what to do when you need/want to change domains?

[lionstail]

For various reasons, I want to change my domain name, but transfer all of the content to a new domain. I know that a new domain won't rank as high as an established one, but really, how bad is this for SEO? How long will it take to regain rank (with a similar domain)? Will cached pages remain in google's memory and be considered duplicate content?

Is this a really bad mistake, or a reasonable way to 'start fresh' on a new domain? Are there any other ways to save face if you need to change domains?

Thanks!

[HuskyPup]

how bad is this for SEO?

In what sense do you mean?

I assume you will create the new site and URL forward, or 301, the old domain name to the new site?

If you're quite content knowing that you will lose rank for a while then I foresee no problem, I've done this for several customers who decided to use more specific keyword domains rather than company names or when the company has had a complete change of name such as in a buy out.

How long will it take to regain rank (with a similar domain)?

That's a good question, if you do everything on the same day then you may be lucky and get away with a month or so, if you're unlucky it could be up to 5-6 months.

The most important factor is to ensure the entire removal of ALL content from the old domain since those spiders will surely come looking for it!