Domain Transfer and SEO Ranking - How to Maintain Your Visibility

Author: HOSTTEST Editorial   | 5 Sept 2019

Domain Transfer IssuesDuring a domain transfer, a website moves from one address to another. There are many possible and valid reasons for such a move, especially since the technical effort is relatively low, making the transfer manageable in just a few hours. One risk associated with any domain transfer is that the website's ranking and visibility may significantly suffer as a result. To prevent this effect, careful preparation is necessary. There is no automatic transfer of rankings by search engines like Google! For this reason, operators must manually transfer them to maintain their hard-earned ranking. Special domains like domains with umlauts face the same issues.

 

Table of Contents

SEO Ranking can be significantly affected
Adjusting rankings after a domain transfer takes time
Difference compared to changing servers or web hosting providers
Possible steps during and after a domain transfer
Running two identical websites for a certain period
Seamless transition from old to new domain with and without 404 errors
Prolonged redirection to the new presence
Setting up a new website
Requesting Google's approval and informing about the domain transfer
Conclusion: Every domain transfer poses a risk to SEO rankings

SEO Ranking can be significantly affected

From its principle, the ranking is the result of successful Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), but it is directly independent of it. This practically means that it is a variable value linked firmly to the domain, influenced by external factors but not specifically determined. When changing domains, the move effectively causes a website to start anew, resulting in a loss of visibility almost completely without preparation. Even with careful preparation and early SEO migration, negative effects are often observed. For example, the popular British newspaper "The Guardian" initially lost about half of its reach due to a domain change in 2013, while the Munich daily newspaper plummeted to a quarter of its original value when moving from tz-online.de to tz.de. This occurred despite extensive preparations and SEO migration in both cases.

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Ranking Adjustment After Domain Change Takes Time

As confirmed by Google, a ranking is not transferred promptly during a domain change - a factor that may also explain the significant losses in the two examples mentioned above. According to Google's own statement, a migration requires an undefined, longer period of time. Practical observations show that this period often ranges from several weeks to months - for instance, "The Guardian" took around three months to regain its previous visibility.

The reasons for this timeframe are attributed to several factors:

  • The search engine crawler needs to capture the new domain and index the content.
  • The trust factor, crucial for ranking, is not transferred promptly but needs to develop anew.
  • User reviews on independent platforms related to the old domain are not migrated.
  • Google "monitors" a migration for a certain period to prevent the reactivation of popular domains with new content.

For some of these points, there are understandable motives. For example, in the past, prominent domains were misused after a move or the abandonment of the website to distribute foreign content or even malware. Others, such as the transfer of trust value, are at the discretion of the corporation and are part of its trade secrets.

Difference compared to changing servers or web hosting provider

When migrating the technical infrastructure from one web hosting provider to another web hosting provider, from a VPS hosting to a Dedicated Server, or upgrading to higher resources, there is no domain change. Only the type of IT infrastructure changes, so the old ranking remains intact! In this case, apart from switching the responsible nameservers (DNS), no additional steps need to be taken to maintain SEO and visibility within the search results (SERP).

Possible actions during and after a domain change

In principle, there are several different ways to carry out a migration in order to minimize the resulting negative effects. Common procedures or solutions essentially consist of the following options:

  • Running both websites in parallel for an extended period
  • Immediately deactivating a domain when activating the new address
  • Permanent redirection from the old URL to the new presence (301 Redirect)
  • Operating the old website while simultaneously building a new, modified website

However, all of these options are problematic from an SEO ranking perspective.

Running two identical websites for a certain period

At first glance, it may seem like an attractive, sensible option to simply continue operating the old website and set up an identical copy under the new internet address. However, from an SEO perspective, this leads to duplicate content, which in turn is penalised. Furthermore, a search engine is unable to evaluate the relevance of the two pages - therefore, it will typically favour the older, longer-existing website.

Seamless transition from old to new domain with and without 404 errors

When shutting down immediately, the situation arises that external links do not point to the new address. For example, forum posts referencing the domain, as well as external contributions on blogs, become unusable in one fell swoop. The collapse of the natural link pyramid also leads to a devaluation of the SEO ranking. This option should therefore be avoided if possible, in order not to jeopardise the discoverability of older content. These may still be displayed as 404 errors - content not found - for a certain period of time. However, when the server is shut down, the domain is simply unreachable until the registration expires.

Long-term redirection to the new presence

A permanent redirection after a domain change ensures that all content remains discoverable, the SEO ranking and visibility are not initially restricted, and the new address can establish itself. When following this process, operators must inform Google of the domain change. The search engine only transfers an SEO ranking upon request and does not make the switch autonomously. The issue with this solution is that the old domain either needs to be operated permanently at additional costs or shut down at a later date. Therefore, it only delays the workload and creates a transition period.

Setting up a new website

Naturally, it is advisable to combine a domain change with a website relaunch to minimise the time and effort involved in a planned transition. Any changes such as introducing a new Content Management System increase the risk of Google perceiving a website as fundamentally new. In this case, the transfer of the old SEO ranking is not possible. The problem is that there are no definitive and official criteria for classification, and this is solely at the discretion of the search engine operator.

Request to Google and notification of the domain change

In order to take over the SEO ranking, Google must be informed of a domain change. Website operators can initiate this process relatively easily through the Google Search Console (GSC). The following steps are required:

  • Both domains must be registered and verified in the GSC.
  • In the settings for the old domain, the webmaster must access the address change menu item.
  • Google determines the authorisation and prerequisites for the move based on several points.
  • The request is submitted by clicking the "Submit" button.

Conclusion: Every domain change poses a risk to SEO ranking

A domain change should be carefully considered in advance and not carried out without significant reasons. Even with a smooth process and thorough preparation, a migration is likely to impact the SEO ranking for a transitional period. It is expected that the number of visitors will significantly decrease for a few weeks. For websites with a commercial interest such as online shops, a temporary loss of revenue can also be expected.

 

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Photo: JanBaby pixabay.com

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