Will changing my domain hurt my Google ranking?

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bearaman

New Member
Hi All,
I want to replace one of my domains with another without changing content. Only the domain name of the site would change.
Would there be any negative impact on the new domain name of doing this with respect to Google rankings and indexing?
Thanks,
B.
 

raul

New Member
What happens with the old domain ? Do you drop it or "re-use it " ?
 

bearaman

New Member
It's still alive, I'm planning to just swop out one domain for another and let the other one expire.
 

raul

New Member
I'd say if you use a 301 permanent redirect ( while you still have the old domain of course ) you won't loose anything
 

link8r

New Member
I think you could lose - I can't see Google keeping you're old domain's SERP's indefinitely. 301 redirects are safe - in other words it won't negatively damage your new domain but I don't know that you will continue to hold your serps, although I've seen enough expired domains actually move up the listing (e.g. professionaljobs. ie for example)

The Little 301 That Could
 

link8r

New Member
I think you will lose your positions, so if you dont want to, then redevelop your content and leave your other site there. Two domains with separate content is better than one in my opinion.
 

vsl.online

New Member
I suggest keeping the old one and maybe just redirecting it. The problem with changing domains is the loss of traffic. And I guess you expect that to happen specially when they've been used to the old domain.


This might just affect the PR as well.
 

gav240z

New Member
Keep old domains.

I personally would never let old domains expire for several reasons.

1.) Old domains are worth more money on the second hand market.
2.) People will have all kinds of bookmarks and links to your old domain, keeping it and doing a redirect is the safest way to ensure potential visitors to your site don't get a 404 or generic parked domain page.
3.) Domains only cost (for .com) something like $6 a year to keep. Its a cheap investment.
4.) You may be getting more direct visitors to that domain than you realise.
 

link8r

New Member
I agree with Gavin. I would rarely use 301's except where that domain is weak or doesn't have a rank or where the client insists on doing so. If your domain has SERP's that deliver traffic then I'd keep it.

Well said Gavin
 

bearaman

New Member
Thanks all - the 301 seems to be the way to go. Great tips. On a related point, is there any danger of google of demoting my new domain because it sees duplicate content from the old domain? Or does the 301 redirect take care of that?
Thanks again.
B.
 

Web Templates

New Member
Even with a redirect its risky. Part of Google's algo accounts for the age of the domain etc... unless the traffic is insignficant I would not take the chance.
 

link8r

New Member
Thanks all - the 301 seems to be the way to go. Great tips. On a related point, is there any danger of google of demoting my new domain because it sees duplicate content from the old domain? Or does the 301 redirect take care of that?
.

I think what is being said is this

1. 301's won't hurt you
2. Your site will be permanently pointed to your new domain, therefore duplicate content * shouldn't * be an issue (but can be, for reasons I'll go into later)
3. You WILL lose your SERP's and these WON'T be carried forward

So going with a 301 is only a runner if you'r not getting traffic - in which case you may not be too bothered with losing your SERP's!
 

omahonydonnelly

New Member
The 301 will take care of duplicate content - and some of the popularity will pass to the new pages. The listings for the old site will eventually drop out. (Contact all the sites linking to the old domain and request that they change to the new domain.) stephenspenser.com has a good article "Redirects and SEO Best Practice".

I've found that the age of a domain is a big factor in results (all other things being equal) so if your current site has been around for awhile and is ranking well, you'd need a really good reason to make the change.

I've just done this with a site and it's easy to overlook little things, so plan the move very carefully. Use Google webmaster tools to look for problems finding pages and see what pages are indexed.
 

Hafsoh

New Member
Yeah proper system of 301 redirects, then identifying top link referring sources of traffic and asking them to change their links to use your new domain name.
 
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