Impact of a Domain Name Change
Changing a domain name can significantly impact search engine results for a website.
When a domain is changed, it can appear to search engines that the website has disappeared and is no longer indexable. With a new domain name, you’d be “starting over from scratch” when it comes to search engines.
However, if it’s necessary to make the change, there are steps that should be taken to help reduce the impact.
Steps to Reduce SEO Impact
- Make sure the root domain is set to redirect to the new one.
- Implement 301 redirects for all other page URLs.
- Set up Google Search Console for the new domain & submit the sitemap after it’s live.
- To let Google know that you changed the domain, you must submit a “Change of address” via Google Search Console (GSC).
- Note: You must have access to GSC for both the old and new domain for this to work. First, you need to verify GSC is already set up for the current domain OR set it up before the new domain is in place.
By following these steps, you’ll tell Google your website changed to a new domain name (to try and conserve what it knows and indexes about your current domain) and ensure that links throughout the web linking to your site are being redirected to the proper page.
Additional “Clean-up” Step
Here’s an additional action item for cleanup after the domain name change is made. It won’t actually impact SEO, but will reduce confusion for everyone moving forward:
- Update the domain name in Google Analytics.
- It will still track properly on the new domain without making this change, but it’s best to update for consistency.
