Tips for Switching Domains

You've spent a great deal of time and money generating top notch content, creating an attractive layout for your web site, gaining links and increasing the amount of traffic your web site receives. Unfortunately, you've come to the point where you realize that there is still one thing holding you back: your domain name. Whether it is because you don't have a .COM domain or your domain name is simply too hard to remember, deciding to switch domains is something that almost all of us will have to deal with sooner or later. In a perfect world, no one would ever need to switch their domain name, but since the world we live in is anything but perfect, here are some tips for making the transition as smooth as possible:



Use a 301 Redirect: This is an absolute necessity! A 301 redirect will take visitors to your old domain name, along with the search engine spiders, to your new domain. If you are not familiar with how to implement a 301 redirect, a quick search of Google will give you all the information you need.

Notify Google: Speaking of Google, chances are they are your biggest source of traffic. In order to speed up the process of regaining your previous rankings, it is important to notify Google when you are ready to make your domain name switch. The most effective way to do this is by registering the new domain name within Google's Webmaster Central and uploading a new XML sitemap for the new domain.

Update Valuable Backlinks: You should take some time and evaluate the top backlinks to your original web site. Once you have a list of the ones that are sending the most traffic and helping your SERPs the most, you should contact the owner of each web site and politely ask them if they could update their link to your new web site.

Issue a Press Release: A press release can be used to tell the world and the search engine spiders that your web site has a new home. Issuing a press release is also an essential step in beginning the process of branding your latest domain.

Don't Switch at All: No, that wasn't a typo. Before you run out and setup a new domain, you need to think long and hard about whether the long-term benefits will outweigh the short-term consequences (which are inevitable). Depending on the popularity and size of your web site, it can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to six months or more before your web site regains eighty to ninety percent of its previous traffic. Since a drop in traffic is going to mean a drop in revenue, you need to make sure that you are ready to handle this temporary (but not necessarily short) decline in web site revenue.