Website Redirect – The Perfect SEO Guide

Guide to Changing Domain Name While Preserving Old Content and SEO Ranking

Changing domain names can be a daunting task, especially when you want to retain your old website’s content and preserve your hard-earned SEO ranking. However, with the right approach and proper redirections, you can seamlessly transition from your old domain to a new one without losing valuable traffic and search engine visibility. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to successfully change your domain name while preserving your old content and ensuring that search engines like Google recognize the change.

Move All Website Data to the New Domain

Before you initiate the domain change process, ensure that all your website data, including files, images, databases, and configurations, are moved to the new domain. This step is crucial to avoid any content loss during the migration process. Make sure the structure and organization of the new domain mirror that of the old one to maintain a seamless user experience.

Set Up 301 Redirections on the Old Domain

Once all your data is safely transferred to the new domain, you need to set up 301 permanent redirects on the old domain to point users and search engines to the new domain. This is done through the .htaccess file, a powerful configuration file that instructs the server on how to handle different requests. Here’s the code to add in your .htaccess file on the old domain:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

# Redirect to the new domain with 301 redirects
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^DomainA\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://DomainB.com/$1 [R=301,L]

If your old website is no longer online, you can simply park the domain on the new domain’s control panel and add the above .htaccess code in a file within the folder of the addon domain.

Indexing in Google Search Console

To ensure that Google recognizes the domain change and updates its index accordingly, you need to run the indexing process in Google Search Console.

– Log in to Google Search Console and select your old domain property.
– Go to the URL Inspection tool and type your old domain name in the search bar.
– Click on “Request Indexing” to run the indexing process for the old domain.

Create a New Property for the New Domain

Now that you have successfully redirected the old domain to the new domain, it’s time to create a new property for the new domain in Google Search Console.

– Add the new domain as a new property in Google Search Console.
– Verify ownership of the new domain.

Validate & Update Domain Change

In Google Search Console, go to the following URL:
https://search.google.com/search-console/not-verified?original_url=/search-console/settings/change-address&original_resource_id

– Select the old domain and then, at the bottom, select the new domain.
– Click on “Validate & Update” to confirm the domain change.