How to Change Domain Name Without Losing SEO?

Changing your domain name without losing SEO might seem challenging, especially after investing time in building your website’s search presence. A poorly managed change can lead to lower rankings and lost visitors, but with the right approach, you can maintain your traffic and visibility.

Imagine running a popular online store for years under oldbrand.com, only to realize that newbrand.com better represents your business. You might want to change your domain name, but what about the SEO and all the authority your existing domain has built? If the domain change process is not planned and executed properly, all the backlinks, search rankings, and organic visitors you’ve gained could be at risk. However, by following the right steps, you can help search engines, especially the big guy, Google, recognize the change while keeping your SEO intact.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of changing your domain name while keeping your website’s visibility strong.

Possible Reasons to Change Your Domain Name

• Rebranding

  Rebranding is more than just a visual makeover—it’s a strategic decision to stay relevant, attract a wider audience, or reflect a shift in business direction. A key part of this transformation is updating your domain name to match your new brand identity, ensuring consistency across all platforms and preventing customer confusion.

  Many successful companies have rebranded to keep up with industry changes or redefine their mission. A notable example is Facebook, which rebranded to Meta to highlight its focus on the metaverse and emerging technologies beyond social media. Similarly, Google restructured under the name Alphabet to better represent its expanding range of businesses beyond search.

  More recently, Reddit introduced a redesigned logo as part of its rebranding efforts, modernizing its visual identity while maintaining its core community-driven approach. After 45 years, Nokia also refreshed its logo to symbolize transforming from a mobile phone brand to a technology-driven company.

  Changing your domain name is more than a technical update—it’s a chance to refresh your brand and highlight your company’s growth.

• Legal Issues and Copyright

  Even with the best intentions, businesses can sometimes run into legal trouble with their domain names. If your domain unintentionally violates a trademark or another company’s creative property, you may be required to change it to avoid legal action.

  A domain name that closely resembles a competitor’s trademark can lead to legal disputes, official warnings, and even lawsuits. These conflicts can be costly, damage your brand’s reputation, and create confusion among customers. For example, companies have faced legal battles over domain names that were too similar to established brands, forcing them to rebrand or purchase a new domain to resolve the issue.

  To prevent such problems, it’s essential to conduct thorough research before choosing a domain name.

• Expansion

  As businesses grow, their original domain name may no longer reflect their full range of products, services, or target audience. A company that started small might expand into new markets, add more offerings, or go global, making a domain name change necessary to better represent its evolving brand.

  For example, a local business that initially served one city may later cater to a nationwide or international audience. A domain name tied to a specific location or niche could become too limiting, prompting a switch to something broader. Similarly, companies that diversify their services might outgrow their original domain and need a new one that covers their expanded scope.

  Choosing a domain that aligns with long-term goals can help businesses avoid limitations as they scale.

How to Change Domain Name Without Losing SEO?

Step 1: Choose a New Domain

Start by selecting a domain name that fits your brand and goals. Pick a domain with a suitable Top-Level Domain (TLD), such as .com, .net, or .org, depending on your business type.

Want to make the right choice? Learn the key factors to consider when selecting a domain name here!

Make sure your new domain is simple to spell, type, and pronounce. This reduces the chances of typos and makes it easier for people to remember and share—whether online or in conversation.

Think about the future, too. A flexible domain name allows your business to grow without needing another change down the road.

Once you’ve done your research and found the perfect fit, you can register your new domain and move forward with confidence.

Looking for a trusted domain registrar? AccuWeb Hosting provides secure domain registration, free WHOIS privacy, and the option to buy and renew at the same cost—get your perfect domain now!

Step 2: Back up your website

While this step is optional in our case of changing the domain, having a website backup will cause you no harm and help you in case of any issues. Create a complete backup of your website, including its database and files, to ensure you can restore it if needed. Regular backups protect against data loss, downtime, and security threats, keeping your site accessible and secure, especially during a redesign or rebrand.

We provide daily free backups with our web hosting plans to keep your data secure and easily restorable.

Step 3: Audit Backlinks & Preserve Rankings During a Domain Change

Maintaining your website’s SEO strength is crucial when changing your domain. A major part of this is ensuring that URLs bring in traffic and that backlinks remain functional. If not handled properly, you could lose valuable search rankings and organic visitors.

Follow these steps to safeguard your SEO:

1. Identify High-Value Pages: Ensure that all top-ranking and high-traffic pages from your old domain exist on the new domain. These pages have strong SEO value and must be carried over to prevent traffic loss.
2. Check Orphan Pages: Some pages might not have internal links and may not appear in site crawls or Google Analytics. However, they could still hold SEO value if they have backlinks. Use Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to find such pages and ensure they are redirected or included on the new domain.
3. Keep Content Relevant: Maintain keyword-focused content on your new pages to ensure search engines continue to recognize and rank them appropriately.

Beyond backlinks and content, user experience is another key ranking factor. Use our free Google Page Experience tool to analyze your new domain’s performance and ensure it meets Google’s Core Web Vitals standards.

Step 4: Maintain Keyword Relevance

When updating or rebranding your website, make sure your essential pages still include the right keywords. People use these words to find your business, especially for buying-related searches.

If the content stays the same, you don’t need to change much. But rebranding usually means new messaging, which means new content.

Some pages, like the homepage, may need a full rewrite. However, for key pages that promote your services and rank for important search terms, the new content should have the old keywords it already ranks for.

Use a clear heading structure and write simple, keyword-focused headings to keep your content easy to read and SEO-friendly.

How to Maintain Keyword Relevance:

• If you’re rewriting content, keep the main keywords that help your page rank.
• Use clear headings (H1, H2, H3) and short, keyword-focused text.
• Check which keywords bring traffic using Google Search Console or paid SEO tools.

Steps to Find Keywords in Google Search Console:

1. Log in to Google Search Console.
2. Select your website from the list.
3. Click on Performance > Search Results.
4. Scroll down to see the queries (keywords) that bring visitors.
5. Find the pages that rank for these keywords under the Pages tab.
6. Keep these keywords in your content when making updates.

Step 5: Redirect Old URLs

Setting up proper redirects ensures that visitors and search engines find the right pages on your new domain. Follow these steps:

1. Use 301 Redirects – This tells search engines that the page has permanently moved.
2. Redirect Each Page to Its New Version – Match old URLs to their specific new URLs instead of sending everything to the homepage.
3. Include Subdomains – Use tools like subdomain finders to identify and redirect any subdomains.

Here’s how you can do it:

Using cPanel:

• Log in to cPanel.
• Go to Redirects under the Domains section.
• Choose 301 Permanent Redirect.
• Select the domain you want to redirect from the drop-down menu.
• Old URL Path ( / ) – The / represents the root directory; keep it as it is.
• Enter the new URL in the Redirects to field.
• Select Redirect with or without www. (Recommended for most cases).
• Save the changes.

If you use WordPress, plugins like Redirection or Yoast SEO Premium can help set up 301 redirects easily.

Step 6: Create a Page About the Rebrand

A dedicated page helps users searching for the old brand name understand the change.

Optimize this page with:

• A clear title tag mentioning the old and new brand names.
• A relevant URL and meta description.

Example: The Facebook Company is now Meta

Step 7: Update Internal Links

If the internal links on your website are not updated to the new domain, they will still point to the old domain. When a visitor clicks on such a link, the browser will first go to the old URL and then be redirected to the new URL using a 301 redirect.

This extra step (redirecting) takes more time, slows down page loading, and can slightly reduce SEO effectiveness. Instead, updating internal links directly to the new domain removes the need for redirection, making the site faster.

Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to audit internal links.

Step 8: Reclaim External Links

External websites may still link to your old domain, and you can’t update them yourself. You need to contact the site owners or editors and request them to update the links to your new domain.

To find these links, use SEO tools like SEMrush, Moz, Ahrefs, or Google Search Console by checking the Top linking sites section.

Here’s how you can find external links pointing to your old domain using Google Search Console:

• Go to Google Search Console and select your website.
• In the left menu, click on Links.
• Under Top linking sites, you’ll see websites that link to your domain.
  
• Click on a linking site to see the exact pages that contain links to your old domain.
  
• Click on the Export button to download the list of linking sites.

Step 9: Update Google Search Console

Once you’ve set up redirects, you must inform Google about your domain change using the Change of Address feature in Google Search Console. You must also submit a new sitemap so that all your pages get crawled and indexed properly.

Here are the steps to use the Change of Address tool in Google Search Console:

• Go to Google Search Console.
• Choose the old domain from the property list.
  
• Click on Settings in the left menu.
• Select Change of Address and click Start.
  
• Pick the new domain from the verified properties list.
• Google will check if 301 redirects are correctly set up.
• Click Validate & Submit to confirm the domain change.

Step 10: Update Directories & Social Media

Update your old domain name throughout all online directories, such as Google My Business, Yelp, social media accounts (LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube), and email signatures.

To find other websites mentioning your old brand, try Google search operators such as old brand name -site:yourwebsite.com. This will show results from other sites (excluding yours), allowing you to request updates where needed.

Step 11: Update Analytics

When changing your domain, you need to update your tracking tools to ensure accurate data collection. In Google Analytics (GA4), update the account and property names so your reports reflect the new domain.

In Google Tag Manager (GTM), update the settings to keep all tracking scripts functioning correctly. These updates help maintain consistent website analytics after the domain change.

Step 12: Post-Migration Monitoring

After launching your new domain, monitor your website’s performance using Google Search Console. Check for any broken links (404 errors) and fix them with proper redirects.

Regularly review for site traffic, ranking, and user activity to verify visitors can see the right pages. Keeping track of these factors will help maintain your website’s visibility and functionality.

• Go to Google Search Console.
• Select your new domain from the list of verified properties.
  
• In the left menu, click on Pages under the Indexing section.
• Scroll down to the Why pages aren’t indexed section and look for Not Found (404).
  
• Click on the error to see a list of URLs that return a 404 status.
• Redirect these pages to relevant working URLs using 301 redirects.

Following these steps one by one, you can avoid SEO losses while successfully making your transition to your new domain

By taking major steps—like creating 301 redirects, updating internal and external links, maintaining keyword relevance, and informing Google Search Console—you help visitors and search engines find your site easily on the new domain. Keeping the old domain live for six months further helps maintain continuity.

Whether you’re expanding or rebranding, a well-handled domain change keeps your site easy to find and accessible.

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