Acquiring a more fitting domain name that recently became available or upgrading your website to match your business’ evolution can be exciting. You’re rebranding around a new, powerful name and forging a deeper connection with your customers.

But alongside the excitement is a second feeling: switching from your established domain to a new one can understandably stir up anxiety.

After all, you’ve worked hard to build SEO rankings, site traffic, and trust with your visitors. It’s only natural to worry about the potential impact a transition will have on all your achievements.

Will changing domains affect your rankings in search engines? Will longtime visitors migrate elsewhere instead of following your new URL? 

These are reasonable fears for any website owner to have.

But there’s no need to panic. If done strategically, retiring your old domain for a new one will not damage your online presence.

With the steps outlined in this article, you can change domain names without losing the SEO juice or traffic gains you’ve gotten over the years. 

Ready? Let’s begin exploring how to change your domain name.

When to Change Your Domain Name

You might want to change your domain name for several reasons. One of the biggest reasons is outgrowing your old one: as businesses scale and evolve their initial name may no longer fully represent them.

Perhaps the business has rebranded or changed its offerings. In this scenario, their existing domain name could become irrelevant or misleading. Changing the domain name to align with the new brand identity or offerings makes sense.

Expanding into new markets or geographical regions is another catalyst for a domain name change. For example, if your business expands into Spain, your current name might not translate well into Spanish and might even have unintended meanings. 

Another common motivation for swapping domain names is securing a better extension, like moving from .net or .biz to a .com once it becomes available.

It can also happen that you brainstorm a better-sounding domain – perhaps a shorter, easier-to-spell, memorable one related to your niche. There’s bound to feel eager to register and transition to the domain before someone else does.

Finally, you might receive a good offer and decide to sell your business for financial reasons. Your old domain name might have become a valuable asset and it was time to cash in.

So, in summary, as businesses evolve, rebrand, face challenges, or get acquired, it’s normal for domain name needs to change as well.

How to Change Your Domain Name

Changing your domain name won’t lead to broken links, service disruption, or downtime if done correctly.

Follow these six steps closely, and you’ll transition your website to its new address smoothly:

Step 1: Choose and Acquire Your New Domain Name

When selecting a new domain, it’s critical that you choose something strong that accurately represents your brand’s vision now and in the future. Invest time in brainstorming names that capture your business’ essence and core offerings.

Ensure the name is concise, memorable, and easy to spell and pronounce. Other crucial factors to consider are branding, relevant keywords, and whether the name could potentially limit or enable future growth and evolution.

Crafting the perfect name encompassing all these elements can be daunting. That’s where an AI-powered name generation tool comes in handy. You can use one to generate hundreds of fantastic business names with matching domains with just a few clicks.

However, if you prefer to handpick from thousands of business names and domains curated and vetted by experts, browse our remium Marketplace.

Step 2: Back Up Your Website

Backing up your website is crucial before making significant edits or changes, such as a domain migration. You can use a reliable plugin or do it manually through your hosting file/database manager.

After archiving your entire site, including files, databases, images, code, plugins, etc., save the backup file to your computer or a cloud drive, ensuring it’s securely stored off your server.

Before proceeding, test to confirm that your backup file is valid. You can restore a sample file or database table and verify everything loads correctly.

You’ll need to create backups before and after the migration in case any technical issues arise. Keep all backups archived for at least six months to a year in case you need to reference older site versions.

In addition to a full backup, consider taking snapshots of your website at crucial points, such as before the domain change, during the transition, and post-migration. This allows you to revert changes with granularity if bugs surface later on.

Always backup, even if you don’t foresee problems, as it provides insurance for unanticipated issues outside your control. Taking proactive backup precautions makes troubleshooting much less risky down the road.

Step 3: Audit Your Current Website

Before changing your domain, conducting a content, link, and SEO audit of your website is a prudent step. An audit helps you locate potential problems arising from the transition. It also provides a baseline to compare your site’s performance pre and post-migration.

You can use online tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to scan and analyze your site for an SEO audit. You want to note how your website ranks regarding loading speed and performance, number of inbound links, number of outbound links, and content quality.

After auditing for SEO and backlinks, carefully comb through every page, plugin, theme file, and image path of your site to locate any references to the current domain name. View page source and folder structures meticulously.

To avoid broken links post-migration, search databases and code for hard-coded domain references using automated tools or queries. Note each occurrence and the changes you’d need to make after moving to your new domain. Double-check that internal and external links work as intended before changing the domain.

Finally, you should test all site functionality to catch potential breaking points early. Document any suspect areas for extra caution during the migration.

Refer back to your audit frequently throughout the migration process. If issues are uncovered later, the audit acts as a reference roadmap. Take screenshots of each page for an additional visual record.

Step 4: Migrate to the New Domain

It’s now time to move your website to its new home.

The migration process is relatively straightforward using a CMS like WordPress. You can utilize plugins like The Duplicator – WordPress Migration & Backup to back up and move your site.

If your website is hard-coded, you’ll need to migrate it manually. Start by logging in and updating your domain globally. This is usually done via your hosting panel, DNS provider, SSL certificate, and any CDN or domain masking services.

Thoroughly test and confirm that the new domain has fully propagated before making any other changes.

The next step is to search for and modify critical site files like config.php and .htaccess to reflect the new domain name. Be sure to deploy file edits across all environments, like the live site, staging, development, and third-party integrations.

Once the new domain is live, deploy page-specific updates from your audit across content, themes, plugins, and other code referencing the old URLs. Double-check by testing pages suspected to cause issues or concerns from the audit you conducted in the previous step.

Step 5: Set Up Permanent Redirects (301 redirects)

A permanent (301) redirect is a status code that informs a browser that the page or web resource it is trying to retrieve has been permanently moved to a new URL or online location.

Picture a 301 redirect as a mail forwarding service. When you move to a new home, mail sent to your former address will automatically be forwarded to your new residence.

To ensure your website’s SEO ranking and visitor traffic remain intact, you must implement a permanent (301) redirect from its old domain to the new one.

Without a 301 redirect, search engine bots and site users would encounter error pages due to broken links. This could lead to direct traffic loss and poor search engine rankings.

You can set up a 301 redirect by manually creating .htaccess rules. If on WordPress, you can use plugins like Yoast SEO Premium, All in One SEO, Redirection, or Broken Link Checker to get a 301 in place.

Once done, manually trigger redirects to ensure everything is wired accurately. Do this by typing in the old URLs of your top pages to verify that your browser takes you to the corresponding new matching page as intended.

Also, test URLs with variables, subdomains, products and categories, and more. If you encounter any 404 errors or other issues, check your server logs to trace and resolve them. Tweak as needed to iron out all kinks.

Step 6: Spread the Word

Now that you’ve successfully moved your site to its new domain and set up 301 redirects, it’s time to let everyone know your new address.

Notify online visitors, partners, vendors, and other external sites linking to your old domain about the recent change through personalized emails. Include clear instructions on updating links to your new address where necessary.

Log into Google Search Console to alert search engines of your new domain. If your website has many pages, submit an XML sitemap for bots to recrawl and reindex new links. If applicable, check Bing Webmaster Tools and other search engines.

You can spread the word faster by mentioning your new domain across all your social media profiles.

After getting the word out, constantly monitor links and mentions of your old domain to catch and fix any stragglers.

Wrapping Up

As a business expands and evolves, it’s natural that a domain name change might become necessary. Migrating a site to a new domain can be daunting, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming. With thorough preparation and careful execution, you can move your site to a new address without downtime, disrupting your site’s performance, or losing your hard-earned SEO rankings.

That said, the transition process begins with securing the right domain name – one that accurately represents your brand, is memorable, and has the potential to withstand the test of time. Don’t settle for an okay-ish domain just because it’s available. Invest your time to explore options that deeply resonate with your business and target audience.

If you’re struggling to find the ideal domain, our Premium Marketplace could give you a headstart. With a vast selection of solid and brandable domains across diverse industries and niches, you will discover a gem that perfectly aligns with your vision.

Frequently Asked Questions About Changing Domain Name

Can I rename my domain name?

No, you can’t rename a domain name after you’ve registered it. If you want to change your domain name you have to buy a new domain and migrate your website to this new digital location.

Is it difficult to change a domain name?

No, it’s not very difficult if you follow the proper steps. That said, changing a domain requires some technical know-how and work. Do your research before beginning the process.

How much does it cost to change a domain name?

Costs can vary, but you’ll need to pay the registration fee for the new domain name. Depending on the registrar you use, it typically costs $10- $15 per year.

If you’re buying and changing to a pre-registered premium domain, it could cost thousands of dollars. Also, factor in any potential migration fees if hiring someone to handle the process.

Does changing a domain name affect SEO?

Changing your domain name can impact your SEO if done incorrectly. However, if you properly do a 301 redirect from the old to the new domain and update all links, any negative SEO impact can be minimized.