What are The Steps to be Followed When Domain Name Changes?

[audreyzack]

Recently I've changed domain Name from www.my-website.net to www.mywebsite.net. Hence, I'd like to know what are the necessary changes need to be done as far as SEO is concerned.

I've redirected all URLs with 301 redirection, created and submitted new sitemap and completed new site verification on Google WebMaster. Generate back-links report and contacts site owners to change the URLs.

It's been almost 15 days and I can see continuous traffic fall on Google Analytics.

So, I'd like to know is there anything remains from my end. How much time will Google takes to index all the URLS with new domain? How much time will Google Analytics will take to generate traffic as before?

Would like to hear your opinions.

[aristotle]

Have you been monitoring the Google search rankings for your main keywords?

Also, instead of focusing at Google analytics, have you checked your server stats and logs to see what they show about your traffic?

[audreyzack]

I've checked keyword rankings and they all are disturbed. All my keywords have dropped. While analyzing Google Analytics, Traffic has decreased almost 50%. If I talk about server stats and logs, I've not checked it. Is it necessary to do so?

[aristotle]

I suggest that you check your server stats for 404 errors.

Also, if you are using hard internal links, did you convert them to the new domain?

[audreyzack]

Yeah, I've converted all internal domains to new domains? We can check 404 error using Google webmaster also. So, would it be more beneficial to check server states and logs?

[aristotle]

Well you should check WebmasterTools crawl stats, and in fact all other data there, very carefully. But you can get a more complete picture of what's happening in your server logs and stats. If it were me, I would study all available information, looking for technical problems.

[not2easy]

When you added the new domain to gwt and submitted the new sitemap, did you delete the previous domain there and remove its sitemap? It is also a good idea to follow the redirect if you visit your old URLs, with a tool to check the headers.

I second aristotle's suggestions to use your raw access logs for a better picture of what is happening. GWT/GSC isn't the ideal place to look for 404s.

Yeah, I've converted all internal domains to new domains?

I'm not sure what this means, so I apologize if I've misunderstood. Were there subdomains previously that are now separate domains? If the content of your site has changed substantially, you can expect to see substantial changes in the ranking you previously had if the content that got those rankings is on other domains now. There is a big difference between changing a domain name and changing a domain name and its contents.

[lucy24]

While analyzing Google Analytics, Traffic has decreased almost 50%.

Analytics for which site? Old, new or combined?

[aakk9999]

We can check 404 error using Google webmaster also. So, would it be more beneficial to check server states and logs?

It may take longer for Google to report 404 than looking at your logs, as Google must crawl your URL in order to get 404 response, and then there is a furthe delay until the data is reported in WMT. Furthermore, not all 404 are reported in WMT, there may be only a selection/subset.

Checking logs as advised by aristotle is better as you get more accurate info faster.

If you have a sitemap from the old site, you may consider using a tool such as Screaming Frog to crawl all URLs from the old sitemap to ensure they are redirecting correctly.

Also - what Lucy above said is important - when you are looking at the traffic in Google Analytics, how is your data reported? Are you using the same GA code and therefore have both site's traffic combined? Or do you have a separate GA code for the old and new site, in which case the traffic to old site should stop and the traffic to new site start to appear?

If combined traffic has decreased for almost 50%, could you analyse which pages / which site sections have lost traffic and from which sources?

If you go to Google Webmaste Tools (Search Console), and look at your Queries, what happened with your impressions, CTR and average ranking position - with 50% of traffic gone you should see a visible change there.

[tangor]

I can't add anything other than a repeat suggestion to look at your server logs. That is your definitive stats. If you can't analyze them yourself, there are freebie programs that will process your logs. Just look for them.

[audreyzack]

@not2easy I've not deleted that previous domain and sitemap. It's still in GWT. All the contents are same for old and new. I've just converted domain URLs. So, by doing so, How can I regain my keyword rankings that had before.

[audreyzack]

@lucy24 I'm talking about the Analytics of the new website.

[audreyzack]

@aakk9999 There is a variation in keyword positions on GWT.

I've not generated new GA code but it is still combined one. So I'd like to know that is it good to have combined one or I have to generate new GA code for new domain?

[audreyzack]

Thanks @tangor for letting me know.

[not2easy]

In GWT over on the right side of the page there is a little button to "Manage Domain" or "Manage Site" and you can delete it there - but first make sure it is ready to delete. First, look at the information shown for the old site - is it still showing any data? The advice from aakk9999 mentions several places to check. If all is done right, it should show no data, no 404s.

Test some old URLs and see that they redirect properly (301) by checking headers. What you see is the same thing robots will see. Check the access logs of the old site and see what traffic is visiting and what happens to requests on your old site site. If everything is in order, go to the sitemaps section for the old site and delete the sitemap.

If previous rank was based in part on good backlinks, you want to be sure they are redirected ("forever") so you need to keep the domain you closed in order to keep that traffic and value. If possible, notify the sites that have linked to your site and let them know it has a new address.

It can take some time for things to even out under the best conditions. It could be weeks or months to regain previous visibility. There are several important points to follow in the previous posts.

[audreyzack]

@not2easy I'll be making sure that all 301 redirects work properly by checking headers of each URLs.

[aakk9999]

So I'd like to know that is it good to have combined one or I have to generate new GA code for new domain?

I would keep the same GA code as you did. This way you can compare the performance with past years.