SEO: 5 steps to change domain name without loss of SEO
You finally have the domain name you've been looking for your site for a long time, and here comes the fateful time of migration
You are afraid of bugs and you would not like to lose all the SEO results that you have managed to win with your current domain name
Do not panic, following specific steps, you can change domain name without impact on the SEO of your website. Be thorough and precise, and everything will be fine
But what could lead you to change your domain name
Here are some use cases for which this is useful
A change of brand name
A refresh of your name by shortening it for example
A domain name that was already taken at your launch and has just been released
Reserve your new domain name
Apart from this technical step of reserving and buying a domain name, it is especially his choice that will deserve all your attention
Platforms like WHOIS, Gandi or OVH will give you the domain names available
From there, look for the one you are targeting and take advantage of suggestions that the site will make to find a variant if your first choice is not available
List all your links and URLs
Build two sitemaps
If you have already created a sitemap, this will greatly facilitate your task
Otherwise, we strongly advise you to generate the one of your old website before the change of domain name
The sitemap will simply help Google to correctly index all your pages under the new URLs
By providing both files, he can deindex the old URLs and index the news
Make a list of your links
Inbound links on your website or backlinks are essential to your good SEO
So you have to be alert to two things:
Avoid generating 404 errors if you forget to change them, which would cause Google to penalize you in your rankings
Transform them to keep all the link juice they bring to your website right now
In the Traffic tab
Select "Links to your website"
Export this valuable list and start the work of change
Relaunch them if necessary, but do not lose your position for lack of communication
Make your redirects
Step a little technical, but essential to any change of domain name: redirects
Avoid doing too much, as this would also send negative signals to Google, so the previous step can not be solved simply with redirects
Use 301 redirects to permanently change the URL of your old page to the new one
Update and check
Update your webmastering and analytics tools
When you have completed your referrals, remember to update your domain name in the Google Webmaster Tool with the "change of address" option
This change must also be made in your Google Analytics or other traking tool
This way, you will be able to keep all the history of your account and observe the evolutions from the date of your change
Do not forget the broken links
Do not let visitors drift when they see your old URLs
This will happen
If they have saved your site as a favorite
If they fall on links that you have forgotten in the redirects
If the site that offers a link to yours did not play the game when you asked them to update the link
So, plan a custom HTTP 404 error page that explains where to find your new content
Heal your communication and create the event
A change of domain name is at a time
A risk of hearing loss strong
An incredible opportunity to mobilize your audience and animate your brand organic traffic, that is to say when users type directly your URL in their browser
Anticipate this migration upstream and take advantage of this name change to make it an event in your community: "Our site is getting a new look"
You are ready to begin your change of domain name. Be precise and rigorous, because a large part of your SEO is based on these steps
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