Changing your website domain is a little like moving your household. You need to let the people closest to you know that you are moving. However, with a website move, you have to consider those who have yet to find you, and those who will be searching tomorrow for just the kind of goods and services that you provide. You have to direct them correctly to your new url location. How do you keep
The answer depends on what type of “redirect” you use during your “site migration.”
SEO During Site Migration
In general, there are three main reasons businesses choose to change their url:
1. RELEVANCE A new domain name might just make more sense given a change in services or name. If you are assuming a new domain name, always check the domain for correct ownership.
From: myoldcompany.com
to mynewcompnay.com
2. GEOGRAPHY A business may want to add a ccTLD to the company url.
From mycompany.com
to mycompany.co.uk
3. AUTHORITY The business may want to move the url from a hosted site to its own domain. This gives the site address more authority and may offer more functionality as well.
From mycompany.othersite.com
to mycompany.com
As a rule, it is a good idea to keep your site migration as uncomplicated as possible. If there are other things you would like to change as well, such as the platform, structure, design and content, it may be best to wait until after the migration of the domain before doing so. The most important thing at this time, is to make sure those who are searching for you arrive safely at your new location from your old website! It is just as important that the people who find you through a backlink such as a directory listing or through a Google search, reach you through the correct site.
This is done by selecting the correct “redirect” for the job.
Redirects
A redirect is simply a mechanism for forwarding one url to another. There are three major types of redirects, however, one of the most notable variations between them is how each one can affect your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) during the site migration. Doesn’t it make sense to use a redirect that will pass your ranking power from the old site to the new? Let’s examine each for their ability to retain SEO power.
1. The “302” Redirect. The “302” redirect is often used when a site is moved temporarily to another location. It is identified by a message of 302 Found (HTTP 1.1) / Moved Temporarily (HTTP 1.0). The drawback to this kind of redirect is that it passes none of the site’s original “link juice” or ranking power from the search engine bots onto this new site. As far as the search engines are concerned, the redirected url is a brand new page. All the SEO power created from the other site is now invalid on the redirected url.
2. 307 Moved Temporarily (HTTP 1.1 Only) This redirect is a successor of the 302 and operates similarly. However, if the content is moved temporarily (during maintenance) and the search engines have already identified the server as 1.1 compatible, some of the SEO can be saved. Usually, though, it is impossible to tell if this is in fact, the case. Therefore, in most cases, there is a better choice of redirect than the 301..
3. Meta Refresh The meta refresh redirect is implemented on a page, rather than a server level. If you have ever gone to a site and received a countdown message saying, “If you are not redirected in five seconds, click here”, you have experienced the meta refresh. Even though they are one of the slowest redirect methods, they do carry some link juice with them from the original url. Still, there is a better way. Redirect your customers and prospects with the fabulous, all-purpose, user friendly…
4. 301 Redirect Is Your SEO Lifesaver
The 301 redirect is beyond compare when it comes to redirecting your site's visitors while preserving all your stockpiled SEO and ranking.
Like the other redirects, the 301 automatically sends a visitor from the old page (domain) to the new one. However, it takes the important step of notifying both the browsers and the search engines that the new url has moved permanently with all its same (or refreshed, relevant content) and is not a new page. Because the search engine understands the page is not new, it will pass along the link juice of the original site to the new url.
This is an important point because Google and other search engines favor well-trafficked, established sites for their rankings. Therefore, being classified as “the same page” rather than “new” is crucial. Page longevity is important to the search engines because more established sites have more visitors and therefore more SEO power. They have more inbound links that are relevant. Each visit is like a “vote” for the site’s authority so Google and other search engines see the site as more valuable and rank it higher. When a redirect designates a page as “new”, all the power and authority already established by site traffic vanishes into thin air.
While there is no guarantee that all of your site’s SEO power will be retained through a 301 redirect, of all the options available, it provides the best chance of doing so. Therefore, using a 301 redirect is, in most cases, the best way to redirect your website traffic during a site migration.
Traffic Drop After Redirect
Be aware that even after implementing the best redirect option during a site migration, most businesses will see a drop off in website traffic when they move their site from one url to another. Why? Because it takes time for the search engine spiders to crawl for the redirect, find it, recognize the command, index it and if done correctly, pass the initial page’s authority and ranking to the new url. Without the 301 redirect, this may never happen and the new url may never have the same Google ranking the original did. With the 301 direct, it may take a few months before website traffic is back where it should be.
Are you planning a new site, new url or site migration? Here at Design & Promote we can help you put a 301 redirect in place so you can enjoy seamless SEO benefits in your new url location. Reach out to us today.
.png)
