Over the last few months, we have had two clients start rebranding their businesses. Alongside the content on their site, the domain name has also changed to reflect their brand name. We have carried out this process of moving websites countless times, but in the wrong hands, it can be an SEO nightmare!
There are five steps to moving a website from one domain to another, which include:
- Transfer all content from the old domain to the new domain.
- Setup redirects from the old domain to the new domain.
- Pick a new site in Webmaster tools under the old domain.
- Submit a change of address request in Webmaster tools.
- Ensure all redirects are working and the new domain is functioning.
When you transfer all the content to the new domain, it’s vital that it is blocked to Google robots via “index, nofollow,” or even a temporary password-protected page. Only after you have completed all five steps above should you allow Google to recrawl the new website.
Due to SEO concerns regarding a change of address, many businesses have been hiring our Cardiff SEO Agency to perform the change and maintain their website.
The 301 Redirect
The redirection of the old website to the new website via the .htaccess file can be scary to non-developers. However, it’s critical to preserve your traffic and backlink juice from the old domain to the new domain.
A 301 redirect in your .htaccess file is as simple as:
redirect 301 /about-us.php http://www.newdomain.co.uk/about
redirect 301 /contact.php http://www.newdomain.co.uk/contact
You may choose that now is the perfect time to fix some URL slugs and improve them by reducing their size or removing extensions. It’s important that you redirect pages individually so that there are no SEO concerns. For larger websites, this may take a fair amount of time, but we suggest using software (there are many) to get every URL from your site and sort them using a spreadsheet.
Google Webmaster Change Of Address
You must tell Google that you are moving from one domain to another. This is done by using the change of address tool. Within Webmaster Tools, you can access this tool by clicking the settings cog in the top right-hand corner and selecting “Change of Address”.
Before you can successfully tell Google that you want to change the address, you need to create a new property for the new website.
This property must also be verified using the suggested methods. Once complete, from the old domain property, navigate to the section shown below:
Thankfully, Google has a 301 redirect check test. You cannot proceed unless the 301 redirect is in place and set up correctly. Once you have completed the checks, you can submit the change of address request to Google. If successful, you will see the “Submitted” block of text at the bottom of the page.
Now that you have completed the request, you will want to submit the new website sitemap and fetch all pages on Google for a fast index of the new site. This is also the perfect time to check that everything has been set up correctly without mentioning the previous brand.
Website Move Case Study
We recently carried this out for one of our clients, who rebranded their entire business. Formerly known as Pink Pig Loans, the brand changed its company name to Truffle Specialist Finance, which involved the above methods. Therefore, if you search for “Pink Pig Loans” in Google, you are now greeted by Truffle Mortgages instead of the old website.
Require This Service?
If you are planning a rebrand and require a company with extensive experience with redirects, feel free to contact us via our contact form or by calling 07415 049382.
