There are several situations that a website owner might come across, that a domain name change becomes inevitable. Even though making changes to domain name seems to be straightforward, directing the organic traffic to the new domain name and keeping the website rank under the new domain name on Google search results can be challenging. There are a few steps that must be taken, if you are changing your domain name, in order to avoid losing your website’s position on SERPs.

How to avoid domain name change?

Making changes is not always a bad thing! You might be in need of making changes to your domain name due to a significant growth, that is a good thing. Having said that, you will be better off to have a professional plan in place, at the very first day of starting your online business, in order to avoid being forced to make several changes in the future. For instance, if you choose to work with a well-experienced and reputable company who offers multiple professional SEO packages in Dubai, you can rest assured that the need for changes in the future will be none or minimal. However, there are online businesses who are still interested in working with offshore companies or freelancers due to their price advantages that will most probably lead to need for changes due to some reasons that we will specify shortly.

A Few Reasons That Make Domain Name Change Crucial

Domain Name Doesn’t Appropriately Reflect Your Business

Many businesses don’t consider much on choosing a proper domain name at the early stages of operating. However, once they start to grow, they come to the conclusion that their current domain name is not appropriate, so a change must be taken place.

Change In Business Name

The same thing can happen to your business name. Your business name plays a crucial role in your brand awareness and how people get engaged with your business. Hence, if it’s not chosen professionally, you will have no other choice but to change your business name.

Change in TLD Is Required

You may feel the need to change your domain TLD, as it wasn’t selected properly before. For instance, .com TLD reflects global operation more than .ae TLD. Hence, if your corporate web design with .ae TLD is developed to operate globally by providing services to customers from all around the world, it would have been better, if the TLD was selected to be .com rather than .ae. In that case, a domain name change is needed.

How To Change A Domain Name Without Losing Position On Google?

There are technically five steps to take, if you want to make your domain name change. Here, the whole process is briefly explained.

1. Buy The New Domain And Extend The Old Domain Registration

Obviously, the first step is to buy and register the new domain name for your business. However, you need to make sure of extending the old domain name registration, as having access to the old domain is quite important to keep your SEO at where it currently stands.

2. Create A New Host On The Same Server And Make The New Website Up And Running

You must create a new host on the same server that you have been working with before, to host the new domain. The reason is that all the facilities, IP and DNS must be the same for the new domain, as any change in DNS would increase the risk of losing your position on SERPs. Oce done, make your website up and running on the new domain and host and make sure that it operates perfectly.

3. Register The New Website On Google Search Console

Introduce your new website to Google by registering it on Google Search Console and get all the requirements including sitemap, main domain designation, robot.txt file, etc. done.You must be careful, as registering your website on GSC requires a good level of knowledge and experience.

4. Redirect All Old Domain Addresses To Their Corresponding New Addresses.

At this stage, you need to redirect all old domain addresses to the new corresponding addresses. Based on the programming language you have used, different coding must be applied to get this task done. It goes without saying that this process must be done by an experienced programmer.

5. Inform Google About The Changes In Your Domain Name

As the last step, you must let Google know about the changes. You need to go to Google Search Console of the old domain. The task of informing Google will be finalized by clicking on Change of Address and follow the steps as required.

Bottomline

Making changes in your domain becomes crucial under some special circumstances. Even though the whole process is not very complicated, the risk of losing your traffic would increase, if it’s not professionally accomplished. Hence, it is highly recommended to seek professional services, if you are in need of changing your domain name. One of the best web design agency in UAE with a proven track record of success is Websima DMCC. If you are in need of professional digital services, feel free to contact them with confidence and ask for a free consultation meeting with their talented team.