I do have to say, that in every single case of domain migration we have seen (whether managed by us or by another party) there has been a drop in ranking and traffic, and this should be carefully considered before deciding to do the migration.
Just in case you didn’t hear it, I will say it again – you should always expect a drop in organic traffic and rankings after a domain change.
However, some circumstances force a domain migration. This may be a change in a brand name, or a change in TLD e.g. from .co.uk to .com. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to change your domain while preserving your SEO efforts as completely as possible.
Step 1: Notify Google Search Console When Changing Domain Name
The first step in the process is to inform Google about the domain change through Google Search Console. This ensures that Google recognizes the change and updates its index accordingly. Access your GSC account and add the new domain as a property, specifying that it is replacing the existing domain. You can read about this process here. If you have a significant amount of traffic from Bing (yes, it does happen), then you should consider using their Site Move tool as well.
When you migrate to a new website, it’s not enough to just tick the box in Google Search Console. You’ll also want to double-check that every old URL points correctly to its new URL and that no indexing issues are hiding in the background. Google’s Change of Address tool is a great way to tell the search engine you’re redirecting your old domain to the new one, which reduces the chance of SEO issues cropping up. Don’t forget to keep an eye on search traffic and backlinks tool; your backlink profile from the current domain should continue passing authority across. Handy tools like Google Analytics, SEMrush, or Screaming Frog can give you a clear picture of how the move is going and flag up any SEO impact of changing domain names before it damages your visibility in search results
Step 2: Clone the Site Onto The New Domain Name
Next, set up the website for the new domain. This should be an exact duplicate of the existing site, but with the internal links all changed from the old domain to the new one. Be sure that every reference to the site’s domain is updated, as leaving inconsistencies will likely confuse both users and search engines. A domain name change always carries some risk, so you need to account for the potential impact of changing domain names on rankings and traffic before going live.
When cloning your site, remember that moving from one domain to another is a big step and comes with certain risks of changing domain names. Every domain name change affects SEO in some way, even if the transition is handled carefully. For example, if even a single internal link is still pointing to your old domain, it could cause confusion for search engines and users. Before a website launch on the new domain, check thoroughly that all references have been updated, because even small inconsistencies can significantly affect SEO performance. The SEO industry often highlights that domain name changes might temporarily lower visibility, but with careful checks in place, you can reduce the risks and make the migration much smoother.
Step 3: Implement 301 Redirects When You Change Your Domain Name
This is normally where things get sticky. To seamlessly redirect traffic from the existing domain to the new domain, set up 301 redirects for each page on the site. This can be done through your hosting provider’s control panel or via .htaccess file if you’re using Apache server. It’s crucial to set up page-to-page redirects to ensure that visitors and search engines are directed to the equivalent content on the new domain. 301 redirects play a critical role in protecting SEO when changing domain name, ensuring that link equity and traffic flow through to the new site. Make sure the sitemap from the existing domain also redirects to the sitemap of the new domain.
Step 4: Update Sitemap to Support SEO Indexing
Generate a new sitemap for the new domain and submit it to Google Search Console. This helps Google discover and index the new pages on your site more efficiently, which is critical from an SEO perspective. Make sure the sitemap includes the URL of every page on your website so that search engines and users are always directed to the correct content.
When changing domain names, even small errors in your sitemap can affect your SEO performance and hurt your SEO visibility. From an SEO expert’s point of view, a domain name change is a big change that can significantly impact search rankings if not handled properly. To keep your rankings stable, ensure that the sitemap points away from your old domain and towards the new one, covering every important URL.
Website owners should also continue to track keyword rankings and monitor SEO metrics after launch, as this helps identify whether the migration has caused any unexpected drops in traffic to your site. By preserving SEO through a complete and accurate sitemap, you give your new domain the best chance of maintaining rankings and visibility in the search engine results pages.
Step 5: Maintain Redirects for at Least 6 Months to Protect SEO
To keep your rankings stable during the transition, maintain redirects from your old domain to the new one for at least six months. This allows search engines and users enough time to adjust to the change. Every page on your website should have a proper redirect pointing to the new equivalent URL; failing to do so can hurt your SEO and reduce traffic to your site.
Domain name changes are a big change and can significantly impact SEO metrics if not managed carefully. Preserving SEO value through long-term redirects gives the new domain authority while preventing loss of rankings and visibility. SEO experts often recommend monitoring search rankings closely during this period to ensure traffic to the new domain is stabilising.
By following these steps diligently, you can successfully change your website domain without sacrificing all of your organic ranking and traffic. Remember to monitor your site’s performance closely during and after the transition period to address any potential issues promptly e.g. pages with incorrect redirects. As I said before, you should be expecting to see a drop in organic traffic and rankings in the period immediately after migration. By following this plan, you should minimise the changing domain name SEO impact and regain the majority of your traffic within 6 months of the migration.
Planning a domain migration? Don’t leave your SEO to chance. Get in touch with WSI Waverley today and let our SEO experts guide you through the process, protecting your rankings and making the transition as smooth as possible.