An SEO Guide To Properly Migrating Domains

Throughout the life cycle of a website there may be a time or three when migrating to a new domain is necessary. This delicate process causes the site to be vulnerable to many, minute mistakes that could have an enormous negative impact on search rankings. But, if done correctly, any webmaster can minimize the ranking damage and, in some cases, eliminate any negative affects of a domain migration. Here is a quick, mini-SEO guide to properly migrating domains.

This task may seem daunting, but have no fear. The objective is to redirect all of your pages from one domain to the new one. If your original domain is: then all of your new pages will need to be redirected to and it’s corresponding pages. Here is are the necessary steps:

Step 1: Create New Sitemap

You will need to enter your full website URL and other information  Press start and wait to have your site crawled. Once it is finished, a generated sitemap page will come up. Download the file and put it into your “public_html/” folder. Then go to your Google Webmaster account and add your new site URL.

Step 2: Create Content

You can keep it simple at first: contact information, company description, current and future company objectives. Don’t forget to include a link-worthy nugget or two. You can never start building links too early.

Step 3: Register and Verify

Register and verify your old and new domain with Google Webmaster Tools, if you haven’t already.

Step 4: Create 404 Page

When people go to your old URL, they may not be as persistent as you would like. Create a custom 404 page that suggests visiting your new and improved domain.

Step 5: Test

While in the development environment, test the redirects from the old domain to the new one. Hopefully, it should look something like this: is redirected to

Step 6: 301 Redirect

Use a 301 redirect from your old domain to your new domain.

Step 7: Go Live

Now that you can see your reflection in your new domain, make it live.

Step 8: Submit New Sitemap

Create a new sitemap and submit it to Google, Yahoo!, Bing and any other search engines you want to be found in. This will update them with any redirects or new URLs that you have added.

Step 9: Check For Errors

Google Webmaster Tools will check and fix any errors it finds in your Diagnostics section. Wait until this process is completely finished before you do anything else.

Step 10: Monitor and Fix

Keep a watchful eye on the search engine results to make sure your new domain is being properly indexed.

If your site begins to index correctly, it is time to sit back, relax and take a deep breath. You did it! Keep in mind, you will need to maintain control of the old domain so that the 301 redirects stay valid. There are many SEO experts that have their own tricks and tips to migrating an old domain to a new one. If you or someone you know has some advice that I may have missed or gleamed over, please comment below with your knowledge.