The Power of 301 Redirects – Change Domain Names and Maintain Your Google Rankings

Loading ...
ADMS
Promotions & Marketing
https://advdms.com/blog/the-power-of-301-redirects-change-domain-names-and-maintain-your-google-rankings/
The Power of 301 Redirects
– Change Domain Names
and Maintain Your Google
Rankings
B L O G  |  A D V A N C E D  D I G I T A L  M E D I A  S E R V I C E S
https://advdms.com
As a website owner, there may come
a time when you want to change
your website’s domain name due to
rebranding efforts or to make it
more user-friendly. The key is to
make the switch without losing any
SEO juice that exists with your
current domain. The process can be
challenging, but it is doable as long
as you pay close attention to several
key details.
Why Change A Domain Name?
There are several main reasons why
anyone would want to change a
domain name. Businesses grow and
change. Some business owners
decide to transition into offering a
different product or service. For SEO
purposes, a new domain name
might just work wonders. At other
times, marketers simply decide that
a new domain name reflects how
people search for products or
services.
How to Change A Domain Name
Should you keep your old domain
and redirect to a new site, or should
you just keep your old site? Of
course, there are no easy answers.
Often, it becomes a personal choice.
If you decide to change a domain
name and drive traffic with 301
redirects, consider the following
tips.
Check to make sure your
destination domain does not
have a spotty past. A new domain
will always be clean. However,
there may be issues when buying
an old domain from someone. You
can always conduct a quick check
to see if Google has penalized the
destination domain.
Review your current website
for its SEO soundness. Does it
have a strong presence with
existing backlinks? How does it
perform for people searching for
your products and services? Does
it stand the test for being mobile-
friendly? 
Is there anything that is causing,
or will cause, Google to penalize
it? Taking a solid inventory of
your website’s existing SEO status
can enable you to make a valid
before-and-after comparison
once you redirect to a new
domain.
Consider your present hosting
situation with respect to site
migration. The first step is to
make sure you clone all your
existing files. This can get tricky,
even complicated. Never be afraid
to seek the help of web
development professionals who
can show you how to redirect a
website.
A new hosting service will require
exporting files and your database
from the old hosting location to the
new one. If using the same hosting
service, there is a strong likelihood
that your hosting service has already
created a new folder for an “addon”
domain. This would make it easier
just to copy files from one location to
the new location.
Add your redirects from the old
domain to the new domain.
These will be “301” redirects. The
redirect is the essential tool needed
to transfer from the old domain to
the new one. It is also an important
step that can help you maintain
your current ranking.
A redirect also tells Google that your
website has moved to a different
property. You can always use a “wild
card” redirect so that each post, file,
or page will point to an exact new
location.
In this step, you can focus on telling
Google about the new domain
change. Google Search Console is the
best tool to use, and it is free. Google
Search Console is one of the most
important things you can place in your
SEO toolbox. Search Console offers
some new features as well. You can
expect to find improved graphs. The
communication between website
owners and Google has also become
faster.
It is always important to check up
on your work to make sure
everything on the new domain is in
proper working order. Watch out
especially for 404 errors. These
errors will occur when pages fail to
redirect to their new destination.
Be sure to check for 404 errors for
the first month of owning your
new domain. There are a number
of tools you can utilize to make
updates.
It often takes several weeks for
these errors to manifest. Be aware,
too, that your new domain may
slip a few notches after the change.
Plan for a slight drop in rank and
field an aggressive marketing push
after launching the new website.
If you need an expert who knows
exactly how to redirect a website,
look no further. Advanced Digital
Media Services offers exceptional
SEO and web development
services. Contact us today to learn
how you can improve your online
ranking.
info@advdms.com
EMAIL ADDRESS
(877) 237-6969
PHONE NUMBER
https://advdms.com/blog
CLICK BELOW TO VISIT OUR BLOG:
Contact
Details
https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedDigitalMediaServices/
FOLLOW US ON:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/advanceddigitalmedia/
https://twitter.com/advdms_com
https://www.instagram.com/advanceddigitalmediaservices/