Christian Fitzpatrick
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
If you want to change your domain name, there is the risk that you may lose a small amount of website traffic. This is because if you are known to have a certain domain that suddenly changes, customers can become confused or think they have gone to the wrong store. There are, however, steps you can take to make the change as smooth as possible for both you and your customers.
Redirect traffic - A 301 redirect tells the search engine that your URL has changed, so will redirect one URL to another. This is an important step in changing your domain name as without the redirect, users trying to access the old domain will be met with an error message, which could result in a loss of traffic on your new domain.
Map out your old web pages - A sitemap is a map of all the pages on your website. Having a sitemap is useful to have when you are changing domain names as it will show all of the pages that need to be redirected to the new URL of your website. If you do not have a sitemap but have a site on a system that allows plugins, you can download one that generates the sitemap for you.
Content audit - Review your content to ensure that any links and backlinks are changed to the new domain. Conducting a content audit means that all of your content remains relevant and related to the correct domain. This means that any users reading the content and following links will be accessing the correct content, rather than being met with error messages.
Communicate the change with customers - Update your social media pages and communicate clearly with your customers that your URL may be different but you are still there for business. When the customer is made aware of the change, it will be less of a shock to them that something looks different and they are less likely to go elsewhere.
Inform Google of the change - You should let this search engine know that you are changing domain names. Most searches will come from Google so to minimise loss of traffic, be sure to inform them. You can do this by using the free 'Google Search Console' tool and using the 'Change of Address' feature.
Augusta Price
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Not all of your traffic, but yes! Changing your domain raises the risk of losing your website traffic. It may confuse the visitors, and they may end up shifting towards your competitors. However, keeping your previous domain in the redirect to your updated domain for a certain period can help avoid losing customers.
Amalia Cote
Friday, October 22, 2021
Yes, there is a possibility of losing traffic after changing the domain name, so it is advisable not to change the domain name. Besides your regular visitors, it can confuse Google bots. But if you still do, there are ways to minimize the effect. You can redirect the traffic from your old domain to the new domain. 301 redirect let Google know that you have changed your domain name.
Lucas Mason
Thursday, October 27, 2022
If you've been recently struggling to get your business noticed online, there are some solutions to consider to increase alexa rankings and bring potential customers. You're likely to succeed and generate sales with these tips being implemented properly.
Filip Dimkovski
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Typically yes, changing it will result in a decline in website traffic and visibility. Since search engines use the domain name to index websites, if you change it, your website must be re-indexed again. In some cases, the process can take several weeks, during which time potential visitors may not find your website.
Additionally, any links that have been published on other websites will no longer point to your new website address, further reducing visibility. To minimize this impact, consider setting up a 301 redirect from your old domain to the new one to help ensure that any existing links are redirected to the correct page. This way, all of the visitors of your old domain will be automatically redirected to your new one.
Please follow our Community Guidelines
Related Articles
