Need Check List For Moving Set Of Company Domain Names To New Set Of Domains

Things in my direct control are easy but what about handling backlinks, etc.

[HuskyPup]

I've had a very serious offer for 12 of my current company trading names from .com through co.uk/asia/in/tel/mob/etc

For the past 4-5 years I have been buying up my company trading name 4 letter acronym and have all the essential ones except .com which is dormant, no one responds to me however .net is available at the right price.

Moving the sites is easy, changing on-site contact information is easy but 17 years-worth of all the other stuff and backlinks etc...nightmare time!

Does anyone have a TO DO list when moving an entire set of company names etc?

I feel sure there may be a few things I've not contemplated yet and I have to give a decision by this weekend if I want to accept their offer.

[robho]

Will you have to sign a no-compete agreement for a particular time? In other words, are you selling just the domain names, or the domain names with a business?

Big difference in what action needs to be taken. For example, if it's just the domain names you could ask for a deferred completion for a few weeks or more to give you time to relaunch under a new name, forward traffic, and try to move backlinks (but get some money up front in case they change their minds!).

The buyer may not like this, they may be buying the names partly for backlinks, in which case your price will need to be higher as you're starting from scratch.

I have sold a major site with content, in that case I had a no-compete for a couple of years. After that, I relaunched under a new name and eventually beat the old site, but it took years. I've since ignored all offers, can't get a decent return on cash compared to the regular income from a site.

[HuskyPup]

are you selling just the domain names, or the domain names with a business?

Purely the domain names, they specifically wanted the .com but when they saw all the others they offered to take the lot. They have absolutely nothing to do with my area of business, in fact they're not even a business per se. I know that reads strange, there is no conflict of interests to either party otherwise I would not be selling since keeping my company trading name is paramount however using the acronym instead I've been considering for quite some time.

They've offered a 20% deposit and then allowed me 12 weeks to transfer all my stuff to new sites. The sites will be identical, just the domain name and e-mail addresses changed.

3 months should be ok for the search engines to pick up my 301s I reckon.

[robho]

So you're selling the "trading name" collection (without business), and replacing it with a set of shorter names you mostly already have?

That 12 week period sounds good, makes sense for all parties.

Checklist-wise, one key thing is to update your addresses at all affiliate networks, forums, analytics etc - anything and everything where you may need a password reminder in the future, basically anything you've ever signed up for using the company domain.

I think it sounds like a good deal, if the money is enough for the work involved.

[HuskyPup]

Yep, I've been collecting the 4 letter acronym for several years whereas the trading name is an 8 letter generic however a very specific noun, adjective and region and of course, not trademarkable (sp) but the 4 letter acroynm has been already.

Fortunately no affiliates, we are actually processors of our own products, I think I have everything covered with user names and paswords but, oh boy, 17 years of backlinks to get updated!

To be honest I don't think the money is enough, low 6 figures, for the amount of work to be done plus, and this really surprised me, in a totally unscientific experiment I've floated the acronym across staff and customers and whilst they agree it's much easier to remember and type in, they prefer the classy definition of the original name.

Am I going to end up offering everyone the acronym as a type-in shortcut?

I have to admit I have not spoken with the UK tax office yet as to how they would assess the sales proceeds...I'm guessing it could be nasty and put me off the sale idea altogether.

[robho]

FWIW, my top four sites (for both traffic and income) have 9, 9, 11 and 12 letters in the name, so I think shortcuts are over-rated. Facebook does OK also, compared to the shorter bebo...

Does the acronym pass the radio test? Can you say it out loud easier and faster than the existing name?

Tax-wise I believe most countries treat the odd sale of a domain name as a capital gain (sale of a capital asset), unless you're in the business of buying/selling names when it becomes trading income. But check for your exact situation.

However, if the money's not enough for you, it's not enough.

Calculate in how much time you will divert from earning real money, as well as the lost business from changing the name. For a real business with products you'd also need to change labels, invoices, ...

In other words, it REALLY has to be worth your while for the hassle, or you have to have a real need for a short term injection of cash.