Moving to New URL dont want to lose SERPs

We are well placed site in niche moving to a new URL to reflect our expansi

[LongFlatTail]

How do I move my site to a new URL, but keep the same high position in the SERPS.

We are highly ranked for our very niche localized keyphrases...

Have read about 301 redirect, but not sure how to do it.

Thanks for the help.

[leadegroot]

If your site is running Apache, you can drop code like the following into your root .htaccess file:

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ [newdomain.com...] [R=301,L]

This will tell any device that visits the old domain to look for the same page on the new domain instead.

I've recently done a domain move and it was horrible :( Rankings took 7 weeks to come back to 75% - we still aren't completely recovered.
If you have time on your side, I would suggest you move a part of the site at a time.

[LongFlatTail]

leadegroot, many thanks. Hum... We cannot afford to lose even one day of our listings. We are a services company in a highly competitive market, with stiff competition for our keyphrases and stiff competition for the service we provide.

I think I will keep the old site as it is while changing the content to reflect our new business at the same time as optimizing the new URL.

I would rather have people see us under an old URL than not see us at all.

I wish there was a way to switch URL's without the drop in SERPs... but then I suppose I am not alone in this...

So here I go building a new site. Oh bother...