Domain Migration
Check out our in-depth website migration checklist for a practical guide on managing a site migration project.
Domain migration is the process of moving a website from one domain to another and involves migrating all content and resources. There are several things that need to be considered to ensure the migration is successful and doesn’t affect a website’s performance in search. In our SEO Office Hours Notes below we cover these factors, commonly asked site migration questions, and best practice advice from Google.
Domain Migrations Take Longer if the New Domain Has Problematic History
Google can take longer to understand pages following a domain migration when the new domain has a problematic history e.g. spammy content and/or links.
Splitting or Merging Sites Can Take Months to Stabilise in Search
Splitting out or merging sites can be tricky for Google to understand. It can take time for Google to process these changes and it isn’t possible to predict what the final state might be in terms of rankings and traffic. A site migration may stabilise in search after a week or two and splitting or merging a site could take months to settle down.
Google Will Show Redirected Domains for Explicit Searches
If you are searching for the old domain name after a site migration then Google will try to show it to you even if it has recognised the new one. The best way to see if a migration has worked is to search for generic non-brand queries.
The Site Move Setting Takes a While to Update in Search Console
The setting for a site move sometimes sticks in Search Console for a while even if Google has recognised and processed the migration. Check Google Analytics to make sure traffic is going to your new site correctly.
Various Options Available If You Move To a Penalised Domain
If a site has been migrated to a domain with a manual action, John recommends cancelling the site move (with the change of address tool in GSC), redirecting back from the penalised domain, or alternatively you can take steps to have the manual action removed.
Significant Onpage Changes Can Impact Google’s Ability to Crawl Page
Rankings in search can change after a migration even if the URLs haven’t changed. This can happen if the layout of a page changes significantly meaning that Google’s ability to crawl a site can get better or worse. Pay particular attention to changes in internal linking and anchor text which can impact Google’s ability to crawl a site.
Google Temporarily Reduces Crawl Rate After A Platform Change
When a site changes its hosting platform Google will be more conservative about how much they crawl as they don’t know how much load the new server set up will support.
Change Of Address Tool Used for Migrating to New Site, Not Merging Sites Together
Change of Address tool is designed for migrating one site to a new site and doesn’t really work when you’re merging two sites together.
Search Console Change of Address Takes a Couple of Days
A change of address submitted to Search Console takes a couple of days to take effect when a redirect is in place.
Use 301s to Migrate a Subdomain to a Subfolder
You can’t use the Search Console site migration tool to move a subdomain to a subfolder, but 301 redirections are fine.