Hi there,

 

I am considering changing my domain name on my webiste, what impact will this have on my google page ranking, I am currently on page 1 for my local area.

 

I know I can use 301 redirects but will I slip down the ranks?

 

thanks

If you implement perfect 301 redirects for every URL and if your old domain isn't more keyword-rich than your new one, you should experience a temporary loss in the SERPS for a while but it will recover.

ok thanks for your reply, the content and keywords will be exactly the same

I suppose it also depends on whether or not you are keeping the old domain as well...once the old one expires the redirects will stop so all of your links you have built up over the years will be useless...unless you somehow manage to contact every site owner that links to you and get them to change the link.

 

Also, domain 'maturity' is supposed to have an affect on your SERP i.e. a new domain is ranked lower than a more trusted domain that has shown consistent content for years.

Yes I would keep the old domain on and pay when it expires later this year, does not cost much.

 

If I slip down several pages then this for sure will have an impact on business as most people do not look pages into google

is it possible to see how much I drop, if I drop too much revert back to the old domain name?

i dont think it will drop your ranking may be it can be for short time but u can surely retain your ranking back

old website has dropped a lot, was on page 1 of google for local searches but no longer there.

 

I have done 301 redirects to the new domain, I do have a question though .... all the links pointing to the old website do I need to change them to point to the new domain name?

I did it once and at first it did drop my rankings despite a 301 direct. It was worth it in the long run, but did take a while to regain my standings in Google.

Hi Neil, thanks for the reply ..... was your new site much different from the old one?

 

My new website is not much different and has same keywords and much of the same content, I have been reading that the 301 redirects do have a knock on effect. My old website is still an active domain with the 301 redirects .... I have a funny feeling that google is saying I have duplicate content.

 

I have informed google via google accounts of the site change, also been advised to remove the old urls that are showing in google, I can do these via url removal requests... do I have to remove them from the server of the old website?

Edited June 28, 201115 yr by jay76

The content was the same for both of my sites.

 

There no duplicate content issue on your site as Google only recognises one website with the same content. It would not devalue both domains.

 

I think you just have to be patient. It may take a few weeks until you start to see improvement again. I know this is very frustrating, but I'm afraid this is the way it works!

 

Also I managed to get some of the people who were linking to my site to update my link and it helped. I'm not sure if you are in a position to do this, but that's all I can advise.

 

and I'm afraid Rallport is right. Domain age is actually quite important!

Edited June 28, 201115 yr by neil0wen

301 redirection not pass all seo stuffs to new site . My may loos you ranking a little bit