Website Domain Change Procedure

Website Domain Change Procedure

**Project Planning:**

Start by defining your project timeline. Changing your website's domain is a significant task that should be carefully planned and executed to avoid disrupting your website's performance and SEO rankings.

**Backup Your Website:**

Before any significant changes, ensure that you have a complete backup of your website. This backup should include all your website's files, databases, and other critical information.

**Setting Up the New Website:**

Establishing your new website at example.com.au can involve various steps, ranging from simply moving your website files and databases to a new hosting account to more intricate procedures, depending on your website's structure.

One common oversight during domain switches is the handling of 'www' prefixes. Ensure to account for both www (www.example.com.au) and non-www (example.com.au) versions of your new domain during the setup to maintain consistency and avoid potential SEO issues. Consider your preferred domain version (www or non-www) and ensure that the other version redirects appropriately.

**301 Redirects:**

Once your new website is set up and ready to go, it's time to implement 301 redirects from your old domain to the new one. This step is crucial to ensure that any links pointing to your old domain will be automatically redirected to the corresponding page on your new domain.

**Internal Links Update:**

During the transition, it is critical to update all internal links, images, and other resources to reference the new domain. Although the 301 redirects can manage initial redirects, direct linkage to resources on the new domain is preferred. This helps to boost load times and enhance SEO.

Some developers may have employed absolute URL structures for internal links, for instance, `Services`. In a domain change scenario, where the website files are copied or the server is adjusted to use a new primary domain name, these absolute URLs will still point to the old domain (example.com/services/), not the new one (example.com.au/services/). This could potentially result in 404 errors and a loss of link equity, or create unnecessary redirect chains from example.com/services/ to example.com.au/services/.

The objective should be to minimise these redirect chains so that the resources load faster and provide an optimal user experience. To achieve this, all absolute URLs should be meticulously updated to reference the new domain.

Please note that this entire process hinges on the successful implementation of 301 redirects. Without them, there could be a substantial loss of SEO value due to broken links and lost link equity.

**Google Search Console Tools Update:**

Informing Google and Bing about the domain change is vital to preserve your site's SEO rankings and visibility. Follow these steps:

- Log in to your Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools accounts.

- Submit a change of address request. This alerts Google and Bing that your website has migrated to a new domain.

- Ensure you have both the old and new website properties in the same Google Search Console account. This step is crucial to attribute all metrics from the old site to the new one.

- Upload your updated sitemap to both platforms. This allows the search engines to understand the structure of your new domain and index it appropriately.

Remember, the execution of these steps relies heavily on the successful implementation of 301 redirects. Without these redirects, the search engines may not properly index your new domain, which could lead to significant drops in traffic and rankings.

**Monitor Website's Performance and SEO:**

Once your new website is live, monitor its performance carefully. Check for any 404 errors, broken links, or other issues that could affect your users' experience or your SEO rankings. Keep an eye on your site's traffic and search rankings to catch any potential issues early on.