Domain Migration SEO Checklist & Steps

As with any drastic change, domain migration also affects your SEO. Thus, you must ensure your domain migration follows SEO best practices.

‍

When migrating to a new domain, you must consider two key aspects from a search engine's perspective.

‍

1. You need to delete(or redirect) your old domain from Google's index

‍

2. Google has to re-index your new domain and all the web page URLs

‍

While migrating your domain, you must ensure that you do no harm to your website and do not violate any of Google's webmaster guidelines.

‍

Google has two major concerns with domain migrations.

‍

1. When migrating a domain, you risk breaking links and causing a temporary drop in ranking. Expect traffic loss and lost conversions or sales.

‍

2. You also risk getting penalized by Google if you are not careful with how the migration is done.

‍

To avoid penalties and rank losses, gradually migrating your domain is the best approach. This means that both the old and new domains will work together during the migration process. This way, users can still be directed from the old domain address while all content is gradually shifted to the new address. 

‍

If this is done correctly, search engines will automatically update their index whenever a change happens on either of the domains. There will be no penalty for having both domains live simultaneously and no loss of trust or link authority for either of the domain names. 

‍

This gradual process can take time depending on how many pages are being migrated, but it is worth it in the end because it ensures that there are no losses from Google's and a user's points of view.

‍

Domiain migration process can take time depending on how many pages are being migrated, but it is worth it in the end because it ensures that there are no losses from Google's point of view and a user's point of view.

‍

This gradual shift should be planned carefully and executed correctly to achieve SEO goals without incurring any Google penalties or rank drops while migrating your website's domain name.

‍

A well-thought-out domain migration strategy can help you maintain your current SERP rankings and move in the right direction.

‍

Planning your Domain Migration SEO

‍

Planning for an SEO domain migration can be complex and requires careful consideration before executing the move. Considering factors such as content updates, changing to a new CMS, and SEO analytical implications is essential. 

‍

Before starting the process, it is essential to understand the differences between domain-only and URL path changes and which content and optimization tools you want to keep or migrate to the new domain. 

‍

Domain migration should be done cautiously, as it can significantly impact the website’s visibility and ranking.

‍

However, if done correctly, domain migration can be an excellent opportunity to boost organic traffic. Let us look at the 5 critical aspects of planning for domain migration for SEO.

‍

1. Domain-only changes v/s URL path changes:

‍

This is an important consideration to keep in mind when migrating a domain. Domain changes refer to simply changing the domain name from mysite.com to yoursite.com. On the other hand, URL path changes refer to changes to the URL's path, such as from mysite.com/article to yoursite.com/blog-post. Ensuring the URLs are correctly configured and redirected after the domain migration process is essential.

‍

For URL path changes, there will be a need to do a few page-level 301 redirects. This is more cumbersome. Hence consider based on a traffic threshold and only do a URL path change if necessary.

‍

2. Content Updates:

‍

When migrating a domain, it is vital to decide if the content on the new domain should be the same or different than the old domain. If you want the same content, you must ensure that the content does not change during the migration process. If you want different content, plan how best to migrate the content from the old domain to the new one.

‍

Another aspect to consider when making content updates is updating the internal links. This means updating links within the content to ensure it points to the correct path on the new domain. Common mistakes to avoid include forgetting to update the navigation and internal links. 

‍

3. Should you shift to a new CMS as well?:

‍

Should you shift to a new CMS is an important decision when migrating a domain. If you are changing the domain and the content, you must decide whether to keep the same CMS or use a new one. The CMS chosen should be easy to use and can accommodate the content. A good practice is to use the same CMS so that all content can be transferred easily. 

‍

Common mistakes to avoid include having too many plugins that slow down the website or choosing the wrong CMS for the content. In case of a CMS change, remember that your new CMS supports old layouts and design systems to make your domain migration smoother.

‍

4. SEO Tools:

‍

Along with changing the CMS, you must decide whether to keep the same or incorporate new optimization tools. This includes analytics, tracking, auditing, and other tools used for the old website. If you keep the same tools, you must ensure that these can be used for the new domain or opt for new ones.

‍

Update your domain changes in the old tools. Read the steps below on when and how to update your domain address in Google Search Console. Common mistakes to avoid include forgetting to set up tracking on the new domain or not updating the tools used for the old domain.

‍

5. Auditing and Analytics:

‍

Once the domain migration process is completed, it is essential to perform an audit to check for any broken links or pages and any other issues. This audit should also cover your analytics and tracking systems to ensure they are correctly set up. Your analytics & SEO performance may see a slight bump. However, this should return to normal after a few weeks. Common mistakes to avoid include not checking for broken links after the domain migration process or not using the right metrics to track performance.

The domain migration process involves several key elements, and we break it down into the exact steps you should take to ensure smooth sailing.

‍

Step 1: Plan your migration

‍

Before initiating a domain migration, make sure you have a plan to deal with any possible downtime. Let your customers know that you are aware of the migration and that there may be a brief downtime while the migration occurs.

‍

Set yourself up to succeed by planning and trying to avoid potential pitfalls that may lead to issues with the migration.

‍

Step 2: Check Your New Domain

‍

Before you do anything else, make sure you know the history of your new domain. Has it ever been used before? Does it have indexed content? Has it had content removed? Are any backlinks pointing to it?

‍

Google’s Search Console gives you detailed and free info on what it thinks about your new site. Claim and verify your new domain in Google’s Search Console.

‍

Step 3: Migrate Your Content

‍

Make a complete list of URLs on your existing domain. Crawl your website like a search engine and find all the URLs in Google's index. This will only give you access to organic pages.

‍

If you are conducting pay-per-click ads (such as Google AdWords), include any display URLs. Our goal is to have as complete a list as possible. This master list of URLs will be utilized to assess the success of your redirects and the site's performance after migration.

‍

Once you have a list of all the URLs, make a copy of the content live on these URLs. For example, include the SEO copy (meta title and description), headings, body copy, images (with properties like alt text), links, etc.

‍

Move all the content to the CMS associated with your new domain. DO NOT publish the content yet. We also do not want search engines to start crawling the new website (apart from maybe the home page).  

‍

Stop crawling and indexing the new domain website using the robots.txt file and meta=noindex tags. You can also password-protect your new site.

‍

Step 4: Survey & Setup Redirects

‍

In this step, we will look at how redirects and internal and external links are set up on our website.

‍

Your crawl above should have given a list of existing redirects in place. You need to decide where these will point on the new domain website. Ideally, port any existing 301 rules to the new domain. Remember to avoid too many chain redirects by introducing new 404s.

‍

Ensure all internal links and canonicals point to the new domain as well. Any XML sitemaps are updated with new links and uploaded to the new domain via GSC.

‍

Identify and gather all external websites pointing to your old domain address web pages. You will have to test if the redirects were successful and check if the links point to new domain pages.

‍

Step 5: Migrate & Submit for Re-Indexing

‍

Set up new 301 redirects from the existing domain address to the new domain. Add 301s to WWW and HTTP versions of the website to point to the new domain directly.

‍

Use Google's change of address/domain migration tool to begin migration. While you are there, review the latest guidelines posted by Google around domain migration.

‍

Ensure no developer copies of the old website. When left live and externally accessible, old websites are easy to copy or duplicate. Developers often add a canonical to live sites and then these can start ranking on search engines instead.

‍

Step 6: Test Everything & Go Live

‍

Test for SEO parity of all URLs. Check title tags, meta-descriptions, canonicals, headings, linking modules, schema markups, and whether site speed optimizations are retained. Ensure these are revised for domain changes.

‍

Test it thoroughly and cut over everything cleanly all at once. You now want to submit the new site for indexing. Remove the indexation and crawling barriers set up before.

‍

Once your new domain website is live, start changing all of your website's links to use your new domain name. Update your social media accounts and other places that link back to your old site.

‍

It is not over once you've moved your website. As with our health, monitoring and maintaining your site's health is still important after successfully launching it. Track indexing of your new pages, keyword positions, and ranking. Check new web pages for performance and any user experience issues.

Domain migration SEO can be challenging, but they are necessary from time to time. Therefore, preparing for your migration is crucial by following the domain migration SEO best practices stated above.

‍

You want to make your domain migration process a smooth sail for you, your customer, and search engines. Follow the steps one by one and do not fasten the process. You want to be thorough since you do not get another chance at website domain migration.

‍

First, create a comprehensive checklist to ensure every step is covered and any critical factor is not overlooked. Secondly, ensure that your new domain’s technical set-up is in order and ready for traffic to flow. Third, ensure that any redirects that need to be set up to maintain page authority and rankings are in place. This can prevent potential issues and maintain the link juice built on the old domain.

‍

Finally, monitor key metrics like organic traffic and rankings after the migration. Regularly monitor your progress to ensure everything is going as planned and any potential errors have been quickly identified and corrected. 

‍

Domain migrations can significantly impact your website’s performance, and if done correctly, it can enhance your SEO efforts in the long run. Doing wrong can leave much cleanup work, so be sure to get it right the first time. With the proper preparation and careful monitoring, you can ensure a successful domain migration SEO process.