So Check Out This Infographic:
15 steps you need to complete, when changing the domain name on your website.
The 15 step guide explained Sometimes businesses can find themselves in a bit of a predicament even with the most straightforward and routine scenarios, for instance, buying an address and moving your website. Case in point is an 83-year old, family-owned Newark nut company.
Choose And Buy Your New Domain Name
The first step to changing your sites domain name is choosing and purchasing a new one. This is a highly personal decision involving considerations such as keywords, location, availability, and cost.
When youre ready, you can use one of the top domain registrars like GoDaddy, CrazyDomains, Namecheap, or Bluehost.
Once you find your preferred domain, you can purchase it and assign it to your existing website through the settings tab on your cPanel. Still, different hosts have different processes, so dig into their knowledge bases to ensure youre on the right track.
Namecheap: Adding A 301 Redirect
To add a 301 redirect to your Namecheap domain, log in and go to Domain List in the menu on the left.
Then, scroll down to the Redirect Domain section and click the Add Redirect button. You can click it multiple times to add additional fields for each redirect you need.
You can add a URL redirect on the Domain List page.
Type in the old domain name under the field and the new name under the Destination URL text field.
When youre done, click the green checkmark next to each line to save your changes.
Type in your old domain, then your new one, and click the checkmark icon.
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Audit The Domain To Identify Key Features
Once youve figured out how you want to pick domains, you have to do some research to figure out if those domains have the traffic and other statistics you want out of them.
As I mentioned, using these paid tools can help, but you can also do some manual research as well. Here are the things you want to check.
How To Change WordPress Domain Name
For the most part, the steps to change WordPress domain are simple, but some tasks will require you to tweak your sites PHP code.
Keep in mind, modifying the code might put your website at risk if you dont do it the right way. Be sure to follow these prerequisites before changing the domain name:
- Full backup of your site. a full backup is needed in order to transfer your websites content onto the new domain name. You can automatically back up your site via a plugin or the file manager.
- hPanel or an FTP client if you want to change the WordPress domain, youll need access to your hPanel by logging into your Hostinger account or configure FileZilla Client to do it via FTP.
- A new domain name proper research is required before settling down on your final decision.
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Promote Your New Web Address
And finally, spread the good word! If you go for one of the new generic top level domains right now, then you are certainly a first mover on changing to the new domain name. It shows that you are quick to react in your market and you follow the latest trends. You have a great story, so tell it. Furthermore you need to tell your customers that you have changed. Bottom Line: Using these sure and easy steps will make sure your DNS transition is a smooth one. Getting a new gTLD domain name for your website is great for branding. But make sure to follow ALL 15 steps so you avoid the fate of nuts.com.
How To Change The Domain Name On An Existing Website Url
Here’s a step-by-step guide
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If the internet were like real estate, then domains would be the individual lots or parcels of land where you build your buildings, which are the websites.
Up and moving a building may not be a feasible option in the real world. Luckily its entirely possible in the virtual world.
Whether its due to a business name change or just want to use a different domain, changing the settings can be scary. When your entire website is built upon the domain, considering to attempt to change your domain name yourself might seem a little out of your league.
Fear not, for we have the easy guide to change the domain name on an existing website. And on some of todays most popular website platforms.
We will look at the domain change process on 6 of the more prominent players in the hosting platform industry.
- WordPress
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Namecheap: Setting The Nameservers
Once you have logged in to Namecheap, click on Domain List in the menu on the left.
Then, find the domain listed that you want to update and click Manage on the right-hand side.
Next, scroll down the page to the Nameservers section. Select Custom DNS from the drop-down box.
Choose the option you want from the drop-down box. Then, enter in the nameservers that were given to you by your websites hosting provider.
If you need to add additional nameservers, click the Add Nameserver button below the text fields.
Type in your sites nameservers and save your changes.
When thats all done, click the green checkmark to save your updates.
Changing Your Sites Primary Domain With Siteground
Log in to your SiteGround account and click the Websites option at the top of the screen to go to the website management screen.
Find the website whose primary domain name you want to change, and click on the three dots to the right to reveal the shortcut menu.
Select the Change Primary Domain option.
In the next screen, type in the new primary domain. This will not register a new domain for youyou need to have already registered the domain and have it pointing to your nameserver at SiteGround.
The system will then process your request and give you a success message when thats done.
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Registering A Domain Name With Siteground
If you want to register the domain with SiteGround, you need to do this before setting it up as the primary domain.
Log in to your SiteGround account and go to Services > Domains.
Click the New Domain button at the top right to be taken to a screen where you register your new domain name.
Type in the domain name you want. If its not available, keep trying alternatives until you find an available one thats suitable. Work through the process of paying for and registering the domain name.
It will now be displayed in your account if you go to Services > Domains.
Domaincom: Setting Up A 301 Redirect
Start by logging into your account and clicking the Hosting button at the top of the page. Then, click on the .htaccess Editor link in the menu on the left.
Its like a user-friendly version of a websites .htaccess file.
Then, click the Add URL Redirect button.
You can redirect your site to your new domain using the .htaccess editor.
In the first field that comes up, add the old domain for your site. Then in the field under it, type in your new domain name.
Double-check that the information you entered is correct, then click Add Redirect.
Fill out the form to create a 301 redirect for your site.
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How Does A Domain Change Work
Unfortunately, you cant simply change your domain with the internet provider or registrar that provided your web address. When a web address from ICANN the highest authority in the domain assignment industry is supplied to the database of a domain name system, it cant be changed at the drop of a hat. A domain can only be transferred to a different owner or deleted. You must therefore always secure a new domain and connect it with your web presence.
Transferring Search Engine Rankings To The New Domain
If you just carry out the domain change via the web server configuration described above, you will encounter the following problem: while it may well be accessible under the new address, search engines will treat the online presence as a completely new website, and thus award it a correspondingly low ranking in the search engine results pages.
But changing your domain name doesnt necessarily mean losing everything you built with your previous web address. As long as your website isnt negatively rated or penalized by search engines, and its able to achieve a good spot on the results pages, you should address SEO aspects when moving web addresses. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing the ranking youve achieved along with your old domain.
Heres what you need to do to retain your Google ranking:
To start, access . Here, you will be prompted to verify your new domain and share your new website address. Its important that you use the same account that you created for registering your old domain.
Now open Google Search Console again and specify the websites XML sitemap, so that the Google web crawler can analyze your online presence. You should then request a re-crawl of the website so that the Google Index picks up the new domain as fast as possible.
Register a domain name
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Make Sure The Destination Domain Has A Clean Past
Skip this step if youve just purchased an entirely new domain name. This information only applies when you bought an older domain from someone else or at a domain auction.
Switching to an existing domain that already has a past is like buying an old house. You first have to check for any structural damage and to make sure its not haunted 🙂
Youd search for the domain on archive.org to get a history of what actual website pages were displayed on it. If you do get results, take a close look at them. Any spam or low-quality content?
To be really thorough, you could also search for the domain using ahrefs Backlink Checker tool.
The free version of their tool allows you to see a small set of backlinks for that domain, and to get an idea of its overall history.
And if theres something live on the domain already , you could also . That will tell you how well its been indexed by Google and if there were any manual penalty actions taken against your domain .
If you do notice any manual actions applied to your domain name in the past, you have to stop here and address those problems first, and then file a reconsideration request to have Google lift those penalties.
Further reading on this sub-topic:
Actions In Google Webmaster Tools
You need to make a couple of actions in Google Webmaster Tools when your new .uk web address goes live. Do these three actions in the following order: 1. Add the site via the Add a site button in the top right corner, when you login to Google Webmaster Tools. 2. Tell Google that your site has moved. On the Webmaster Tools Home page, click the site you want. Click the gear icon, and then click Change of Address. After completing steps 1-3, click Select a verified site to select the new site. 3. Generate a XML sitemap and add it in Google Webmaster Tools in the left menu Crawl Sitemaps. While no conclusions should be made before at least one month after the new URLs launch, monitoring rankings and indexation of your newly launched .UK URL should be carried out on a weekly basis.
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How To Change A WordPresscom Site Address
Map Out Your Old Web Pages
A sitemap is a map of all the pages on your website. If your old website does not have a sitemap, create one before changing your domain name. If you are on a CMS like WordPress, there are many plugins, both free and paid, that can generate a sitemap automatically. A popular plugin that creates excellent sitemaps is Yoast SEO.
Why do you need the sitemap of your website with the old domain name? The sitemap will show all the pages that need to redirect to the new URLs for the website.
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Is A Domain Name Change The Same As A Domain Transfer
One important thing to note is that a domain name change is completely different from a domain transfer, which is the process of moving the whole website to a new web host. Even though everything else changes during a domain transfer, the domain name will generally stay the same. With a domain name change, the sites server is the component that remains unaltered, as the existing website receives a new web address.
How To Change Domain Name On Squarespace
Squarespace works similarly to WordPress in the sense that one is auto-assigned a Squarespace URL when signing up. The built-in URL might be something like
Yoursiteid123.squarespace.com
If you are connecting a domain from another provider, youll need to find the individual instructions.
If you are just looking to change your assigned domain to a custom Squarespace domain, then these instructions are for you.
How To Change The Built-In Domain Name on Squarespace
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